Austria Highly Qualified Worker
Austria
Residency
Could you qualify?
Answer a few quick questions to see which global citizenship and residency pathways fit your background. It's free, and takes just a few minutes.
See if you're a match →Austria's very-highly-qualified route is for applicants with a strong points profile who can qualify for job search or a Red-White-Red Card after finding suitable work. It generally requires high-level education, experience, language ability, age points, and proof of funds where relevant.
- Type
- Skilled-work residence
- Job fit
- Workers with a qualifying role or strong professional profile
- Core requirements
- Job offer, qualifications, and pay or points rules
- What to know
- The job usually has to meet salary and skill rules
Summary
Austria's Red-White-Red Card for Very Highly Qualified Workers is for strong professional profiles that meet Austria's points threshold. It can support two practical paths: a job-seeker visa for highly qualified applicants who do not yet have an Austrian offer, or a Red-White-Red Card once a suitable job offer exists.
The points test considers education, special qualifications, research and innovation, awards, work experience, language ability, age, and Austrian study experience. The points calculator is only an estimate; Austrian authorities make the formal decision.
Eligibility
- You are a third-country national
- You can score enough points under the very-highly-qualified criteria
- You either want to look for qualified work in Austria or already have a suitable Austrian job offer
- If applying for the Red-White-Red Card itself, the job must match your qualification and pay appropriately
- 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 skilled-work residence in Austria. Key limit: The job usually has to meet salary and skill 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
- Degrees, transcripts, certificates, or professional records
- Proof of research, patents, awards, senior roles, or other point-scoring achievements
- Work references
- Language certificates if claiming language points
- Austrian job offer and employer declaration, if applying with an offer
Next Steps
- Estimate your points using the official Austrian criteria.
- Decide whether you are applying as a job seeker or with an Austrian job offer.
- Gather documents for every point category you plan to claim.
- If you have an offer, confirm the job matches your qualification.
- File through the Austrian representation or competent Austrian authority.