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5 programs for Austria. Explore the options and get a free expert assessment.
Austria does issue the EU-wide Blue Card for highly qualified professionals. You need a degree (or, for IT and managerial roles, three years of comparable experience), a job offer of at least six months, and a salary at or above the Austrian threshold. It runs in parallel to the Red-White-Red Card and, after 21 of 24 months in qualifying work, opens the door to a Red-White-Red Card plus with open labour-market access.
A simpler route for international students who finished a degree in Austria and want to stay and work. Unlike the other Red-White-Red tiers, there is no points test here. You just need a graduate-level job offer paying the locally customary minimum for comparable junior staff. After studying here, it is often the most direct way to move into the Austrian workforce.
The general key-worker tier of the Red-White-Red Card, for roles that are not very-highly-qualified or shortage-listed but still meet a points threshold and a minimum salary. A labour-market test applies: the AMS checks that no equally qualified jobseeker is already available for the role before approving it.
For trained workers in occupations Austria has officially flagged as short of staff. You need a job offer in a listed shortage occupation and to pass a points test (55 of 90). Both a nationwide and a regional shortage-occupation list apply, so the qualifying jobs change from year to year. The card is normally issued for 24 months.
Austria's flagship route for top-tier talent, scored on a points test. If you reach 70 of 100 points across qualifications, experience, language and age, you can come to find work on a Job Seeker Visa and then switch to this card once you have a matching job offer. It is the premium tier of Austria's Red-White-Red (Rot-Weiss-Rot) Card system.
Austria's EU Blue Card is for highly qualified professionals with a degree (or, for IT and managerial roles, three years of comparable experience), a job offer of at least six months, and gross annual pay of at least EUR 55,678 (2026).
The Red-White-Red Card — Very Highly Qualified Workers tier is Austria's premium points-based route for top talent: reach 70 of 100 points and you can enter on a six-month Job Seeker Visa, then switch to the card once you have a matching job offer.
Take the free assessment or ask Acey, our immigration assistant.
