Software developer · Austria

Work in Austria
as a software developer.

Two of Austria's three routes are scored rather than checked against a list, and the two salary figures on this page are not directly comparable: one is stated as a monthly minimum, the other as an annual threshold. Reading them side by side without noticing that is how someone rules themselves out of a route they would have qualified for.

Recognition
Not regulated
Work permits sourced
3
Official sources
10
Last checked
2026-08-03
Build my roadmap →Compare the permits

The short answer

Two questions, and they are not the same question.

◎No licence decision

Recognition

Not regulated · no recognition decision required

No authority approves your qualification before you take this job in Austria. That is a sourced finding, not an absence of research: the links at the bottom of this page are what it rests on.

↗Always required

Work authorisation

Whatever the recognition branch says, you still need the legal right to work in Austria. We have sourced 3 routes for a qualification obtained outside the EU and EEA.

  • Red-White-Red Card — Very Highly Qualified Workers
  • Red-White-Red Card — Other Key Workers
  • EU Blue Card

Work authorisation

Every permit we can source,
side by side.

Open the full roadmap →

Red-White-Red Card — Very Highly Qualified Workers

The Austrian Public Employment Service (AMS) assesses your points score; the residence authority (Provincial Governor's Office or district administration) for where you will live in Austria issues the card

Points-based
Qualification
Score at least 70 of 100 points against Austria's published criteria for exceptionally qualified specialists: special qualifications and skills, work experience, language skills, age, and study already completed in Austria. We do not compute or estimate this score.
Job-seeker visa validity
Six months, to find qualifying work
Red-White-Red Card
Generally issued for 24 months in the first instance
Job-seeker visa
€195
Red-White-Red Card application
€218

Scored, not checked off. We explain the factors and link the official calculator — we never produce a score, because a score reads as a prediction.

Everything about Red-White-Red Card — Very Highly Qualified Workers →
The procedure, step by step4 steps · 4 possible outcomes
  1. Decide whether you already have a job offer. Without one, you can instead apply for a job-seeker visa once the Austrian Public Employment Service (AMS) confirms you reach the point threshold — it gives you six months in Austria to find qualifying work.
  2. Work out your score against the published criteria: up to 40 points for special qualifications and skills (the length and level of your degree, whether your subject is mathematics, informatics, a natural science or technology, seniority, research output, or recognised professional awards), up to 20 points for work experience, up to 10 points for language skills, up to 20 points for age, and up to 10 points for study already completed in Austria.The official points calculator, linked below, is a planning aid — it does not decide your case. The Austrian Public Employment Service scores the application itself.
  3. Apply in person at the Austrian representation responsible for your home country, or for the country where you currently reside lawfully, for either the job-seeker visa or the card.
  4. Once you hold a qualifying job, apply for the Red-White-Red Card at the residence authority for where you will live in Austria, or have your employer do so on your behalf.

Possible outcomes

  • A six-month job-seeker visa, where you do not yet have a job offer, to look for qualifying work in Austria.
  • A Red-White-Red Card, generally issued for 24 months, which ties fixed-term settlement and employment to the employer named on the card.
  • A Red-White-Red Card plus after 21 months of qualifying employment within the preceding 24 months, which removes the tie to one employer and gives unlimited access to the labour market.
  • Refusal, where the point threshold or the other conditions are not met.

Red-White-Red Card — Other Key Workers

The Austrian Public Employment Service (AMS) assesses your points score and runs the labour market check; the residence authority for where you will live in Austria issues the card

Points-based
Salary floor
EUR 3,465 a month (2026 figure)migration.gv.at states this as the statutory minimum gross monthly salary for 2026 that your prospective employer has to pay — a monthly figure, unlike the EU Blue Card threshold on this page, which is stated as an annual amount. Confirm the figure in force on the date you apply.
Qualification
A binding job offer meeting the applicable salary floor, and a score of at least 55 of a possible 90 points against Austria's published criteria: qualification level, work experience, language skills and age. We do not compute or estimate this score.
Red-White-Red Card
Generally issued for 24 months in the first instance
Decision on the application
Not published as a single national figure — ask the representation or residence authority handling your case
Red-White-Red Card application
€218

Scored, not checked off. We explain the factors and link the official calculator — we never produce a score, because a score reads as a prediction.

Everything about Red-White-Red Card — Other Key Workers →
The procedure, step by step4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
  1. Secure a binding job offer that meets the applicable salary floor.
  2. Work out your score against the published criteria: up to 30 points for qualification level (from an apprenticeship-level qualification up to a completed university degree), up to 20 points for work experience, up to 25 points for language skills, and up to 15 points for age.The official points calculator, linked below, is a planning aid — it does not decide your case. The Austrian Public Employment Service scores the application itself.
  3. Expect the Austrian Public Employment Service to check that no equally qualified jobseeker already registered with it could fill the position, unless your case is exempt from this check.
  4. Apply in person at the Austrian representation responsible for your home country or your country of legal residence, or have your prospective employer file the application, with an employer's declaration, at the residence authority in Austria.

Possible outcomes

  • A Red-White-Red Card, generally issued for 24 months, which ties fixed-term settlement and employment to the employer named on the card.
  • A Red-White-Red Card plus after 21 months of qualifying employment within the preceding 24 months, which removes the tie to one employer and gives unlimited access to the labour market.
  • Refusal, where the point threshold, the salary floor, the labour market check or the other conditions are not met.

