Housing
& Immigration

How do I register myself and my residence in Austria? How can I bring my family to Austria?

House hunting

Registering your residence

Registering yourself in Austria

FAQ on residence – settlement – integration agreement

I would like to bring
my family to Austria

Right of residence & title

Other registrations

House hunting

Housing exchanges

In daily & complimentary newspapers
Property scout
I want
Housing exchange
Immodirekt
TT Immo
The Standard

Note: Other housing exchanges can be added here if required. Current average rent in Tyrol: According to the rent index: 8.14 €/m2 (as of April 2023)

Property brokers

Property brokers or real estate agents can help you find an apartment or a house. You may contact them either online or in person at a real estate office. They charge a fee for their services – the costs for the commission must be paid by the landlord. Visiting and viewing various properties with real estate agents is free of charge for you.

Who can help me with legal issues?

Austrian Tenants’ and Homeowners’ Association (OEMB)

Information on property and tenancy law issues, initial advice on all housing law issues is free of charge at ÖMB (even without membership).
www.mieterbund.at

Tenant Protection Association Austria – Tyrol Regional Association

Help with housing-related problems

Austrian Tenants’ Association

Regional office Tyrol: Counselling in all matters relating to housing.

Note: Turkish interpreting every 1st Tuesday of the month

Registering your residence

All citizens must register with the registration office of their home municipality within 3 days of their arrival. The address is available in the municipality section.

What do I need to bring with me?

Identity card or passport
Completed registration form:
which must be signed by the landlord. A signed tenancy agreement is not sufficient.

The registration form is available as a PDF download here.

Don’t forget to deregister at the registration office when you move out or relocate! You can also do this online in the “Digitales Amt” app.

Registering yourself in Austria

(EEA citizens, Swiss citizens, third countries)

I am an EU or EEA citizen or a Swiss citizen

(EEA: EU + Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) (Registration deadline: 4 months from arrival)

Applying for a registration certificate (for stays longer than 3 months)

Close relatives of EEA citizens who come from third countries receive a residence card that is valid for 5 years. Thereafter, you can apply for a permanent residence card.

Where?
District authority team in Kufstein home municipality
Bozner Platz 1, 6330 Kufstein
An appointment must be sought online for this

What do I need to bring with me?

Registration form
Identity card or passport
Proof of income (payslip, employment contract or bank balance)
Proof of insurance or e-card
15.00 € fee
for spouses: Marriage or partner certificate
for children: birth or adoption certificate

Close relatives are: Spouses, registered partners and cohabiting partners, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, biological children, adopted and foster children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as biological children of spouses, registered partners and cohabiting partners living in the same household.

I am not an EU/EEA/Swiss citizen (= third country)

Application for residence title for Austria (for stays longer than 6 months)

Third-country nationals generally require a visa for a temporary stay of up to 6 months. You can obtain a visa from the Austrian representative authorities abroad. These are the Austrian embassies or consulates. People from some countries may also enter Austria without a visa for tourism purposes. A residence visa can be issued for certain types of work (especially seasonal work) (Visa D).

Where?
Austrian embassy, consulate in your home country before entering Austria

What do I need to bring with me?
What do I need to bring with me? Ask at the Austrian embassy or consulate or look under Applying for Visa.

There are countries that are exempt from the visa requirement, which you can find here:
Visa list (English)

Application for residence title for Austria (for stays longer than 6 months)

There are 3 different types of residence permit:

Residence permit: Issued for a stay of more than six months and limited to 12 months for a specific purpose (e.g., for school children or students). They can be extended under certain conditions.
Settlement permit: With a settlement permit, you can stay in Austria for a longer period, for example, as a family member of Austrians. Residence is limited in time and can be extended under certain conditions. Some settlement permits only allow a certain number of people to come to Austria per year.
Permanent residence – EU: If you have lived in Austria for 5 years and you have completed Module 2 of the Integration Agreement (see ”What is the Integration Agreement?”), you can stay in Austria indefinitely with this residence title.

Where?

In person at the Austrian embassy or consulate in your home country before travelling to Austria Exception: In Austria, you must submit the application to extend your residence permit to the district authority.

