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Travel Information on Austria

The following pages provide you with useful information (including visa information) for your trip to Austria. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to call us or send us an e-mail. In addition, both your travel agent and the Austrian National Tourist Office in Toronto can certainly provide you as well with answers to questions you might have.

We wish you a safe flight and a pleasant stay in Austria.

The following overview provides you with information on whether you need an entry permit (visa) or a residence permit to go to Austria. Remember that certain nationals, e.g. Canadians, do not need an entry permit (visa) to stay in Austria as either tourists or on a business trip for a period of up to three months. (If you enter Austria under the visa-waiver scheme, you are NOT allowed to take up any employment there.)

Starting January 1, 2006, it is the length of your stay in Austria that determines whether you must apply for an entry permit (visa)or a residence permit.

If you plan to take up employment in Austria, even if it is just a temporary or short-term one, please make sure that you obtain in advance all the necessary work authorization papers and (if you are not self-employed) a letter from your employer. Without proper papers, neither a visa nor a residence permit will be issued.

An entry permit (visa) is issued to foreign nationals who plan to go to Austria on a temporary basis. The stay must not exceed six months and (in most cases) you do not plan to take up any employment in Austria. Note that an entry permit is NOT a work authorization. However, starting January 1, 2006, some exceptions to this rule - mainly concerning certain temporary job assignments - come into effect.

If you answer yes to one of the following questions, you will most likely be issued an entry permit (visa) to enter Austria.

• Do you pass through Austria in (airport) transit?
• Do you intend to temporarily visit Austria as a tourist or to see friends or relatives who live in Austria?
• Are you on a (short-term) business trip to Austria?
• Will you take part in a conference or a seminar in Austria?
• Will you attend a German language course (up to six months)?
• Do you plan to study or to do an internship in Austria for up to six months?
• Will you be working as a guest professor at an Austrian university for one semester?

A residence permit is issued to all foreign nationals who plan to stay in Austria for more than six months.

If you answer yes to one of the following questions, you will most likely need a residence permit in order to both come to and stay in Austria.

• Do you plan to move to Austria permanently because you are retiring or you are married to an Austrian citizen?
• Will you be transferred to your company's office in Austria for more than six months?
• Do you plan to study at a university/college or to attend school (grade 1-12) in Austria for a period exceeding six months?
• Will you be working as a researcher (as defined by Austria's Alien Employment Act)at an Austrian university for more than six months?
• Do you plan to take up a one-year-job as as an "au-pair" in Austria?

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