Austria EU Blue Card 2026

You need a university or tertiary degree of at least three years (ICT professionals and service managers can substitute three years of relevant experience), a binding job offer matching your education and a gross annual salary of at least EUR 55,678 including special payments. The AMS checks that no equally qualified jobseeker is available.

Your degree counts if the university is listed with H+ status in the anabin database; otherwise a confirmation of status from the competent authority is needed. Formal recognition is only required for regulated professions.

Apply at the Austrian mission or let the employer file with the residence authority, with the employer's declaration. The AMS reviews degree, salary and labour market; the residence authority then issues the card and you obtain a type D visa.

Once the residence authority approves the title, the Austrian mission informs you. With that notification you lodge the type D visa application (EUR 195), enter Austria and collect the card from the residence authority.

The official estimate for the complete procedure is about eight weeks. Accommodation does not have to be proven when you apply, while health insurance covering all risks in Austria is required.

Register your address at the registration office (Meldezettel) within three days of moving in and collect the residence card from the competent residence authority. Holders of most residence titles must fulfil the integration agreement (Module 1, A2 German) within two years.

After at least 21 months of qualifying employment within the preceding 24 months you can obtain the Red-White-Red Card plus, which gives unlimited access to the labour market. Long-term resident EU status follows after five years with Module 2 of the integration agreement.

Renew in person at the residence authority for your place of residence in Austria, no earlier than three months before the card expires and no later than its expiry date; the fee is EUR 218. A timely application keeps your right of residence and your current labour-market access until the decision, and a confirmation valid for up to three months can be placed in your passport so that you can travel back to Austria. A late application only counts as a renewal if an unforeseeable event stopped you and you apply within two weeks after it ends; otherwise it is treated as a first application.

Family of Blue Card holders receive the Red-White-Red Card plus without quota and are exempt from the A1 German requirement before arrival. Spouses and registered partners must be 21 at application; children must be unmarried and under 18.

In the first 12 months you may start a new job provisionally 30 days after filing the change application with complete documents; after 12 months of Blue Card employment there is no waiting period or labour-market review. Self-employment is allowed if it is secondary to the main job.