Staying in Austria temporarily with a residence permit
Are you a third-country national and would like to live and work in Austria for more than six months but do not want to live permanently in the country? Then a temporary residence permit (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung”), also known as temporary stay permits, could be the right type of residence permit for you.
There are different kinds of temporary residence or stay permits, depending upon your purpose in temporarily staying in Austria:
- Residence Permit – ICT (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung ICT”)
- Residence Permit – Mobile ICT (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Mobile ICT”)
- Residence Permit – Seconded Employee (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Betriebsentsandter”)
- Residence Permit – Self-Employed Person (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Selbstständige”)
- Residence Permit – Student (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Student”)
- Residence Permit – Pupil (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Schüler”)
- Residence Permit – Special Cases of Gainful Employment (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Sonderfälle unselbstständiger Erwerbstätigkeit”)
- Residence Permit – Social Worker (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Sozialdienstleistender”)
- Residence Permit – Researcher Mobility (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Forscher – Mobilität”)
Generally, you do not need a residence permit if you want to live and work in Austria for less than six months, but you will need a Visa C for Gainful Employment or a Visa D for Gainful Employment.
Temporary stay as an intra-corporate transferee (“Unternehmensintern transferierter Arbeitnehmer”) or as a seconded employee ("Betriebsentsandter")
Is the company you work for sending you to Austria for a limited period of time? In this case, a Residence Permit – ICT, a Residence Permit – Mobile ICT or a Residence Permit – Seconded Employee could be possible for you:
You need a Residence Permit – Seconded Employee (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Betriebsentsandter”) if you work in Austria as a posted employee for more than six months. If your stay in Austria is for less than six months, a visa for gainful employment is required. In principle, the secondment or posting of an employee exists if:
- a foreign employer from a third country (without a business establishment in Austria) posts an employee who is a third-country national to an Austrian contractor to fulfil contractual obligations, or
- the employee of an international corporate group is posted to the headquarters of the corporate group in Austria within the context of a training and professional development programme, or
- an employee who is a junior executive is posted to an Austrian subsidiary within the context of an in-house rotation.
Please be informed that no immigration with family members is possible based on this residence permit.
The Residence Permit – ICT (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung ICT”) is an option if you come to Austria within the context of working for a multinational company or group of companies for one to three years (or at least for more than 90 days) as a specialist, executive or trainee. The special case of a Residence Permit – Mobile ICT applies if you have the Residence Permit – ICT from another EU member state and will work in Austria for more than 90 days within the context of this business activity. As a rule, your payroll accounting remains abroad.
The EU has created the legal foundation for cross-border intra-corporate transfers. For this reason, there is also the special case of the Residence Permit – Mobile ICT (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Mobile ICT”). This targets third country nationals who possess a valid Residence Permit – ICT in another EU member state and are posted to Austria for a limited period of time.
In both cases (ICT and Mobile ICT), you may immigrate to Austria together with your family. Your family members (wife/husband, civil partner, children) can apply for the so-called Residence Permit – Family Reunification.
What is considered to be an intra-corporate transfer?
The Residence Permit – ICT targets the following third-country nationals:
- Executives,
- Trainees
- Specialists
who have been working for a multinational company or multinational corporate group outside of the EU (i.e., in a third country) for at least 9 months (or at least 6 months for trainees) and who are now supposed to work in the same company or corporate group in Austria.
A Residence Permit – ICT is always conceived to be valid for a clearly limited period of time. Afterwards, it must be guaranteed that the skilled worker can return to a subsidiary of the company or corporate group in a third country or in the home country. This must be specified in the employment contract.
As a rule, payroll accounting of the skilled worker is carried out abroad. Nevertheless, the company must ensure that all Austrian regulations pertaining to salaries and social insurance as well as labour laws are complied with.
In any case, you have to submit the following documents to receive a Residence Permit – ICT:
- Application form
- Passport
- Passport photo fulfilling EU criteria (not older than six months)
- Work-related documents:
- Work contract (signed by both parties)
- Updated curriculum vitae
- Proof of all qualifications (university diploma, recommendations/references, etc.)
- Proof that you have been working for the company/corporate group for at least nine months (six months for trainees)
- Proof of your quality and suitability as an executive, trainee or specialist
- Employer documents:
- Contract for the intra-corporate transfer
- Schematic representation of the corporate network
- Employer's Declaration (“Arbeitgebererklärung”)
- Personal documents:
- Police Clearance Certificate (“Strafregisterbescheinigung”)
- Proof of health insurance in Austria for the duration of the transfer
- Fees: 160 €
Please note the following:
- You will have to present one or more Police Clearance Certificates depending upon the country in which you live. Here you can see which Police Clearance Certificates you will have to obtain.
