The Red-White-Red Card: Austria’s work-and-residence permit
The Red-White-Red Card is the main work-and-residence permit for third-country nationals who come to Austria for a job: a single card, issued under § 41 of the Settlement and Residence Act, that grants both residence and the right to work for the employer named in the application.
It is not one route but seven. The Act sends each applicant into a category — very highly qualified workers, skilled workers in shortage occupations, other key workers, graduates of Austrian universities, self-employed key workers, start-up founders, and regular workers in tourism, agriculture and forestry — and each category has its own test: a points table, a salary floor, a shortage list, or a business plan. Which category applies decides what the file has to show, and reading them side by side is the fastest way to find yours.
Three things are true of the five employed categories. The card is issued for 24 months, or a shorter contract plus three months. It is tied to the employer named in the application, though since 7 August 2026 a holder who changes employer may start the new job provisionally 45 days after applying, and a holder who loses the job and reports it without delay keeps the card for at least 6 months of job search. And after two years, with 21 of the last 24 months in employment under its conditions, it leads to the Red-White-Red Card plus, which opens the whole labour market. The two self-employed categories share the 24 months but not the rest: a self-employed key worker moves after two years to a settlement permit for self-employment (§ 43(1) NAG), and a start-up founder reaches the plus card only if the company meets the conditions of § 24(4) AuslBG.
| Official name | Rot-Weiß-Rot – Karte (Red-White-Red Card) |
|---|---|
| Who it is for | Third-country nationals with a job offer or a business, in one of seven categories |
| Main requirement | The category’s own test — points, a salary floor, the shortage list, or the business — plus, in the employed categories, an employer’s declaration |
| Right to work | The named employer, anywhere in Austria (a regional shortage occupation: that province only) — or, in the self-employed categories, the assessed business; subsidiary self-employment allowed |
| Validity | 24 months, or a shorter contract plus three months; then the Red-White-Red Card plus for the employed categories, a settlement permit for self-employed key workers, the plus card on conditions for start-ups |
The legal basis
Summary of § 41 NAG, with the criteria in §§ 12–12d, 20d and 24 AuslBG — not the statutory wording
Under § 41 NAG a third-country national may be issued a Red-White-Red Card if he/she meets the general requirements of the Act — except the proof of accommodation and the “no financial burden” test, which are waived for this card — and the Public Employment Service (Arbeitsmarktservice, AMS) has confirmed in writing that the conditions of one of the following categories are met:
- very highly qualified workers — § 41(1) NAG with § 12 and Annex A AuslBG: at least 70 of 100 points;
- skilled workers in shortage occupations — § 41(2)(1) NAG with § 12a and Annex B AuslBG: a completed vocational training in an occupation on the year’s shortage list, at least 55 of 90 points, and pay at the collectively agreed minimum plus any customary overpayment;
- other key workers — § 41(2)(2) NAG with § 12b(1) and Annex C AuslBG: at least 55 of 90 points and a gross monthly salary of at least half the maximum contribution base under the ASVG, plus special payments;
- graduates of Austrian universities and colleges — § 41(2)(3) NAG with § 12b(2) AuslBG: a degree completed in Austria and a job matching it, paid at the rate customary for Austrian graduates;
- regular workers in tourism, agriculture and forestry — § 41(2)(3a) NAG with § 12d AuslBG: at least seven months as a registered regular seasonal worker in the same sector in each of the two preceding calendar years, German at A1, and an employer offering permanent employment;
- self-employed key workers — § 41(2)(4) NAG with § 24(1) AuslBG: an activity of macroeconomic benefit — in particular a transfer of at least €100,000 in investment capital or the creation or securing of jobs — or at least of significance for a region, confirmed by an expert opinion of the AMS provincial office;
- start-up founders — § 41(2)(5) NAG with § 24(2) and Annex D AuslBG: at least 50 of 85 points, an innovative product, a coherent business plan, a personal controlling influence on the management, and capital of at least €30,000, at least half of it equity.
The application is filed together with a written declaration by the employer that the stated employment conditions will be observed (§ 20d(1) AuslBG). The residence authority and the AMS must decide within 8 weeks of filing (§ 41(3) NAG). The card is issued for 24 months, or for the duration of a shorter employment contract plus three months (§ 41(5) NAG).
The conditions above are set out in § 41 NAG, with the criteria in §§ 12–12d, 20d and 24 AuslBG: § 41 NAG, § 20d AuslBG, Annex A to the AuslBG (Annexes B–D follow it in the consolidated text). The consolidated German text is published in the Austrian legal information system (RIS); the English on this page is a summary, and where the two differ the German text governs.
