Are you allowed to work in Austria? Work Permits explained.
EU/EFTA citizens, including Romanians and Bulgarians are allowed to live and work in Austria without any permits however if you intend to stay for more than 3 months you have to apply for permanent residency ate their nearest Office of Residence. In order to receive residency you have to prove that you are financially capable of supporting yourself.
Non-EU nationals may need a visa in order to come to Austria details of which countries and guidelines for application can be found on the Bürgerservice section on the website of the http://www.bmeia.gv.at/aussenministerium/buergerservice/pass-und-visum.html or contact your local Austrian embassy. Visas can be simply for entry into Austria or can be tied up with certain types of employment as follows.
The EU Blue Card as in Germany allows highly qualified non-EU citizens to live and work in Austria for two years or less. It is always tied to a specific job/employer and that job has to be shown to be unable to be filled by a local Austrian or EU citizen. Only university graduates are eligible for the card and the qualification must match the job that they are being given and the salary must be 1.5 times the average income of an Austrian full time employee. It’s worth checking these figures with your prospective employer.
The Red-White-Red Card is for ‘key-workers’. It allows them to live and work in Austria for 12 months. You must be highly skilled and qualified in an occupation that has a high demand for workers, or be self-employed in a similar high demand industry or be a graduate from one of Austria’s universities. The cards are awarded on a points based system and you need to fulfil certain criteria to apply please check here for more details - http://www.migration.gv.at/en/
Finally Jobseekers Visas are also available to non-EU citizens who are highly qualified and looking for work in Austria. They allow you to look for work but once you get a job offer you then must apply for one of the permits outlined above. They operate on a points basis and are given at the discretion of the Public Employment Service (AMS) - http://www.ams.at/english.html.