- Personal documents must be specially legalised so that these documents are officially recognised. This depends upon the country in which the documents were issued. Here you can look to see which type of legalisation is necessary.
- If personal documents are not available in German or English, they must be translated by a court-certified translator (“gerichtlich beeidete Übersetzerin/beeideter Übersetzer”).
- If you have to show additional personal documents or if you need a Visa D, the fee to be paid may actually be higher than € 160.
Procedures
After you and your future employer have gathered all the necessary documents, the application has to be submitted to an Austrian public authority. In this case, there are several options:
- Your employer submits the application on your behalf to the Immigration Authority (“Aufenthaltsbehörde”). This applies regardless of your nationality and your current country of residence. This option has the advantage that your application is submitted directly to the public authority which also processes your application. Moreover, this option usually allows you to submit certain documents per email at a later date (for example, certain verifications).
- You submit the application to the Austrian representative authority (embassy/consulate) in your current country of residence. If you select this option, your application has to be complete. As a rule, you are not permitted to send any missing documents afterwards per e-mail. Your application is then sent by diplomatic post from the representative authority to Austria. For this reason, the immigration process based on this option usually takes considerably longer than with the first option.
Even if you are principally allowed to travel to Austria without a visa, you are not allowed to personally submit your application for a Residence Permit – ICT in Austria. Only your employer is permitted to do this.
Before you or your employer submits the application, you have to decide where you want to live in Austria. This is important because Austria does not have one Immigration Authority but many. Which of these authorities is actually responsible for you depends on your future place of residence in Austria. Once you have selected a particular place, the change is complicated and is not recommended.
Do you want to immigrate to Austria with your family? Please note the following:
- If you apply for a Residence Permit – ICT, your family members can get a so-called Residence Permit – Family Reunification. However, as a rule, your family can first submit the application when your own application for a Residence Permit – ICT has already been submitted and your application process is under way.
- In contrast to you as a skilled worker, your family is generally required to personally submit the application to the Austrian representative authority (embassy/consulate) in their country of residence. Your employer is not permitted to submit the application in Austria on behalf of your family. In any case, the applications for your family have to be complete.
- Family members who have a Residence Permit – Family Reunification are generally permitted to work in Austria on a self-employed basis. If they want to work as salaried employees in Austria, they must have a specific job offer and show proof of this when applying for the Residence Permit – Family Reunification.
As soon as you or your employer has submitted your application, various public authorities will evaluate your application. The Immigration Authority (“Aufenthaltsbehörde”)will check to see if you fulfil all the general prerequisites, for example if your passport is valid for a sufficient period of time or if all your documents have the correct legalisation. The Austrian Public Employment Service (“Arbeitsmarktservice” - AMS) will review the prerequisites under valid labour regulations. The entire evaluation usually takes several weeks, in which you can or must submit certain missing documents if required. At best, the evaluation ends with the formal approval of your application.
All further steps depend upon whether or not you are allowed to enter Austria without a visa.
- Are you allowed to enter Austria without a visa? As soon as you have received approval, you will be allowed to come to Austria and have your fingerprints taken at the Immigration Authority. Furthermore, you will also have to show your original personal documents (passport, birth certificate, Police Clearance Certificate, etc.). Then, your card will be printed. You are permitted to begin working as soon as you receive it!
- Are you not permitted to enter Austria without a visa? In this case, after you have received approval, you will receive an invitation from the Austrian representative authority (embassy, consulate) in your country of residence. In this invitation, you will be asked to apply for a so-called Visa D (“Visum D”) within the following three months and to pick up your Residence Permit – ICT in Austria within a period of six months. In order to receive a Visa D, you will need the following documents:
- Application form
- Passport with a copy
- Invitation of the representative authority
- Approval of the Immigration Authority
- Travel insurance (coverage of at least € 30,000)
- Flight reservation
Generally, it will take about two weeks until the Visa D is stamped in your passport. During this processing time, the embassy will keep your passport. As soon as you have your Visa D, you can travel to Austria and have your fingerprints taken. Furthermore, you will also have to show your personal documents (passport, birth certificate, Police Clearance Certificate, etc.). Your card will then be printed. You are permitted to begin working as soon as you receive your card!
