Residence and work visa – Privileg – Recht für alle

Residence and work visa

Problems with residence or work visa.

You live in Austria and you don’t have any exact answers regarding many for you complicated questions about your right of residence and understaffed professions.

The association Privileg offers you pro bono, in cooperation with many experts on this field the best possible solution. Together with our team all those complicated, expensive and often very long legal actions get easy, safe and fast.

Austrian visa – Submission and granting of the first residence permit

Where is the application for a first visa submitted and what happens then?

Applications for the first visa are submitted to the Austrian Embassy in the country of residence.
The embassy checks:

• whether the formal criteria are met and the documents are sent to the competent service in Austria.
• If a document or proof of knowledge of German at the A1 level is missing, the Embassy asks the candidate to complete the documentation. If the candidate does not do that, the procedure is suspended.
• The decision on the granted visa is delivered through the embassy. The candidate then travels to Austria to pick up the visa in person.
• If he does not do so within 6 months after the decision, the acquired residence permit expires.

Become a member of Privilege and through good counseling strengthen and exercise your rights.

Who can apply for the first visa in Austria?

    • Family members of Austrian citizens from Serbia, BiH, provided that their allowed time of tourist stay has not expired (three months during half a year).
    • Parents for a child born in Austria, if they have a valid residence visa, within a maximum of 6 months.
    • Family members of Austrian citizens from Serbia, BiH, especially highly qualified citizens of Serbia and BiH are allowed to submit a request for the so-called RWR card, but only during the permitted time of stay in Austria (without a visa or, for example, with a D visa to look for work obtained at the Austrian Embassy in origin)vided that their allowed time of tourist stay has not expired (three months during half a year).

Can we then wait for a visa in Austria?

NO! In case the procedure lasts longer than the allowed period of stay, the candidate must return to his country and wait for a decision there. Whoever violates that, does not get a visa and will have to pay a fine and leave Austria.

NOTE: If the citizens of the so-called third countries (Serbia, BiH) family members of EU citizens (eg Hungary) can apply for the issuance of documentation only in Austria.

Necessary documents and costs

  • A passport whose duration must exceed the validity of the issued visa.
  • Personal documents, evidence of the fulfillment of preconditions for an award, certificate of impunity, etc.
  • Documents from abroad must be translated into German and certified by a court interpreter for the German language.
  • An administrative fee of 120 euros, already when submitting a request for each adult 80 euros, and for minors 50 euros.

Additional costs are incurred due to the process of proving identity and data processing.

Austrian visa – General preconditions for granting

CANDIDATE

1) You must not endanger public order and safety

No one who was (is) illegal in Austria and worked “illegally” here can fulfill this condition (if the authorities find out about it). In case of refusal, the competent authority must also state the reasons.

2) You must have an insured apartment

As evidence of insured accommodation, we accept a contract on the lease of the apartment, on the subtenant relationship, and the pre-contract or contract of the ownership of the apartment. What’s also valid is an agreement of living at someone’s place or, for example, if you’re married and foreign, and have the right to use an apartment together with the spouse. The precondition is not accomplished if there is an agreement that can be revoked, such as if a friend allowed a foreigner to live at his house temporarily. Your future apartment must not be small, can’t have too many registered people living in it, it must have sanitary rooms, and it mustn’t be a house that is in a state of desolation.

3) You must have health insurance/strong>

The insurance must cover all risks. Either personal insurance, co-insurance through a family member, or private insurance is recognized. Whoever insures himself, as a rule, has to wait six months before he can start treatment. In the case of co-insurance, a certificate from the Bureau is sufficient. If legal insurance is possible only after the visa is granted, then private tourist insurance can serve as proof, covering all risks as well as mandatory. Any insurance must be valid at least as long as the permit.

4) You have to have secured money for living

You have to have a secure income for living Visa’s can only be granted if there is a secure and permanent personal or family income. The costs of the new foreigner’s stay must not be a burden on the state. This is only the case if the foreigner who already lives in the country (eg husband, wife) already have a secure, regular and unencumbered income in the amount of the allowance granted to the poorest residents of Austria. The required income is reduced by regular monatery obligations. The sum of all deductions can be reduces once by assigning the so-called “Free amount”.

Expenditures that reduce regular and secure income (e.g. salary) are rent, credit installments, payment of alimony for persons who do not live in the current household (e.g. ex-wife, children from the first marriage), and seizure of salary (due to unpaid debts). The husband/wife of an immigrant foreigner must not receive social assistance! Savings can also be included if it can be used to finance the stay of a foreigner for the entire duration. Pre-employment contracts can be a source of income in terms of evidence.

  • The first visa does not include any social services of monetary nature, to which you would be entitled only by granting a permit, such as money for child care.

Minimum amounts for 2017: Individual immigrating to Austria alone 889.84 euros; married couple without children (after deductions) 1,334.17 euros per month for free disposal, and those with children for each child an additional 137.30 euros. The free amount or the amount for which the authority “looks through your fingers” for this year is 284.32 euros.

Statement of responsibility

In order to obtain a visa, a person living in Austria must sign a guarantee for taking over the payment responsibilities (eg for settling in family member of Austrian citizens).