What each requirement means
A category, and its test
The Act does not ask whether you are a good candidate in general; it asks whether you fit one of seven boxes. Four of them are points tests — 70 of 100 for the very highly qualified, 55 of 90 for shortage occupations and for other key workers, 50 of 85 for start-up founders — counting qualification, experience, language and age. Graduates of Austrian universities have no points test at all, and self-employed key workers are assessed on the business. The category table below sets the seven out side by side.
An employer, and the employer’s declaration
Every employed category starts from a binding job offer. The employer signs a declaration that the pay and conditions stated in the application will be observed, and the employer may file the application in Austria on your behalf — together with the applications of your family. Of the employed categories, the only one that does not need an employer at the outset is the very highly qualified, who may come on a six-month job-seeker visa to find one; self-employed key workers and start-up founders need no employer at all.
The AMS confirmation — and, for other key workers, the labour-market test
The residence authority forwards every employed-category application to the regional office of the AMS, which has 4 weeks to confirm that the category’s conditions are met (§ 20d(1) AuslBG); for self-employed key workers and start-up founders the AMS provincial office gives its expert opinion on the business within 3 weeks (§ 24(3) AuslBG). For other key workers the AMS also runs a labour-market test: whether a registered job-seeker with the same qualification could fill the post. The very highly qualified, shortage occupations, graduates and regular workers are exempt from that test, which is a large part of why those categories are preferred where they fit.
The general requirements of the Act, minus two
All-risk health insurance valid in Austria, no threat to public order, a valid travel document. Two of the usual conditions are waived for this card: you do not have to prove accommodation, and you do not have to prove means of subsistence, because the salary is the means. German is not required for the card itself in six of the seven categories — in the four points categories it earns points, but it is nowhere a condition; regular workers in tourism, agriculture and forestry must show A1 — and the card counts as fulfilling Module 1 of the Integration Agreement.
24 months, one employer, and the rules since 7 August 2026
The card is issued for two years and tied to the employer in the application, anywhere in Austria. A change of employer inside those two years is a new application; since 7 August 2026 the new job may be started provisionally 45 days after it is filed if no decision has been made. Losing the job no longer means losing the card: if you report the end of the employment to the residence authority without delay, the card is not withdrawn for 6 months from the start of unemployment (§ 28(5a) NAG), and the AMS must allow at least the same 6 months of job search before it reports that the conditions have lapsed — 3 months more where you make it credible that the previous employer employed you under particularly exploitative working conditions (§ 28c(2)(1) AuslBG).
The seven categories compared
| Category | The test | Job offer needed | Labour-market test | Pay rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very highly qualified workers | 70 of 100 points | For the card, yes — a job matching the qualification; a six-month job-seeker visa lets you come to find one | No | Collective agreement; the job must match the qualification |
| Skilled workers in shortage occupations | 55 of 90 points, plus the 2026 shortage list | Yes | No | Collective-agreement minimum plus customary overpayment |
| Other key workers | 55 of 90 points | Yes | Yes | At least €3,465 gross a month in 2026, plus special payments |
| Graduates of Austrian universities | None — the Austrian degree is the test | Yes | No | What comparable Austrian graduates earn |
| Regular workers in tourism, agriculture and forestry | At least seven months in each of the two preceding calendar years as a registered regular seasonal worker (Stammsaisonier) in the same sector; German A1 | Yes — a permanent one | No | Collective agreement |
| Self-employed key workers | Macroeconomic benefit — in particular €100,000 invested or jobs created or secured — or at least regional significance | No — the business is yours | AMS expert opinion | — |
| Start-up founders | 50 of 85 points, an innovative product, a business plan, €30,000 in capital | No — the business is yours | AMS expert opinion | — |
The points tables themselves — how many points a degree, a year of experience, a language certificate or an age band is worth in each category — are on the category pages, and the official points calculator is on migration.gv.at. A points count is an indication, not a decision: the AMS counts from the documents, and a certificate that is too old or a degree that needs recognition can move the total.
Is the Red-White-Red Card a work visa?
Not in the sense the word usually carries. A visa is an entry document; the Red-White-Red Card is a residence title — a card that carries the right to live in Austria for its term and, on the same card, the right to work for the named employer. Someone who needs a visa to enter Austria applies for the card at the Austrian representation abroad, and once it is approved applies, within three months of the notice, for a four-month Visa D to enter Austria and collect the card, which has to be collected within six months of the notice (§ 23(2)–(3) NAG; the visa’s four months come from § 25(1) FPG). Someone who enters Austria without a visa — a citizen of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada or Australia, for example — may apply for the card from inside Austria during the visa-free stay of 90 days in any 180. Since 7 August 2026 such an application is no longer among the filings that give no right to stay beyond the visa-free period, and the official migration portal (migration.gv.at) says the applicant may remain while it is decided. There is no separate work permit to obtain: the AMS confirmation is built into the card.
