General information on the first application for residence permits for Austria

Applying from abroad

As a rule, applications for a residence permit must be submitted from abroad to the Austrian representative authorietes (BMEIA) (embassy, consulate) before entry into Austria. The competence of the representative authority depends on the applicant’s place of residence. Applications must be submitted in person.

The Austrian representative authority checks that the application is complete and correct and forwards it to the competent settlement authority in Austria. The latter verifies whether the conditions for issuing the residence permit are met.

If the conditions for issue are met, the Austrian representative authority will be notified. For applicants subject to a visa requirement an order to issue a visa is given. The Austrian representative authority abroad informs the applicant accordingly. He/she may then enter Austria with the valid visa or, where there is no visa requirement, without a visa and collect the residence permit in person from the competent settlement authority. The entry visa must be applied for within three months of notification by the representation authority of the intended positive settlement and the residence permit must be collected from the domestic authority within a further three months (= 6 months). It is only once the third-country national has taken up their residence permit in Germany that they acquire the associated rights; in other words, they may only take up employment once they have taken up their residence permit.

Applying in Austria

The following categories of persons may submit their first application for a residence permit in Austria:

• Family members of Austrians who are permanently resident in Austria and who have not exercised their right of residence of more than three months under EU law and who have entered and been residing in Austria lawfully
• 'Family members* (family nucleus) include the following persons:
  • Spouses aged 21 or over at the time of submission of the application
  • Registered partners aged 21 or over at the time of submission of the application
  • Unmarried minor children (including adopted children and stepchildren)

The following other categories of persons may submit their first application in Austria, although applications in these cases also do not confer entitlement to exceed the duration of the authorised stay, whether subject to or exempt from a visa:

• In the case of family reunification, children within six months of birth, provided that the person reuniting the family, who is charged with care and upbringing, is lawfully resident
• Third-country nationals who apply for residence permit – researcher or an residence permit 'EU blue card' and their family members, i, in each case after lawful entry and residence
• Third-country nationals who apply for a 'student' residence permit, a 'volunteer' residence permit or a settlement permit for other relatives of EU citizens and Swiss nationals who are third -country nationals, in each case after lawful entry and residence
• Third-country nationals who are, in principle, entitled to enter the country without a visa (BMI)^{German text}
• Third-country nationals applying for a 'red-white-red – card plus' for displaced persons from Ukraine
• Third-country nationals who hold an Austrian 'Reife' (secondary education) certificate, a "Reife" examination certificate or a diploma examination certificate issued by a school in Austria or abroad
• Third-country nationals who hold a valid 'ICT' (intra-corporate transfer) residence permit from another member state and are applying for a ‘residence permit – mobile ICT’
• Third-country nationals who hold a valid ‘researcher’ residence permit from another Member State and are applying for a "researcher – mobility" residence permit
• Third-country nationals who are excluded from the scope of the AuslBG pursuant to section 1(2) (i) or (j) of the AuslBG or section 1(5), (7) or (9) of the AuslBVO (Regulation on the employment of foreign nationals), or who fall within the scope of section 1(4) of the PersGV 2018 (Regulation on eligible groups of persons 2018), and who are applying for 'settlement permit – special cases of gainful employment', a 'special cases of gainful employment" residence permit* or a *students residence permit*

Furthermore, the following persons are entitled to submit an application within Austria and, in exceptional cases, to remain in Austria pending the authority’s decision:

• Third-country nationals no later than six months after the end of their lawful settlement in Austria, if they have not required authorisation or documentation under the Niederlassungs- und Aufenthaltsgesetz (Establishment and Residence Act, NAG) for that settlement
• Third-country nationals not later than six months after the loss of Austrian citizenship or of Swiss nationality or that of an EEA State
• Third-country nationals who have applied in person for a ‘red-white-red card’ following lawful entry and whilst lawfully resident

In addition: If it is demonstrably not possible or reasonable to leave for the purpose of making a required application abroad and there is no compelling obstacle to granting it, the settlement authority may, on submission of a reasoned request, authorise a domestic application in the following cases:

• In the case of unaccompanied minors, in order to safeguard the best interests of the child
• For the purpose of preserving private and family life within the meaning of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

Such an application may only be made until the competent authority has issued a decision.

Option for the employer to submit an application

In certain cases, the prospective employer may submit an application in Austria to the relevant settlement authority (BMI) :

• red-white-red – card
• EU blue card
• settlement permit – artist
• residence permit 'ICT' and 'mobile ICT'
• Aresidence permit 'cross boarder commuter'

The future employer may also submit the application on behalf of accompanying family members when submitting the application for the employee.

Further links

• General requirements for the granting of residence permits
• List of visa requirements(BMI)

Legal basis

• sections 21, 41 of the Niederlassungs- und Aufenthaltsgesetz (NAG)
• Niederlassungs- und Aufenthaltsgesetz-Durchführungsverordnung (NAG-DV)
• Ausländerbeschäftigungsgesetz (AuslBG)
• Ausländerbeschäftigungsverordnung (AuslBVO)
• Personengruppenverordnung 2018 (PersGV 2018)
• Fremdenpolizeigesetz 2005 (FPG)