What is Austria's Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte: Very Highly Qualified Worker?

Senior and research-grade professionals who can score on qualification, salary, experience, language and age — and, uniquely in the Austrian system, the only group that may come to Austria to look for the job rather than arriving with it. It lasts the job-seeker visa runs six months and cannot be worked on. The Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte itself is issued for 24 months and ties you to the employer named on it. After 21 months of qualifying employment inside a 24-month window you can move to the Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte plus, which detaches you from a single employer. Five years of lawful settlement then opens Daueraufenthalt – EU, the permanent title. Citizenship is a much longer and separate matter — ten years in the ordinary case, and Austria does not generally permit dual nationality.

What is Austria's Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte: Skilled Worker in a Shortage Occupation?

Trained skilled workers whose occupation appears on the current year's Fachkräfteverordnung. In practice this is the most-used and most forgiving Austrian work route, and the one worth checking first. It lasts 24 months, tied to the employer named on the card. 21 months of employment within 24 leads to the Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte plus and free labour-market access; five years of lawful settlement opens Daueraufenthalt – EU.

What is Austria's Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte: Other Key Worker?

Skilled professionals whose occupation is not on the shortage list but who are paid well enough and score enough points — the catch-all employment route. It lasts 24 months, tied to the named employer. Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte plus after 21 of 24 months in the job; Daueraufenthalt – EU after five years of lawful settlement.

What is Austria's Blaue Karte EU (EU Blue Card)?

Graduates — and, since the directive was recast, experienced IT professionals without a degree — taking a well-paid Austrian job. Frequently the better card than the Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte for anyone the points table would penalise on age. It lasts 24 months, or the length of the contract plus three months if shorter. After 21 months of qualifying Blue Card employment in a 24-month window you can switch to the Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte plus and free labour-market access. Blue Card time counts toward the five years for Daueraufenthalt – EU, and time spent under a Blue Card in another EU member state can in principle be aggregated.

GlobeQuest

Moving from Zambia to Austria

What your passport gets you at the border — and what it takes to actually stay.

Zambia

AustriaShort stay

Visa required

Zambia passport holders need a visa arranged in advance to enter Austria, usually through an embassy, consulate or accredited visa centre.

This is short-stay visitor policy only. It does not let you work, study or settle in Austria — that needs a residence permit.

Passport Index · updated 17 February 2026Austria's official immigration service

Long stay

How you actually move to Austria

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte: Very Highly Qualified Worker

Senior and research-grade professionals who can score on qualification, salary, experience, language and age — and, uniquely in the Austrian system, the only group that may come to Austria to look for the job rather than arriving with it.

What you need

At least 70 of a possible 100 points on the Annex A criteria table
Points come from qualifications (a degree scores 20, a MINT degree 30, a doctorate 40), gross annual salary in a senior role (20–30 points from €50,000 upward), work experience, German or English at A1/A2, age under 35/40/45, and study in Austria
Either a job offer, or a six-month job-seeker visa used to find one in Austria
Health insurance covering all risks in Austria, and accommodation regarded as customary locally

How long it lasts: The job-seeker visa runs six months and cannot be worked on. The Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte itself is issued for 24 months and ties you to the employer named on it.
Path to permanent residence: After 21 months of qualifying employment inside a 24-month window you can move to the Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte plus, which detaches you from a single employer. Five years of lawful settlement then opens Daueraufenthalt – EU, the permanent title. Citizenship is a much longer and separate matter — ten years in the ordinary case, and Austria does not generally permit dual nationality.
Cost: The six-month job-seeker visa costs €195. Residence-title applications carry federal administrative fees of roughly €120–220 depending on category, plus certified translations and document legalisation, which are usually the larger bill.
Processing time: The AMS assessment plus the residence authority's decision commonly takes two to three months from a complete file; incomplete document legalisation is the usual cause of delay.

