Residence permit “Red-White-Red Card”: residence and work permit with one card

The Red-White-Red card is an attractive residence permit for qualified professionals who have a job offer from an Austrian company. The immigration office and the Austrian Labour Market Agency (AMS) assess an applicant’s professional qualifications according to a set of defined criteria. An applicant gets “credits” for an accomplished professional education, training and professional experience as well as English and German language skills. The job-offer by the Austrian company and the future employer have to fulfil certain criteria as well (minimum salary, qualified and adequate position in the company etc.).
The criteria are explained under www.migration.gv.at. Although the critera are clearly stated in the relevant regulations, administrative practice shows that the interpretation may differ. Good preparation of an application facilitate a positive decision by the immigration office and Austrian Labour Market Agency (AMS).

Facilitations since 1 Oct 2022

An amendment to the Austrian Residence and Settlement Act (“Niederlassungs- und Aufenthaltsgesetz”, short: “NAG”) and the Foreign Labour Act (“Ausländerbeschäftigungsgesetz”, short “AuslBG”), BGBl I 106/2022, has entered into force on 1 October 2022. The amendment is intended to counteract the shortage of skilled workers by relaxing the conditions for issuing the Red-White-Red Card and thus facilitating the access of skilled workers to the Austrian labor market. We present some of the most relevant amendments.

Reduction of the required minimum salary

In the case of the Red-White-Red Card for other key employees (“Rot-Weiß-Rot Karte für sonstige Schlüsselkräfte“), the age-related limit for the required salary will be abolished. After the new regulations come into force, all employees must therefore only prove that they have a gross salary of 50% of the social security maximum contribution base. The higher required amount for employees over 30 years of age will thus be eliminated. For the year 2022, the required salary will therefore be € 2,835 gross per month for all applicants. 

More “credits” for English language skills

In the case of the Red-White-Red Card for skilled workers in shortage occupations (“Rot-Weiß-Rot Karte für Fachkräfte in Mangelberufen”) and for other key employees (“Rot-Weiß-Rot Karte für sonstige Schlüsselkräfte“), additional points will be provided for English language skills if the predominant language at the work place is English. In these cases, therefore, English and German skills are assessed with the same number of points. 

Standardized proof of professional qualification

With regard to qualifications, in the future there will no longer be a distinction between a university degree and completed professional training for skilled workers. All employees will receive a uniform 30 points for completed professional training in the shortage occupation.

Minimum investment for start-up founders

When founding a start-up, only a share capital of € 30,000 instead of € 50,000 has to be proven in order to obtain a residence permit.

Professional experience

For all red-white-red cards, the evaluation of professional experience will be calculated in half years instead of whole years in the future.

The aim of these measures is to make it easier for qualified applicants to achieve the required points and thus to gain access to the Austrian labor market.
The changes are welcome for qualified professionals who want to settle in Austria and for Austrian companies.

We have assisted numerous applicants with applications for Red-White-Red cards unter the new and facilitated regulations.

If you need support, advice and representation in a procedure to obtain a Red-White-Red Card, we look forward to hearing from you!