The authority, exactly
You may also apply, or have your case assessed, at the Austrian representation (embassy or consulate) responsible for your place of residence if you apply from outside Austria.
Austria · Work authorisation
EU Blue Card
Issued by The Austrian Public Employment Service (AMS) runs the labour market check; the residence authority for where you will live in Austria issues the card. It is checked against conditions rather than scored, so the question is whether you meet each one, not how many points you gather.
Conditions
What this permit
asks of you.
Salary floor
EUR 55,678 a year
migration.gv.at states this as the gross annual salary threshold for 2026, inclusive of special payments — the extra periodic payments common in Austrian pay structures beyond twelve monthly instalments. Confirm the figure in force on the date you apply.
A figure without the year it belongs to and the condition attached to it is how someone rules themselves out of a permit they qualify for. Both are above.
What it wants from your degree
A qualification from a course of study at a university or other tertiary institution lasting at least three years, or, for information and communication technology and service-management roles specifically, at least three years of relevant professional experience gained in the seven years before applying.
The procedure
4 steps,
in the order they happen.
Prepare your documents
- Secure a work contract or a binding job offer of at least six months that meets the salary threshold, and arrange sickness insurance.
- Confirm you meet the qualification criterion above — a degree of at least three years, or, for information and communication technology and service-management roles, at least three years of relevant professional experience gained in the seven years before applying.The pages we read do not list an ENIC-NARIC Austria evaluation as a required document for this card. Where your degree is hard to document on its own, that evaluation can still support your case.
Get your qualification assessed
- Expect the Austrian Public Employment Service to check that no equally qualified Austrian, EU or EEA jobseeker is available for the role.
Register and start working
- Apply in person at the Austrian representation responsible for your place of residence, or have your employer file the application at the residence authority for where you will live in Austria.
Cost and time
What it costs,
and how long the authority says it takes.
Fees
Timeframes
Published processing times, not a prediction about your case.
Both halves together
Guides that use this permit.
Each one takes a profession into Austria and runs the recognition branch and the authorisation branch side by side, including what your country of qualification adds.
- Austria Work Visa for Software DevelopersRed-White-Red Card for IT specialists
Evidence
Every claim on this page, and where it came from.
2 official pages, each with the jurisdiction it speaks for and the date a human last opened it. The oldest is 2026-08-09, and that is the date this page is only as fresh as.
- migration.gv.at — EU Blue Card (eligibility, salary threshold 2026, fees, validity)AT · checked 2026-08-09
- migration.gv.at — Criteria-based immigration to Austria: the Red-White-Red Card modulesAT · checked 2026-08-09
Is this the right permit for you?
That depends on where you qualified.
The planner compares every route Austria opens to your country of qualification, and adds the recognition branch when your profession has one.