Worth knowing

The points table rewards being young. Twenty of the hundred points are age points and they disappear entirely at 45, which is why some very senior applicants score worse than their juniors and are steered to the EU Blue Card instead.
The job-seeker visa gives no right to work. It buys you six months in Austria to interview — nothing more — and it does not extend.
Salary points for the senior-management criterion are read on gross annual salary. Austrian offers are usually quoted on fourteen payments, so check whether a figure you have been given already includes the 13th and 14th salary before you score yourself.

Sources:migration.gv.at — Austria's official migration portal Federal Ministry of the Interior — residence titles under the NAG AMS — employment of foreign nationals (AuslBG)

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte: Skilled Worker in a Shortage Occupation

Trained skilled workers whose occupation appears on the current year's Fachkräfteverordnung. In practice this is the most-used and most forgiving Austrian work route, and the one worth checking first.

What you need

A completed vocational or higher training in an occupation on the Fachkräfteverordnung in force for the year you apply
At least 55 of a possible 90 points on the Annex B table — training, relevant work experience, age, and language (German, English, French, Spanish or Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian all score)
A binding job offer in that occupation
Pay at least at the rate set by the applicable collective agreement (Kollektivvertrag) for the correct classification — there is no separate euro threshold for this category
Health insurance and locally customary accommodation

How long it lasts: 24 months, tied to the employer named on the card.
Path to permanent residence: 21 months of employment within 24 leads to the Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte plus and free labour-market access; five years of lawful settlement opens Daueraufenthalt – EU.
Cost: Federal application fees in the low hundreds of euros, plus translation and legalisation of diplomas — budget more for the latter than the former.
Processing time: Typically two to three months once the AMS has the employer's file.

Worth knowing

The list is republished every year and this is the single biggest trap in the Austrian system. The 2026 Fachkräfteverordnung carries 64 nationwide occupations plus 66 that count only in named Bundesländer — a regional listing means the job has to be in that state. Confirm your occupation on the ordinance for the year you will actually file, not the year you started researching.
Being on the list is what removes the labour-market test (Ersatzkraftverfahren). Falling off it does not close the door, but it pushes you onto the 'other key worker' route with its salary threshold and a genuine test of whether a registered jobseeker could fill the post.
Your qualification usually has to be assessed for equivalence to the Austrian training. Start that early — it is routinely the long pole in the whole application.

Sources:migration.gv.at — Austria's official migration portal AMS — employment of foreign nationals (AuslBG)oesterreich.gv.at — residence and settlement

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte: Other Key Worker

Skilled professionals whose occupation is not on the shortage list but who are paid well enough and score enough points — the catch-all employment route.

What you need

At least 55 of a possible 90 points on the Annex C table (qualification, experience, language, age)
Gross monthly salary of at least 50% of the ASVG maximum contribution base plus special payments — €3,465 per month in 2026
A labour-market test: the AMS must find no equally qualified registered jobseeker available for the post
Health insurance and locally customary accommodation

How long it lasts: 24 months, tied to the named employer.
Path to permanent residence: Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte plus after 21 of 24 months in the job; Daueraufenthalt – EU after five years of lawful settlement.
Cost: Administrative fees in the low hundreds of euros, normally shared with or paid by the employer.
Processing time: Two to three months, longer where the labour-market test is contested.

Worth knowing

The €3,465 figure is not written into the statute — the statute says 50% of the § 108 Abs 3 ASVG maximum contribution base plus special payments, and that base is revalued each January. It rose sharply for 2026 (revaluation factor 1.073, base €6,450 → €6,930 per month), so a threshold quoted from 2025 understates the current one by €240 a month.
The 2022 amendment removed the old higher threshold for applicants over 30. Guides that still show two figures split by age are describing repealed law.
This is the only mainstream employment route where the AMS runs a full replacement-worker procedure, and it is the reason employers push candidates toward the shortage list or the Blue Card where either is available.