Validity and extension
If both your contract for the intra-corporate transfer and your passport are valid for 1 year, your Residence Permit – ICT will also be valid for 1 year. However, as an executive or specialist, you can extend your residence permit for a maximum of up to 3 years to stay in Austria and work at the Austrian company to which you have been transferred. In contrast, as a trainee this only applies until a maximum period of 1 year is reached.
The Residence Permit ICT is based on an EU Regulation. Thus, for an executive or a specialist, it would also be possible to extend the residence permit up to a maximum duration of 3 years (1 year in the case of specialists) in another EU member state.
Whether you are an executive, specialist or trainee, as holder of a Residence Permit – ICT, you may stay but not work within the Schengen area for 90 days out of a total of 180 days.
These rules also apply to your family! Your close family members are entitled to apply for a Residence Permit – Family Reunification ICT.
If, based on your Austrian Residence Permit – ICT, you would like to work in another EU member state (or vice-versa), you would need to apply for a so-called Residence Permit – Mobile ICT.
In any case, make sure that you submit your application for extension during the 3-month period before your current residence permit expires!
In any case, make sure that you submit your application for extension (“Verängerungsantrag”) during the three-month period before your current residence permit expires!
What happens if you and your employer decide during your stay in Austria that you will be hired as a salaried employee in Austria? In this case, you can submit an application for a change of purpose (“Zweckänderungsantrag”) to get a Red-White-Red – Card or an EU Blue Card. Your family can submit applications for the Red-White-Red – Card Plus. These residence permits will allow you to settle down in Austria in the long-term, in contrast to the Residence Permit – ICT and the Residence Permit – Family Reunification.
Submit your application for a change of purpose on time, in any case before your Residence Permit – ICT expires. As soon as your Residence Permit – ICT has expired and can no longer be extended, you will have to leave Austria as well as the EU and the Schengen Area. This is also the case even if you are principally allowed to enter the Schengen Area without a visa. For example, leave at least three months of time when applying for a change of purpose to get a Red-White-Red – Card or an EU Blue Card.
Special case: “Mobile ICT”
Do you already have a Residence Permit – ICT from another EU member state and will come for a limited period of time to work at the Austrian subsidiary of a company or corporate group? In this case, the Residence Permit – Mobile ICT (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Mobile ICT”) would be ideal. Furthermore, please remember that as an executive or specialist with a Residence Permit – ICT, you are allowed to stay in the EU or EEA for a maximum of three years and as a trainee for a maximum of one year.
Please submit your application for a Residence Permit – Mobile ICT no later than 20 days before you should begin your work in Austria.
In this case, your family can also come with you to Austria and apply for a Residence Permit – Family Reunification.
Legal Foundation
- § 20f AuslBG
- § 58 NAG
- § 58a NAG
Temporary stay as a self-employed person
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 – Self-Employed Person (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Selbstständige”) is an interesting option for third-country nationals who only want to stay in Austria temporarily.
In order to obtain a Residence Permit – Self-Employed Person, 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 – Self-Employed Person is issued for a period of 12 months.
Temporary stay for educational purposes
The Residence Permit – Student (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Student”) is issued, for example, for studies at a university, university of applied sciences, accredited private university or a public or private teacher training college.
The Residence Permit – Student is normally issued for one year, but extensions are generally possible as long as the course of studies lasts.
The Residence Permit – Pupil (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Schüler”) is issued, for example, to enable a young person to attend a public school or a private school with public-law status.
Temporary stay for special cases of employment
A Residence Permit – Special Cases of Gainful Employment (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Sonderfälle unselbstständiger Erwerbstätigkeit”) is relevant for third-country nationals who are gainfully employed in Austria and who do not fall within the scope of the Aliens Employment Act (“Ausländerbeschäftigungsgesetz” - AuslBG). For example, this can be work as an au-pair, as a participant in an exchange programme, as an exchange teacher or as a language assistant.
You get a Residence Permit – Social Worker (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Sozialdienstleistender”), for example, if you work for a non-partisan and non-profit organisation which does not pursue any profit-making purposes itself. Moreover, the specific work for the organisation must be of an educational or training nature and may also not be for profit. The Residence Permit – Social Worker is granted for a maximum of twelve months. In principle, it is not possible to extend this residence permit or to change the purpose (“Zweckänderung”).
