Immigration Law at a glance

With its Red-White-Red – Card, Austria has created a residence permit for third-country nationals who would like to permanently work and remain in Austria as skilled workers. However, it is important to note that there is not one single Red-White-Red – Card but a total of seven subcategories. Each category is oriented to a particular target group.

Of the six Red-White-Red Cards, four are for third-country nationals who have a binding job offer from a company in Austria:

- the Red-White-Red – Card for Skilled Workers in Shortage Occupations (“Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte für Fachkräfte in Mangelberufen”),
- the Red-White-Red – Card for Graduates of Austrian Universities (“Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte für Studienabsolvent:innen”),
- the Red-White-Red – Card for Very Highly Qualified Workers (“Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte für Besonders Hochqualifizierte”), and
- the Red-White-Red – Card for Other Key Workers (“Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte für Sonstige Schlüsselkräfte”).
- the Red-White-Red – Card for Other Regular Seasonal Workers

The two other Red-White-Red – Cards are for third-country nationals who would like to establish a company in Austria, namely the Red-White-Red – Card for Self-Employed Key Workers (“Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte für Selbstständige Schlüsselkräfte”) and the Red-White-Red – Card for Startup Founders (“Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte für Start-Up-GründerInnen”).

Family members (wife/husband, civil partner (“eingetragene Partnerin/eingetragener Partner”), minor children) of individuals who possess a Red-White-Red – Card or an EU Blue Card can apply for a residence permit called the Red-White-Red – Card Plus (“Red-White-Red–Karte Plus”) which gives them unrestricted access to the Austrian labour market. Furthermore, you can receive a Red-White-Red – Card Plus after a period of 2 years if you extend your Red-White-Red – Card (exception: Red-White-Red – Card for Self-Employed Key Workers).  

The EU Blue Card (“Blaue Karte EU”) targets skilled workers who have completed a course of study in a relevant field at a university (IT sector: or as an alternative, have at least three years of professional experience) and a job offer involving a comparatively high minimum salary. The EU Blue Card is bound to the employer. The origin of the EU Blue Card lies in EU legislation, and unlike the Red-White-Red – Card, it is not granted on the basis of a points system. 

The Settlement Permit (“Niederlassungsbewilligung”) is a residence permit which only allows you to work independently as a self-employed person. This means you are not allowed to work as a salaried employee for a company in Austria. For example, you can obtain a Settlement Permit if you extend the Red-White-Red – Card for Self-Employed Key Workers after a period of two years. In addition, you receive a Settlement Permit if you are the life partner (“Lebenspartnerin/Lebenspartner”) of an EU national. In order for you to obtain a settlement permit in this case, you have to fulfil the general conditions for the issuance of residence permits. You also have to prove your German languages skills at an A1 level (beginner’s skills).

ICT is the abbreviation for Intra-Corporate Transfer. The Residence Permit – ICT (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung ICT”) is relevant as a short-time resident permit if you are a third-country national who comes to Austria for a period of one to three years within a multinational company or corporate group in order to work as a specialist, executive or trainee. In the case, your payroll accounting continues to be done abroad. What is important is the contractually stipulated guarantee that you will be able to return to a company branch office in a third country after the residence permit expires.

The special case “Mobile ICT” applies if you hold the Residence Permit – ICT of another EU member state and you will work in Austria for more than 90 days within this context. In this case, you will be granted a “Residence Permit – Mobile ICT” (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Mobile ICT”).

A seconded employee (“Betriebsentsandte”) exists if:

- an employer from a third country without a branch office in Austria
- sends employees who area third-country nationals to an Austrian employer
- in order to fulfil contractual obligations,
- or if employees of an international corporate group
- are sent to the headquarters of the corporate group in Austria
- within the context of an internal training or professional development programme,  
- or if employees obliged to work as managers are sent to the Austrian branch office or subsidiary within the context of a rotation.  

If you work as a seconded employee in Austria for more than six months, you require a Residence Permit – Seconded Employee (“Arbeitsbewilligung Betriebsentsandte”). If your stay is shorter than six months, a visa is sufficient as the basis for your stay in Austria.  

In contrast to the Red-White-Red – Card for Self-Employed Key Workers (“Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte für Selbstständige Schlüsselkräfte”) and the Red-White-Red – Card for Startup Founders (“Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte für Start-Up-GründerInnen”), the Residence Permit for Self-Employed Persons (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung für Selbstständige”) is relevant for third-country nationals who only want to stay in Austria temporarily. In order to obtain a Residence Permit for Self-Employed Persons, you must prove that you have a contractual obligation to carry out a specified self-employed activity for an employer in Austria for a period of more than six months. However, you may not plan to stay in Austria for a period longer than the duration of this obligation.

The Residence Permit – Researcher Mobility (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Forscher – Mobilität”) targets third-country nationals who already have a valid residence permit for researchers in another EU member state and who will work in a research facility in Austria. This residence permit is granted for at least the duration of your research in Austria but at the longest for the period of validity of the “Researcher” residence permit of the other EU member state. The Residence Permit – Researcher Mobility can be extended so that the person’s stay in Austria lasts for a total of two years.

The Residence Permit – Special Cases of Gainful Employment (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Sonderfälle unselbstständiger Erwerbstätigkeit”) is granted if you pursue gainful employment in Austria which is not covered by the Act Governing the Employment of Foreign Nationals (“Ausländerbeschäftigungsgesetz” (e.g., au pairs, participants in exchange programmes, exchange teachers or language assistants).

Specialised project employees can be employed for the duration of the project (maximum of six months) on the basis of obtaining a work permit in connection with a visa. A labour market check is carried out before the responsible office of the Austrian Public Employment Service issues a work permit in response to an application by the Austrian employer.

An AMS guarantee that the work permit will be issued in the near future (“Sicherungsbescheinigung”) is to be applied for beforehand for these project employees. On this basis, a Visa C for Gainful Employment or Visa D for Gainful Employment and the corresponding work permit can be issued.

A certain contingent of work permits for seasonal workers is defined on a yearly basis. The amount depends on the extent to which the need for such workers can be covered within Austria. Seasonal workers and harvest helpers either enter Austria with a Visa C (for a stay of up to 90 days) or with a Visa D (for a stay of up to 180 days).