Sources:migration.gv.at — Austria's official migration portal AMS — employment of foreign nationals (AuslBG)Federal Ministry of the Interior — residence titles under the NAG

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Blaue Karte EU (EU Blue Card)

Graduates — and, since the directive was recast, experienced IT professionals without a degree — taking a well-paid Austrian job. Frequently the better card than the Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte for anyone the points table would penalise on age.

What you need

A completed higher-education course of at least three years; or, for IT and ICT service managers, at least three years of comparable relevant experience gained within the seven years before applying
A binding job offer of at least six months matching that qualification
Gross annual salary of at least €55,678 for 2026 — annual salary including special payments, i.e. measured across all fourteen Austrian payments
A labour-market test by the AMS

How long it lasts: 24 months, or the length of the contract plus three months if shorter.
Path to permanent residence: After 21 months of qualifying Blue Card employment in a 24-month window you can switch to the Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte plus and free labour-market access. Blue Card time counts toward the five years for Daueraufenthalt – EU, and time spent under a Blue Card in another EU member state can in principle be aggregated.
Cost: Federal application fees in the low hundreds of euros; usually handled by the employer at this salary level.
Processing time: Two to three months in the ordinary case.

Worth knowing

The salary threshold is the average annual gross wage of full-time employees, published anew each year — €55,678 for 2026. It was 1.5× that average until the AuslBG amendment of 1 October 2022 cut it to 1×; any source quoting a multiplier above 1 is out of date.
Because the threshold is measured including Sonderzahlungen, an offer of '€48,000 plus 13th and 14th' clears it while a flat €52,000 on twelve payments does not. Read the offer structure, not just the headline.
Austria still runs a labour-market test on the Blue Card, which not every member state does. It is rarely fatal at these salaries but it adds weeks.
Blue Card holders keep an employer link for the first period. It is not the free-access title — that is the Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte plus.

Sources:migration.gv.at — Austria's official migration portal AMS — employment of foreign nationals (AuslBG)Federal Ministry of the Interior — residence titles under the NAG

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte: Graduate of an Austrian university

People who completed a degree at an Austrian university or Fachhochschule and want to stay and work. The cheapest way into the Austrian labour market if you are already studying here.

What you need

A completed Austrian diploma, bachelor's, master's or doctoral programme (or the second stage of a diploma programme)
A job offer matching the level of the degree
Pay at the locally customary entry-level rate for comparable Austrian graduates — no separate statutory euro threshold and, importantly, no points test at all
Health insurance and customary accommodation

How long it lasts: Graduates may stay for twelve months after finishing to look for work, then hold a Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte for 24 months.
Path to permanent residence: Study time itself does not count fully toward settlement, but graduate employment does: Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte plus after 21 of 24 months, then the five-year clock to Daueraufenthalt – EU.
Cost: Administrative fees in the low hundreds of euros.
Processing time: Commonly six to ten weeks; the file is simpler than any other category.

Worth knowing

There is no points table and no labour-market test here. This is the single biggest advantage of finishing a degree in Austria and a startling number of graduates apply on a harder route without realising.
The twelve-month job-search window starts at completion of the programme, not at graduation ceremony or diploma collection. Do not let it run down.
'Locally customary' pay is judged against what an Austrian junior in that role earns, so an unusually low graduate offer can sink an otherwise clean application.

Sources:migration.gv.at — Austria's official migration portal oesterreich.gv.at — residence and settlement

Freelance / self-employedHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte: Start-up Founder

Founders building a genuinely innovative product, service or technology in Austria, who will personally control the company they set up.

What you need

At least 50 of a possible 85 points — qualification up to 30, work experience up to 10, language up to 15, plus up to 30 bonus points
Capital of at least €30,000 for the company to be founded, with an equity share of at least 50%
A coherent business plan showing an innovative product, service, process or technology
Personal controlling influence over the management of the new company

How long it lasts: 24 months, entitling you to run the business you described.
Path to permanent residence: Renewal is on the strength of the business having done roughly what the plan said. The path then runs Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte plus and, at five years of lawful settlement, Daueraufenthalt – EU.
Cost: €218 application fee, on top of company formation costs and notarial fees.
Processing time: Several months — the business plan is assessed substantively, not just filed.

