Frequently asked questions

Who are you, and why should I trust this?

I'm Rob R., an American who has lived in Vienna since 2021 and been through most of Austria's residency process myself. I'm not an agency or a content team writing from the outside. Everything here comes from going through it personally and checking the details against the actual Austrian law. The fuller version of that story is on the About page.

Is any of this legal advice?

No. I'm not a lawyer, and nothing here is legal advice. What I publish is my own lived experience and the public-record research I've gathered, meant to help you understand how the system works. If your situation is straightforward, most of what you need is probably here. If it's complex, nonstandard, or going wrong, talk to a licensed immigration lawyer.

Do I need to speak German?

You can get all the way through an appointment at MA35, Vienna's immigration office, in English, and I did. The one real condition is that your English has to be good enough to fully follow what's happening, because you need to understand it. Knowing some German earns you genuine goodwill at the counter, even just the niceties. Staff don't expect everyone to have been born speaking German, and they notice when you make the effort.

Can I apply from inside Austria?

Sometimes, depending on the permit and your nationality. In my own case I filed my family permit here in Vienna while I was in the country visa-free, and my wife filed her student permit at MA35 right after she arrived. Whether you can apply in-country, or have to apply from your home country first, depends on the specific path you're on. The overview of the residence system walks through how the paths differ, so start there to see which one is yours.

How much money do I need to show?

Austria sets a monthly minimum you have to prove you can cover, tied to a reference rate that nudges up a little each year. As of 2026 that's roughly €1,300 a month for a single applicant and around €2,000 for a couple, and couples are assessed together, so the funds can be pooled into one account. Because the figure changes yearly, I keep the current exact numbers in the proof-of-funds article rather than here, where they'd go stale.

Is there a paid guide, and what does it cost?

There will be, though it isn't ready yet. The free articles 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, with the document checklist in sequence, a timeline of my own application, the forms filled in field by field, and printable templates to work from. It's being written now, and it'll be a one-time purchase rather than a subscription. Join the email list and you'll be the first to know when it's ready.

Can I book a call with you?

Not yet, but it's coming. I'm setting up a way to book a one-on-one call, to think through your own path with someone who's been where you are. It won't be a fast-turnaround service, and it isn't for emergencies. 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. Join the email list to hear when booking opens.

I'm not American. Is this still useful?

Mostly, yes. I'm American, the worked examples lean American, and prices are in dollars, because that's the path I know firsthand. But the Austrian process is much the same for any non-EU national. The nationality that changes things most is whether you need a visa to enter and re-enter Austria, which affects how you handle travel and renewal timing. That timing is the one place a mixed-nationality couple can really get caught out.

How current is the information?

I treat the German-language official sources as the ground truth, above the English convenience pages, which often lag months behind. Anything with a number in it carries a date and a source. Where official sources disagree with each other, I say so rather than quietly pick one. When a yearly figure changes, I update the source note it comes from, so the articles that use it stay correct.

How do I get started?

If you're new, begin with the overview of how Austrian residence actually works, then follow whatever's relevant to your situation. There are only a handful of foundation articles up right now, so it's quick to see what's here.