Austria Graduate Work Route
Austria
Residency
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See if you're a match →Austria's Red-White-Red Card graduate route is for graduates of Austrian higher-education programs who find qualifying skilled work in Austria. It generally requires an eligible Austrian degree, a suitable job offer, and meeting pay and employment rules.
- Type
- Study-to-work pathway
- Study plan
- Graduates moving from study into local work
- Core requirements
- Study records, local status, and job-search or work rules
- What to know
- Study can help, but work eligibility has its own rules
Summary
Austria gives third-country graduates of Austrian universities a work-transition route. After completing qualifying Austrian studies, graduates can extend their student residence to look for work or start a business. If they find a job that matches their education and pays the local graduate rate, they can apply for a Red-White-Red Card without a points test.
This pathway is mainly for people already studying in Austria or close to finishing an Austrian degree.
Eligibility
- You are a third-country national
- You completed a qualifying degree at an Austrian university, university of applied sciences, or accredited private university
- You are within the permitted post-study search period or otherwise eligible to change status
- You have, or are pursuing, a job matching your education level
- The job pays the locally customary graduate salary
- Your residence file is otherwise admissible: valid passport, health-insurance coverage, no public-order or security concern, and enough means to support yourself without relying on Austrian welfare. Austria generally does not require separate proof of locally customary accommodation for a Red-White-Red Card, but housing costs can still matter when the authority checks means.
What This Route Allows
If approved, this route gives you study-to-work pathway in Austria. Key limit: Study can help, but work eligibility has its own rules.
What This Route Is Not
This is not a guarantee of approval. Immigration authorities can still review documents, admissibility, background, funds, and whether the facts match the pathway rules.
Key Documents
- Passport
- Austrian degree documents or proof of completion
- Current residence permit documents
- Austrian job offer or employment contract
- Employer declaration
- Evidence that the role matches your education
- Health insurance and financial-support documents where required
Next Steps
- Confirm your Austrian degree qualifies.
- If still searching, confirm your residence permit can be renewed for job search or business start-up.
- Once you have an offer, confirm the role matches your education.
- Confirm the salary is locally customary for graduates.
- File for the Red-White-Red Card through the competent Austrian authority.