Worth knowing

Bonus points are where this route is actually won: proving a further €50,000 of investment capital scores 10, and acceptance into an Austrian incubator or a start-up funding agency scores 10.
The assessment is of innovation, not of turnover. A consultancy or an import business, however profitable, is judged under the self-employed key-worker route instead.
Renewal is not automatic. If the company has not developed as the plan promised, the second card is a real decision rather than a formality.

Sources:migration.gv.at — Austria's official migration portal Federal Ministry of the Interior — residence titles under the NAG

Freelance / self-employedMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte: Self-employed Key Worker

Self-employed people and business owners whose activity brings a demonstrable macroeconomic benefit to Austria — the nearest thing Austria has to a freelance route.

What you need

Sustained transfer of investment capital of at least €100,000; or
Creation of new jobs or the securing of existing jobs in Austria; or
Transfer of know-how or the introduction of new technologies; or
A business of considerable significance for an entire region
Any trade licence or professional registration the activity requires under Austrian law

How long it lasts: 24 months, entitling you to pursue the specific self-employed activity described.
Path to permanent residence: Renewal on continued macroeconomic benefit; five years of lawful settlement opens Daueraufenthalt – EU.
Cost: €218 application fee, plus the cost of the business case, trade registration and accountancy.
Processing time: Several months. There is no points table — the whole decision is the macroeconomic-benefit assessment.

Worth knowing

Austria has no digital nomad visa and no remote-work visa, and there is no proposal in force. Working remotely for a foreign employer while in Austria on visa-free entry or a Schengen C visa is not permitted, however the income arrives. Anyone planning to base themselves in Vienna or Graz on foreign remote income has to fit one of the real routes — usually this one, the start-up card, or an employment card with an Austrian entity.
'Macroeconomic benefit' is assessed by the state's economic development body, not by the immigration officer, and a plan that reads as self-employment for one person rarely clears it. The €100,000 capital limb is the most predictable of the four.
Establishing a business in Austria usually means a Gewerbeberechtigung and compulsory Wirtschaftskammer membership, with SVS social-insurance contributions that catch first-year founders — they are assessed provisionally and then reassessed backwards once real profits are known.

Sources:migration.gv.at — Austria's official migration portal Federal Ministry of the Interior — residence titles under the NAG oesterreich.gv.at — residence and settlement

StudentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Aufenthaltsbewilligung – Student

Third-country nationals admitted to an Austrian university, Fachhochschule or a recognised preparatory course. Realistic as a route to residence because the graduate card that follows has no points test.

What you need

Letter of admission from an Austrian higher-education institution
Proof of sufficient means for the year — pegged to the ASVG standard rates, which for 2026 are €1,308.39 a month for a single person, with a lower rate for applicants under 24
Health insurance covering all risks in Austria
Accommodation regarded as customary locally

How long it lasts: Twelve months, renewable annually against evidence of academic progress.
Path to permanent residence: A student permit is a residence permit, not settlement, and time on it counts only at half rate toward Daueraufenthalt – EU. The realistic path is to convert to the graduate Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte within twelve months of finishing, and to run the settlement clock from there.
Cost: Administrative fees in the low hundreds of euros, plus tuition — which for non-EU students at public universities is charged at roughly double the EU rate.
Processing time: Typically six to twelve weeks; file as soon as admission is confirmed.

Worth knowing

Renewals require documented academic progress. Failing to earn the required ECTS credits in a year is a genuine ground for refusal, and it is the most common way a student permit is lost.
Employment is capped for students on this permit and needs a separate AMS confirmation from the employer. It cannot be the means of subsistence you evidence.
The half-rate counting of student time toward permanent residence surprises people who assumed a four-year degree put them most of the way to Daueraufenthalt – EU.