EU Blue Card

The Austrian Public Employment Service (AMS) runs the labour market check; the residence authority for where you will live in Austria issues the card

Checklist
Salary floor
EUR 55,678 a year (2026 figure)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.
Qualification
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.
EU Blue Card validity
24 months, or the contract period plus three months, whichever is shorter
Decision on the application
Not published as a single national figure — ask the representation or residence authority handling your case
EU Blue Card application
€218
Everything about EU Blue Card →
The procedure, step by step4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
  1. Secure a work contract or a binding job offer of at least six months that meets the salary threshold, and arrange sickness insurance.
  2. 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.
  3. Expect the Austrian Public Employment Service to check that no equally qualified Austrian, EU or EEA jobseeker is available for the role.
  4. 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.

Possible outcomes

  • An EU Blue Card, valid for 24 months, or for the contract period plus three months where that is shorter.
  • A Red-White-Red Card plus after 21 months of qualifying employment within the preceding 24 months, with unlimited access to the labour market.
  • Refusal, where the salary threshold, the qualification or experience criterion, the labour market check or the other conditions are not met.

Document preparation

What you still have to prepare.

Ordered the way the procedure runs, from an origin outside the EU and EEA. Pick your own country of qualification below and the planner reorders it for you.

1

Prepare your documents

  1. Request certified copies of your degree and full academic transcripts from the Indian university or board that issued them.
  2. The Apostille Convention has been in force for India since 14 July 2005, so an apostille replaces consular legalisation. An Indian educational document cannot go straight to the apostille, though: it is authenticated first by the Regional Authentication Centre of the State or Union Territory whose authority signed it, and the Ministry of External Affairs apostilles it afterwards on the strength of that signature.Which office acts as the RAC, what it charges and how long it takes are set by each State or Union Territory, not by the MEA.
  3. Since July 2012 the MEA has not accepted documents directly from applicants. They go through one of the four authorised outsourced agencies — BLS International Services, Superb Enterprises, IVS Global Services or Alhind Tours & Travels — and since 1 January 2019 the service also runs from Branch Secretariats and Regional Passport Offices in 16 cities.The MEA advises applicants not to rely on unauthorised persons or touts. Nobody outside those channels can lodge an apostille for you.
  4. If your certificate already sits in an Indian digital depository — CBSE documents from 2014 onwards, or anything issued through the National Academic Depository — e-Sanad handles the apostille online and the physical route does not apply. CBSE physical copies from 2014 onwards are no longer accepted over the counter.
  5. An apostille certifies the signature and seal of the Indian authority that signed your document. It says nothing about what the document contains: the MEA states explicitly that it does not take responsibility for the contents.It is a check on the paperwork, never a statement about the level or the content of your qualification.

What it costs

MEA apostille
Rs 50 per apostille sticker
Authorised agency service charge
Rs 84 per document, plus Rs 3 per page for scanning
State authentication before the apostille
Set by the State or Union Territory that authenticates the document — confirm the current fee with the relevant RAC

Where you qualified

The answer changes
with your country.

Everything we cover →

Qualified outside the EU and EEA — permit required

Colombia → AustriaOpen this roadmapArgentina → AustriaOpen this roadmapIndia → AustriaOpen this roadmapPhilippines → AustriaOpen this roadmapNigeria → AustriaOpen this roadmapBrazil → AustriaOpen this roadmap

People reach this page looking for

  • Red-White-Red Card for IT specialists
  • Rot-Weiss-Rot Karte points for developers
  • EU Blue Card Austria salary threshold
  • Austria work permit software engineer
  • Austria visa for programmers

Questions

Answered from the same sources.

Is software developer a regulated profession in Austria?

No. We verified that software developer is not a regulated profession in Austria, which means no authority has to approve your qualification before you may hold the job. You still need a legal right to work there.

Which work permits can a software developer apply for in Austria?

We have sourced 3: Red-White-Red Card — Very Highly Qualified Workers, Red-White-Red Card — Other Key Workers, EU Blue Card. Each one has its own conditions, and this page compares them side by side rather than recommending one.

What salary do you need to work in Austria as a software developer?

Red-White-Red Card — Other Key Workers: EUR 3,465 a month (2026 figure, migration.gv.at states this as the statutory minimum gross monthly salary for 2026 that your prospective employer has to pay — a monthly figure, unlike the EU Blue Card threshold on this page, which is stated as an annual amount. Confirm the figure in force on the date you apply.). EU Blue Card: EUR 55,678 a year (2026 figure, 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.).

Does QualiPath calculate my points score?

No. Red-White-Red Card — Very Highly Qualified Workers and Red-White-Red Card — Other Key Workers are scored rather than checked against a list, and we explain the factors and link the official calculator instead of producing a number. Computing it here would be promising you an outcome we have no authority to promise.

Is this page up to date?

The oldest source behind it was checked on 2026-08-03. Every claim links to the official page it came from, with its own check date, so you can verify any of it yourself in one click.

Evidence

Every claim on this page, and where it came from.

10 official pages, each with the jurisdiction it speaks for and the date a human last opened it. The oldest of them is 2026-08-03, and that is the date this page is only as fresh as.

Two minutes, no account

Your qualification, your country, your roadmap.

This page answers the pairing in general. The planner answers it for the country you actually qualified in, and prints the result with its sources attached.

Build my roadmap →How we verify this