What the card costs, and how long it takes
The federal fee for the card is €218 since 1 January 2026, whether the application is filed abroad or in Austria; a job-seeker visa costs €195. The authority and the AMS have 8 weeks from filing to decide, the AMS’s own share being 4 weeks (3 weeks for the expert opinion on a self-employed key worker or start-up). Those are statutory maxima, not averages; the eight weeks run from filing (§ 41(3) NAG), and the official migration portal (migration.gv.at) puts the procedure at about eight weeks depending on the completeness of the file, so a missing employer’s declaration, work reference or requested translation delays the outcome. The Vienna authority reported an average of 52 days for all third-country procedures in 2025.
What the application turns on
The category, first, and then the points. In our experience the commonest avoidable mistakes are the wrong category — an engineer with a job offer applying as a very highly qualified worker with 62 points when the same job offer would have carried him/her through the other-key-workers category at 55 — a certificate the points rest on that is older than five years, and a degree from outside Austria the AMS cannot place without further evidence of the institution’s status. Salary and age are assessed on the day the application is filed, so timing matters too.
Who you are
- A valid passport (§ 7(1)(1) NAG-DV). It is shown in the original before any title is issued, whoever files the application and however it is filed.
- A colour passport-format photograph, 45 × 35 mm, meeting the EU residence-permit photo standard (§ 2a NAG-DV, referring to Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002), not older than six months at the time of the decision.
- Where the application turns on them: your birth certificate, marriage or registered-partnership certificate, divorce decree, adoption order, or the certificate of a child’s birth (§ 7(1)(3) NAG-DV). A certificate issued abroad needs an apostille or consular legalisation, and a German translation, where the authority asks for them (§ 6(3)–(4) NAG-DV) — for civil-status certificates it usually does, though documents in English are often accepted without translation.
That an employer in Austria will employ you
- A signed employment contract, or a written offer that states the position, the gross monthly salary, the hours and the start date.
- The employer’s declaration (Arbeitgebererklärung) under the AuslBG — the employer’s written undertaking to observe the stated conditions (§ 20d(1) AuslBG; § 9 NAG-DV). The AMS form, completed and signed by the employer.
- For a shortage occupation: evidence of the collectively agreed minimum for the post and of any overpayment that is customary in the company. For the EU Blue Card: a contract or binding offer for at least six months — the requirement of the EU Blue Card Directive and of the official migration portal; the Austrian statute sets no minimum of its own and issues the card for two years, or for a shorter contract plus three months (§ 42(4) NAG).
What you are qualified as
- The degree certificate, and proof of the status of the institution that issued it (§ 9(1)(1) and § 9(2)(4) NAG-DV for the Red-White-Red Card; § 9(6)(2) NAG-DV for the EU Blue Card) — a diploma supplement or transcript usually does the second part. For the very highly qualified, a four-year programme; for other key workers and the EU Blue Card, three; for the Blue Card’s IT-experience route, a work reference and a confirmation of employment showing three years of degree-level experience in the last seven (§ 9(6)(4) NAG-DV).
- For the graduate category: the certificate of the Austrian degree, and for a diploma programme also the record of study and the examination certificates for the second stage (§ 9(3) NAG-DV).
- For a vocational qualification: the certificate or diploma of the completed training. For a shortage occupation, the training has to be in that occupation.
- For “special skills” without a formal qualification — a designer, a musician, an athlete, an IT specialist who learned on the job: employment and training references and an employer’s confirmation (§ 9(2)(2) NAG-DV).
- A degree from outside Austria does not need formal recognition (Nostrifizierung) for the Red-White-Red Card or the EU Blue Card except in a regulated profession — the health professions, for example — but the AMS has to be satisfied it is what it says it is. The official migration portal points to the anabin database: a university listed there with status H+ is recognised, and otherwise a confirmation of the institution’s status from the competent authority of that country is filed with the application. Where the degree itself is in doubt, an evaluation by ENIC NARIC Austria, the national recognition information centre, can be obtained in addition; allow time for it before filing.
How long you have worked, and where
- A work reference (Dienstzeugnis) and a confirmation of employment (Arbeitsbestätigung) from each employer (§ 9 NAG-DV) — one describing the work, the other confirming the dates. Both are needed; a CV proves nothing on its own.