What do I need to bring with me?

Please enquire at the Austrian embassy/consulate and have a look here: General conditions for the issue of residence permits.

You will receive a residence permit if the following general requirements are met:

You have health insurance that covers “all risks“.
You must prove that you live in a house/apartment
that is big enough for the family.
The livelihood must be secured. This means that the stay must not lead to any financial burden for the general public
= in other words, you have to earn more than you spend.
The stay must not jeopardise public order or security, be connected with terrorist or extremist activities or significantly impair Austria’s relations with other countries.

What does ”German before immigration” mean (only relevant for third-country nationals)

If you want to stay in Austria, you must provide proof of basic German language skills at level A1 (CEFR) when applying for a residence permit for the first time. You must have this proof
before you come to Austria. Only certificates from an examination institution recognised by the Austrian Integration Fund (OeIF) are recognised. You can find detailed information about this here OeIF.

FAQ on residence - settlement - integration agreement

What is the integration agreement? (important for third-country nationals)

The integration agreement is proof that you are learning German and the basic values of the Republic of Austria and that you want to live in Austria.

Modul 1

Module 1 of the integration agreement is mandatory and consists of proof of German language skills (level A2 CEFR) and knowledge of the fundamental values of the Republic of Austria. You must provide proof of German language skills and knowledge of the values within 2 years of the first issue of the settlement permit.

Modul 2

Module 2 of the Integration Agreement is voluntary and consists of proof of German language skills (level B1 CEFR) and in-depth knowledge of the most important values of the Republic of Austria. As a third-country national, you must have this knowledge if you wish to stay in Austria permanently (permanent residence permit – EU) or become an Austrian citizen.

CEFR = The European Framework of Reference for Languages is used as reference for the language level. language levels

For detailed information on this, click here OeIF Integration Agreement.

If you are unable to conclude the integration agreement for specific reasons, contact the registration authority in good time to explain why you need more time to conclude the integration agreement: You may face administrative penalties. In the worst case scenario, you will lose your right of residence and have to leave Austria. German language skills: You must also learn to speak German well enough! Hence, proof that you have passed a German language exam alone is not always sufficient. The authorities can check your language skills and determine whether your language skills are sufficient (despite having passed the exam).

I would like to bring my family to Austria

Family reunification for relatives of Austrians

This immigration is exempt from the quota obligation. If members of the nuclear family meet the general requirements, they will receive the residence title issued to family members. Other relatives of Austrians receive a settlement permit – family member – under certain conditions. This includes, for example, parents, adult children, grandparents or life partners. They are not part of the nuclear family and must fulfil the general requirements. They are not allowed to work in Austria. Before entering the country, they must submit a declaration of liability that they will pay all costs if they live in Austria.

Family reunification for relatives of persons from the EU/EEA and Switzerland

If your family members joining you are EEA citizens or Swiss nationals themselves, they must apply for a registration certificate for a stay of more than three months. If your relatives are third-country nationals and belong to the group of close relatives, they are authorised to settle in Austria and will receive a residence card. This is valid for 5 years. After that, you can apply for a permanent residence card.

Close relatives are, for example, spouses, children who are granted maintenance (up to the age of 21) and parents who are granted maintenance. Other relatives (parents without maintenance, parents-in-law and grandparents) can obtain a quota-free settlement permit – relative.

Family reunification of third-country nationals

Family reunification is limited to the nuclear family. Family reunification is subject to quotas. This means that there are a certain number of persons eligible per year in each federal state. In addition, the general requirements for obtaining a permit must be met.

Nuclear family

Spouses – only from the age of 21
Registered partners – only from the age of 21
unmarried, underage children – this also includes adopted children and stepchildren

The general requirements for authorisation are

sufficient means of subsistence
= Income of at least €1,110.26 for you, €1,751.56 for married couples and €171.31 for each child.
Health insurance cover
Rental agreement

Right of residence & title

I would like to extend my residence permit

Your residence permit can be extended at the earliest 3 months before it expires. You must submit the application in good time before your old residence permit expires.

If you submit the application after the expiry of the validity period, it is considered a first-time application. You must submit this again to the competent Austrian representative authority (embassy, consulate general) abroad. It is possible that such an application is subject to quotas.

