usatoaustria.com
Hi, I'm Rob, an American living in Vienna.
This site is the collection of tools, resources, and notes I put together for myself while working through Austria's residency system. I built it because nothing like it existed when I was going through the process.
Who's behind this
I'm an American and my wife is Russian. We've been in Vienna since 2021, first on a long-stay visa and visa-free stays, then on a family residence permit after we married. In that time I've been through most of the process myself: the appointments at MA35, Vienna's immigration office, and the paperwork that comes before and after.
I've run into the parts that go wrong, too. There was the job offer that made it all the way to the company's lawyer before it fell through, and the border crossing where my wife's visa wasn't honored on the way out. That kind of thing rarely makes it into the official guidance, so I've included it here.
Why this site is different
Most of what's written about moving to Austria comes from content teams who have never set foot in an MA35 waiting room.
Everything here comes from going through the process myself, checked against the actual Austrian law rather than the simplified English summaries that are often months out of date. Where an official German source and a convenient English page disagree, I go with the German one and tell you so.
There are no ads here, and there never will be. I'd rather you trust what you read than make a few cents off the page.
New here? Start with these.
If you're getting your bearings, begin with the overview of how Austrian residence actually works, then follow whatever's relevant to you.
How Austrian residence actually works
Read the overview FundsProof of funds, and the money question
Read AppointmentsWhat a booked MA35 appointment is actually like
Read Work rightsThe right to work, and the trouble using it
Read Renewals & travelThe mixed-nationality renewal trap
ReadGet the MA35 document checklist
Before you book a single appointment, you want the right documents ready. This is the checklist I worked from. Enter your email and I'll send it over, plus the occasional note when I publish something new.
The complete guide
Coming soonThe articles here answer individual questions and tell individual stories. The guide is the other thing: the whole process as one ordered path, the way I actually did it. The master document checklist in sequence, a month-by-month timeline of my own application, the forms filled in field by field, and printable templates to work from.
It's being written now. Join the list and you'll be the first to know when it's ready.
Work with me
Coming soonSometimes you want to talk it through with someone who's actually done it. I'm setting up a way to book a one-on-one call.
It won't be a fast-turnaround service. If your situation is urgent or going badly wrong, that's a job for an immigration lawyer, and I work on a slower timeline than that. But for thinking through your own path with someone who's been where you are, this is coming.
Want to know when? Join the list.