  • The guarantee can be signed by other people. This is, however, possible only in cases where the law explicitly provides for it (for granting a residence permit for a student, pupil or a residence permit for an artist).
  • The guarantee must be signed in front an Austrian notary or court and is valid for at least 5 years without the possibility of early withdrawal! The guarantor must prove that he is able to bear the costs. By signing the statement, she agrees to reimburse all expenses that could be incurred in the event that her “protégé” has to be expelled from the country or if he would receive social assistance. Giving such a statement is, therefore, a great risk and that is why you should think carefully before signing!

5) You must know German at level A1 and fulfill the integration agreement

Persons who have signed the integration agreement must pass the integration exam within 2 years, proving their knowledge of German at the A2 level and knowledge of the social values and order of Austria. Foreigners who obtain a residence permit (as students) are not subject to this obligation.

6) You have to get a place in the annual quota

The quota of foreigners from third countries who are allowed to join family members is determined on an annual basis. Family members of Austrian nationals from these countries do not fall into the quota, nor do persons with residence permits and those with Rot-Weiß-Rot Maps or residence permits for scientists and artists. The quota is determined annually for each province. In case of fulfillment of the preconditions, the requests of new foreigners are approved in the order of arrival, until the quota is filled, and then the remaining ones are rejected.

The exception is the majority of requests for family reunification, which are not rejected but are left for the next one if they do not enter this year’s quota. The waiting still has a legal end, 3 years after the submission of the request, when it must be met regardless of the existence of a place in the quota.

What does the visa application process look like and how long does it take?

· The request must be submitted and picked up in person (unless the person in younger than 14 years old)
· The purpose of the stay must be clear, which means that only 1 application can be submitted at a time. If the application isn’t clear enough it will get rejected. If during the process it turns out that another purpose for the residency application is needed, the authority must inform the candidate and give him the opportunity to alter the request.
· The competent authority takes all date relevant to the identification on the candidate (picture, signature, appearance description and fingerprints) as well as the delivery address needed to deliver the results of the application.
· In principle the results have to arrive withing 6 months. For an RWR card, the deadline is 8 weeks, but in practice the process takes longer, especially for family reunification.

Elimination of formal deficiencies during the procedure

If the candidate fails to obtain all the documents or to appear in person before the competent authority, the application is rejected due to formal deficiencies. A well-reasoned request with evidence for subsequent delivery can only be submitted until the authority has issued a decision.

In such cases, good counseling is necessary. We advise you for free.

Can we then wait for a visa in Austria?

NO!
In case the procedure lasts longer than the allowed period of stay, the candidate must return to his country and wait for a decision there. Whoever violates that, does not get a visa and will have to pay a fine and leave Austria.

NOTE: If the citizens of the so-called third countries (Serbia, BiH) family members of EU citizens (eg Hungary) can apply for the issuance of documentation only in Austria.

Austrian visa – Who else are allowed to move to Austria today?

Only specially well-qualified staff with a “red-white-red” (RWR) card, their family members, who are also allowed to work, as well as students who graduate from college and find an occupation that suits their qualification, are officially allowed to come to Austria today.

People who want to live and work in Austria permanently:

• they must submit a request for the issuance of the so-called red-white-red cards.
• Based on the scoring, it is determined whether they meet the criteria.
• Who is interested can calculate online what his chances are.
• The Austrian Employment Service checks based on documents whether the minimum number of points has been achieved.
• For the RWR-card, in addition to the required number of points, the general conditions (insured income, health insurance, apartment) must be met, and an employment offer from an Austrian employer must be available.

Applications are submitted either at the Austrian embassy/consulate abroad or in Austria during the permitted tourist stay. If the application is submitted in Austria, and the processing takes longer than the allowed tourist stays, the candidate must leave the country and wait for the award in his / her country.

Red-white-red map (RWR Maps)

This license looks like a bank card and allows you to:
• residence and work in Austria.
• It is issued for two years and gives the owner the right to be employed only by one specific employer.
• In case of a change of employer during the first two years, a new card of this type must be requested.

Applications for this permit can be submitted by:

1. Highly qualified (Besonders Hochqualifizierte)
2. Experts in deficit occupations (Fachkräfte in Mangelberufen)
3. Other ‘key workforce’ (Sonstige Schlüsselkräfte)
4. Persons who have completed an Austrian university/college (StudienabsolventInnen österreichischer Hochschulen)
5. Self-employed “key workforce” (Selbständige Schlüsselkräfte)
6. Founders of the “Start-up” company (Start-up GründerInnen)

Job search visa for especially highly qualified

Particularly highly qualified are those who collect between 70 and 100 points. This visa is intended for top managers and other specially qualified personnel who have not yet found employment in Austria.

You can get a job visa at the embassy for six months.
If you find a job, then you apply for a Rot-Weiß-Rot – Map in the country. If you do not find a job during that time, you have to leave the country. You can apply for such a visa again only 12 months after the expiration of the previous one.
If a job is found and an application for Rot-Weiß-Rot – Tickets is submitted in Austria, and your license does not expire, the foreigner must return to his country and wait there.

This visa cannot be obtained by anyone who does not belong to the “specially qualified persons”.

Red-white-red card plus (RWR – Cards plus)

This card also looks like a bank card and allows you to:
• settling in Austria,
• as well as unrestricted access to the labor market.
• The owners of this card can change employers and do not have to ask for a new permit.
• Applications for this permit can be submitted by family members (husband, wife, or a same-sex registered partner, who must be over 21 years of age at the time of application; unmarried born, adopted children, and stepchildren up to 18 years of age).

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