When will I receive a permanent right of residence?

As an EEA citizen, you will receive a permanent right of residence if you have resided legally and continuously in Austria for 5 years.
As a third-country national, you can apply for a permanent residence permit – EU if you:
- you have been allowed to live in Austria for the last 5 years and
- fulfil module 2 of the integration agreement
Persons entitled to asylum or subsidiary protection also have the option of applying for the residence title “Permanent residence – EU” after 5 years. The right of residence is unlimited once this residence title has been issued, but you must renew the card every 5 years.

The permanent right of residence may expire if you stay outside the EEA for longer than 12 months.

Helpful contact points

District administration (Kufstein)

Bozner Platz 1, 6330 Kufstein

An appointment must be made online.

ZeMiT/AST

Or in Innsbruck

Helpful links

Information page of the Federal Government
Tyrolean Bar Association (contact point for legal issues)
Austrian Integration Fund

How long am I allowed to stay in Austria?

This depends on which country you come from and which visa/residence permit you have. Without work or other activity (e.g., studying), you are allowed to stay in Austria for a maximum of 3 months. Thereafter, you need a permanent residence certificate. Citizens of third countries need a visa for a stay of up to 6 months and a residence permit after these 6 months in order to stay in Austria.
Detailed information is available here under Subsidiary in Austria.

Other registrations

Registering your car

Those who have their primary residence in Austria may use a car or trailer with a foreign licence plate for one month in Austria. After that, the car must be registered in Austria. The new residential address must be registered at a regional transport office.
More information here: Driving with a foreign licence plate

Before a car/motorbike/moped can be registered at a regional transport office, you must buy third party liability insurance policy valid in Austria.

You will need the following documents:

Identity document
(Licensing office makes an enquiry with the register of residents)
Insurance certificate of the car
Proof of authorisation (one of them):
Type certificate/individual approval/proof of registration/last approval document/both parts of the registration certificate (the latter for vehicles from another EU member state).
For new cars (one of them): Purchase contract/invoice/confirmation of sale/type certificate of the new owner(s)
For used cars (one of these): Valid test assessment certificate/personal declaration of the previous owner at the regional transport office/gift deed

Detailed information is available here: Vehicle registration

The current data must also be disclosed to the motor vehicle insurance company. A letter stating the new address is usually sufficient.

Re-registration/change of driving licence = application for an Austrian driving licence

If you are a resident of the EU or the EEA, you do not have to have your driving licence transferred. If you are a non-EU or non-EEA citizen resident in Austria, your driving licence is valid for 6 months. After that, you must have it transferred. In exceptional cases, you may also have to take a practical driving test.

The following documents are required for the transfer:

Passport
Foreign driving licence (with translation if necessary)
Photo (portrait format 35 x 45 mm)
Medical certificate
Possibly confirmation of the notification (facilitates processing by the authority, but can also be replaced by an enquiry by the authority with the register of residents)

For detailed information on this, please click under Checklist for motor vehicles and driving licences in Austria for third-country nationals

Registering for electricity

In Austria, you are free to choose your electricity provider. For example, you can go to the homepage of “e-control” to compare electricity providers and choose the best one for you. If you have a contract with an electricity provider, you must inform the local grid operator that the occupant(s) of the apartment/house has/have moved. You must then also conclude a usage contract with the grid operator or take over the contract of the previous tenant.
Detailed information on electricity registration is also available here at “durchblicker”. (only in German)

Register dog

If your dog is older than 3 months, you must pay dog tax for it. The amount of dog tax is determined by the municipality. Registration takes place at the respective municipal office or the municipal police.

Forward mail

You can set up a forwarding order with the post office. This means that mail will (usually) be sent directly to your new address in Austria for 3 months. During this time, you can announce the change of address anywhere. Information on the Austrian forwarding order: Forwarding order by post

Internet login

You should compare internet tariffs online and see which provider is available in your area. Have you made your decision? Then take out a contract online (sometimes a WLAN router has to be purchased).
Further information on electricity registration and a comparison of Internet providers can be found on “durchblicker“. (only in German)