Sources:migration.gv.at — Austria's official migration portal oesterreich.gv.at — residence and settlement Federal Ministry of the Interior — residence titles under the NAG

RetirementMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Niederlassungsbewilligung – ausgenommen Erwerbstätigkeit

Retirees and people living on passive income who want to settle in Austria without working. Austria's only genuine private-means route — and the hardest to get, because it is capped by quota.

What you need

Regular monthly income of at least twice the ASVG standard rate — from pensions, foreign business profits, investments, savings or shareholdings
A quota place under the annual Niederlassungsverordnung, allocated per Bundesland
Proof of German at A1 level before the first application is filed
Health insurance covering all risks in Austria, and locally customary accommodation
No gainful employment of any kind in Austria, employed or self-employed

How long it lasts: Twelve months initially, then renewable, normally for three years.
Path to permanent residence: Time on this title counts toward the five years for Daueraufenthalt – EU, provided the quota renewal is granted each cycle.
Cost: Administrative fees in the low hundreds of euros, plus certified translations and apostilles for income evidence.
Processing time: Bounded by the quota year, not by the file. Applications are lodged at the Austrian representation abroad and compete for a fixed number of places, so a complete application can still simply run out of quota.

Worth knowing

This is the hard constraint people miss: the number of these permits is fixed annually by ordinance and allocated by Bundesland, and demand in Vienna routinely exceeds supply within days of the quota year opening. A perfect application is not enough — you need a place.
The A1 German requirement must be satisfied before the first application, not during the first year. That reverses the usual sequence and catches applicants who planned to learn German after arriving.
The income test is 'twice the standard rate', which is indexed each January — for 2026 the single-person standard rate is €1,308.39 a month, so the test lands near €2,617 for one person, higher for couples and per child. Verify the current rates rather than relying on a figure from an older guide.
The prohibition on gainful employment is absolute while the title is held. Picking up consulting work, even remotely for a foreign client, is a breach.

Sources:migration.gv.at — Austria's official migration portal Federal Ministry of the Interior — residence titles under the NAG oesterreich.gv.at — residence and settlement

FamilyHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte plus

Family members of card holders, and card holders themselves once they have served their qualifying period. This is the title that actually frees you from a single employer, and the one to aim at.

What you need

For a card holder: 21 months of qualifying employment inside the preceding 24 months on a Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte or an EU Blue Card
For family: spouse, registered partner or unmarried minor child of a qualifying permit holder
For researchers: two years on a Settlement Permit – Researcher
Module 1 of the Integration Agreement — German at A2 — for the longer three-year issue
Health insurance, means of subsistence and customary accommodation

How long it lasts: One year at first issue, extended to three years once you have been lawfully settled for at least two years and completed Module 1 of the Integration Agreement.
Path to permanent residence: Daueraufenthalt – EU after five years of continuous lawful settlement, subject to German at B1 (Module 2) and the income and insurance tests. Time held on a BMEIA Legitimationskarte as staff of an international organisation in Vienna can be credited toward that five years, which many UN and IAEA staff do not realise.
Cost: Administrative fees in the low hundreds of euros per family member.
Processing time: Six to twelve weeks in the ordinary case; file before the current card expires.

Worth knowing

Family members get unrestricted labour-market access on this card. Spouses on a plain Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte do not — the card plus is what makes a trailing spouse employable, and it is worth applying for it directly rather than accepting whatever the employer's lawyer filed by default.
The 21-of-24-months rule counts qualifying employment, not calendar residence. A gap between jobs eats into it.
The three-year issue depends on Module 1 of the Integration Agreement. Booking an A2 course in your first year rather than your last is the difference between annual renewals and a single three-year one.

Sources:migration.gv.at — Austria's official migration portal Federal Ministry of the Interior — residence titles under the NAG oesterreich.gv.at — residence and settlement

On the ground