The Residence Permit – Volunteer (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Freiwilliger”) is granted in order to allow a person to work within the framework of the European Solidarity Corps (“Europäische Solidaritätskorps”), formerly known as the European Voluntary Service. For this reason, if you apply for this residence permit, you will need to show an agreement concluded with a host organisation which includes information about the voluntary service to be rendered.
The Residence Permit – Researcher Mobility (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Forscher – Mobilität”) targets third-country nationals who already have a valid “Researcher” residence permit 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 for a total of two years in Austria. Afterwards, a change of purpose (“Zweckänderung”) is possible, but an extension (“Verlängerung”) is not.
Validity, extensions and family
Residence permits (“Aufenthaltsbewilligungen”) are usually valid for one year. In some cases, they can be extended by another year if you continue to fulfil the prerequisites. However, several residence permits have specified maximum periods of validity.
For example, the Residence Permit – ICT for trainees and the Residence Permit – Social Worker are issued for a maximum period of twelve months and an extension is not possible. The Residence Permit – Researcher Mobility can be extended for a maximum of two years all in all, and the Residence Permit – ICT for specialists and executives can be extended for a maximum total of three years.
As soon as you plan to remain in Austria for the long term, contrary to your original intentions, it makes senses to change over to a different residence permit by applying for a change of purpose, if this is in fact possible. The residence permit (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung”) is oriented to a temporary stay in Austria. For this reason, it may happen that you will not be able to extend your residence permit at all.
Moreover, you can first get a permanent residence permit at a later date. 50 percent of the time in which you live and work in Austria with a residence permit is credited towards your application for a Long-Term Resident EU permit (“Daueraufenthalt EU”) and the necessary five years of living in Austria without interruption.
If you have a
- Residence Permit – Researcher Mobility, or a
- Residence Permit – ICT, or a
- Residence Permit – Mobile ICT, or a
- Residence Permit – Special Cases of Gainful Employment (except as an au-pair), or a
- Residence Permit – Student,
your wife/husband, civil partner or your underage children can apply for a Residence Permit – Family Reunification (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung Familiengemeinschaft”).
If you have a
- Residence Permit – Seconded Employee, or a
- Residence Permit – Self-Employed Person (except as an au-pair), or a
- Residence Permit – Pupil, or a
- Residence Permit – Social Worker, or a
- Residence Permit – Volunteer,
your family is generally not allowed to immigrate with you to Austria but can only reside in Austria if they have an own purpose for their stay.
Various documents must be presented, depending upon which residence permit you apply for. In any case, you have to submit the following documents in order to get a residence permit:
- Application form
- Passport
- Passport photo fulfilling EU criteria (not older than six months)
- Birth certificate
- Police clearance certificate (“Strafregisterbescheinigung”)
- Proof of health insurance in Austria
- Fees: 160
Please note the following:
- You will have to present one or more police clearance certificates depending upon the country in which you live. Here you can see which police clearance certificates you will have to obtain.
- Personal documents must be specially verified so that these documents are officially recognised. This depends upon the country in which the documents were issued. Here you can look to see which type of verification is necessary.
- If personal documents are not available in German or English, they must be translated by a court-certified translator (“gerichtlich beeidete Übersetzerin/gerichtlich beeidigter Übersetzer”).
- If you have to show additional personal documents or if you need a Visa D, the fee to be paid may actually be higher than € 160.
Procedures
After you have gathered all the necessary documents, the application has to be submitted to an Austrian public authority. In this case there are two options:
- You submit the application to the Austrian representative authority (embassy/consulate) in the country in which you currently live.
- If you are allowed to travel to Austria without a visa, you are permitted to personally submit your application to the Immigration and Residence Authority (“Aufenthaltsbehörde”) in Austria. This option has the advantage that the application is submitted directly to the public authority which actually processes it.
Attention: Please pay attention to the number of your visa-free days! Generally, you have 90 days (out of 180) in which you can stay in the Schengen Area. Once you have used up this allotment of visa-free days, you will no longer be allowed to submit the application in Austria because you no longer legally reside in the country.
In any case, you must apply for the Residence Permit – ICT abroad even if you are generally allowed to enter Austria without a visa. If you apply for a Residence Permit – ICT, your employer can also submit the application on your behalf to the Immigration and Residence Authority in Austria. This applies regardless of your nationality and the country in which you live at the present time. This option has the advantage that your application is sent directly to the public authority which also processes your application.