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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.
Highly qualified non-EU professionals with a binding job offer in Austria meeting the Blue Card salary level.
Our licensed advisors assess your eligibility, build a strategy to strengthen your application, and manage the process end to end, so you submit a complete, competitive application with confidence.
Most applicants need a completed tertiary education of at least three years, but ICT specialists and certain managers can instead qualify with at least three years of relevant professional experience gained in the previous seven years.
You need a binding job offer paying at least the annual gross threshold set each year; for 2026 the minimum is about EUR 55,678 in gross annual income including special payments.
Not freely. An EU Blue Card is tied to a specific employer, so to move you must obtain a new EU Blue Card for the new job, and the labour market service (AMS) checks the new role against the criteria.
Yes. Family members can come through family reunification and generally receive a Red-White-Red Card plus, which gives them access to the Austrian labour market. A spouse must be at least 21 at the time of application.
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).
Yes. After holding an EU Blue Card for 21 of the last 24 months you can apply for a Red-White-Red Card plus, which gives unlimited access to the labour market and is a step toward long-term residence.
The Austria EU Blue Card is issued for 24 months. It can be renewed, and you should file the renewal before it expires, at the earliest three months before the expiry date.