- For the very highly qualified: last year’s tax assessment or salary confirmation together with the employer’s confirmation of a senior position, where the salary points are claimed, and proof that the company is listed on a stock exchange or a positive statement on its business from the competent Austrian foreign-trade office (§ 9(1)(3) NAG-DV) — the salary points exist only for a senior position at such a company; publications, an institution’s confirmation or a patent-register extract for research points; the award certificate for an award.
- Experience counts by the half-year, and experience gained in Austria counts double in the shortage-occupation and other-key-worker tables. The dates on the confirmations are what the AMS adds up.
Which languages you speak, for the points
- An internationally recognised diploma or course certificate for German or English (§ 9 NAG-DV) — and for French, Spanish or Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian at B1, which each earn five points. Certificates may not be older than 5 years on the day of application (§ 20d(6) AuslBG).
- A certificate that is one day too old earns nothing. If yours is near the limit, sit the test again before filing rather than after a refusal.
That you are insured against all risks in Austria
- For an employee: the employment contract usually does it — compulsory insurance with the ÖGK starts with the job, and the ordinance asks for a policy only where no compulsory insurance will exist (§ 7(1)(5) NAG-DV). The official migration portal (migration.gv.at) nonetheless lists evidence of health insurance among the documents for every application, so a confirmation from the employer or the insurer is worth including.
- For everyone else: a private policy that matches statutory cover — all risks, no waiting period for treatment, valid in Austria. Travel insurance does not qualify. Vienna publishes a list of accepted insurers and a clause the policy has to carry.
- Voluntary self-insurance with the ÖGK is an alternative for someone already registered at an address in Austria: €565.25 a month in 2026 at the full rate (reducible on application), and €78.84 a month for students. At the full rate it pays for treatment as a rule only after a waiting period — three months under § 124(1) ASVG, extendable to six by the insurer’s statutes; oesterreich.gv.at gives six months — and the authority accepts it only once it pays: until then a private policy has to bridge the gap.
Who your family are
- Your marriage certificate or registered-partnership certificate, and the birth certificates of the children who are applying, with an apostille or consular legalisation, and a German translation, where the authority asks for them (§ 7(1)(3), § 6(3)–(4) NAG-DV) — for civil-status certificates it usually does.
- Your partner’s passport and, for a third-country sponsor, his/her residence title; for an Austrian sponsor, the proof of citizenship; for an EU citizen, the registration certificate. For the NAG family titles — “Family Member”, the Red-White-Red Card plus and the § 69 permit — both spouses have to be at least 21 on the day of application, and a child under 18 (§ 2(1)(9) NAG); the family of an EU citizen follows the wider free-movement definition instead.
- For the settlement permit “Dependant” (§ 47(3) NAG) — parents, a durable partner, other dependent relatives of an Austrian — the sponsor’s declaration of liability in every case, even where the dependant has means of his/her own, certified by an Austrian notary or court and valid for at least five years. For “Family Member” and the Red-White-Red Card plus no declaration of liability is admissible: the family shows its own or household income.
Whether anything in your record stands in the way
- The general list of documents in § 7 NAG-DV does not include a certificate of good conduct. The authority assesses the public-order ground on what it holds and can ask for what it needs, and in practice the representations abroad and many authorities — Vienna for every first application — ask for a police clearance certificate from your country of nationality, and from any country you lived in for more than six months before coming to Austria, not older than three months; whether it has to be legalised is for the authority to say. Obtaining one before you file, and keeping it current, avoids a delay at the point where the file is otherwise complete.
- A conviction is not in itself a bar — with the exceptions in § 11(1) NAG: a conviction in the last twelve months for unlawful entry or evading border control, an entry ban or residence ban, and a recent return decision are absolute bars. Otherwise what the authority weighs is whether your stay would endanger public order or security (§ 11(4) NAG). That is a question for a lawyer before it is a question for a form.
How this route differs from the ones next to it
EU Blue Card
The EU Blue Card is the alternative for a graduate with a job offer at €55,678 a year or more in 2026. It has no points test, it moves more easily between EU states, and it exempts your family from the German-before-entry requirement — but it needs the degree and the salary, where the Red-White-Red Card takes experience and a lower salary instead.
Red-White-Red Card plus
The Red-White-Red Card plus is not applied for from abroad; it is what the card becomes after two years, if you were employed under the card’s conditions for 21 of the last 24 months — and it is what your spouse and children receive from the start, with unrestricted access to the labour market.