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RESIDENCY PERMITS

Reader question: How long can I stay out of Austria and keep my residency rights?

If you’re planning to leave Austria for a while, it’s important to know if it will affect your residency. This is what you need to know.

A person pulls a suitcase.
A person pulls a suitcase. (Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi / Pexels)

Living as a foreigner in Austria usually means having a residency status that is tied to a permit.

As a result, there are often limits on how long you can leave the country without losing your right to residency, which can impact plans to travel, take a new job elsewhere or simply spend time at home. 

Here’s what you need to know about leaving Austria and maintaining your residency rights.

What permit do you have?

How long you can leave Austria without it affecting your status will depend on the type of permit that you have.

If you have a long-term resident – EU (Daueraufenthalt – EU) permit, then it becomes invalid if you leave EEA territory (including Austria) for more than 12 months. However, there are special circumstances where people can leave the EEA zone for up to 24 months.

Additionally, with this permit, you can leave Austria but stay in the EEA (and Austria) for up to six years without losing your right to residency in Austria.

You can find a full list of EEA member countries here.

With the EU Blue Card, you can stay outside of the EEA for up to 18 months over a five-year period, or up to 12 months consecutively without losing residency rights in Austria.

Planning for the future

If you already have a Red-White-Card Card, a Red-White-Red Card Plus or a settlement permit, and are hoping to apply for the long-term resident – EU permit in the future, you can leave Austria for up to 10 months in a five-year period, or for six months consecutively. 

In certain circumstances, it is possible to leave for 24 months if a valid reason is given and permission is granted by the Austrian authorities.

Brits with an Article 50 card

British people that were living in Austria on 31st December 2020 were granted an Article 50 card, which is a residency permit to secure pre-Brexit rights.

However, there are two different types of Article 50 cards – a five-year permit and a 10-year permit – depending on how long someone was living in Austria before Brexit. A British person had to have lived in Austria for at least five years to qualify for the 10-year card.

There are also differing lengths of time that someone can leave Austria, depending on the type of Article 50 card they have.

With the five-year card, it is possible to leave Austria for up to six months throughout the duration of the permit, or up to 12 consecutive months in certain situations. Valid reasons for leaving the country for one year include pregnancy, illness, education or a job posting to another country.

But holders of the 10-year card have much more freedom and can leave Austria for up to five years without it impacting their residency status.

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VISAS

Cost for getting a short-stay Schengen visa to rise on June 11th

The fee for getting a Schengen visa will rise by 12 percent in June, the European Commission has confirmed.

Cost for getting a short-stay Schengen visa to rise on June 11th

The hike means the basic fee for a Schengen visa will rise from €80 to €90 for adults and from €40 to €45 for children. The reason for the price hike has been blamed on inflation in member states.

Schengen visas can be obtained by non-EU citizens from countries that do not benefit from the EU / Schengen area’s 90-day rule such as such as nationals of South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and China.

Schengen visas are not required for citizens of countries including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia who are paying short visits to the EU, since they are entitled to 90 days of visa-free travel in every 180.

Anyone who wants to spend longer in an EU country will need to apply for a long-stay visa – but these are issued by individual countries, not the EU. The cost of these visas vary depending on the country and the type of visa (eg study visa, work visa).

In addition to raising the basic fee to €90, the EU has also proposed hiking the fee even higher for those countries who are deemed not be cooperative with receiving expelled citizens back from member states.

In this case the Schengen visa fee for citizens from that country will rise from €120/€160 to €135 /€180.

In addition, the revision of visa fees impacts the maximum amount that external service providers collecting visa applications on behalf of member states can charge, which is usually set at up to half the standard fee.

This charge would increase from €40 to €45.

The fee for a Schengen visa extension will remain at €30.

Revised every three years

Every three years the EU Commission is tasked to assess whether new fees are needed, considering “objective criteria”, such as the EU inflation rate and the average of civil servants’ salaries in EU member states.

The Commission published its proposal on February 2nd, following a meeting with experts from EU member states in December, when an “overwhelming majority” supported the revision.

The Commission says that even with the increase, the visa fees for the Schengen area are “still relatively low” compared to other countries. For instance, a visa for the USA costs €185, or €172; for the UK it starts from £115 (€134); for Canada it is $100 plus $85 for biometrics, or €130; for Australia $190, the equivalent of €117.

Digital-only visa

The EU is also planning to introduce a digital-only Schengen visa. This will allow to apply online, regardless of the Schengen country applicants intend to visit, and will replace the current sticker in passports with a digital visa.

According to the European Commission website, the digital platform will start operating in 2028.

Who needs a Schengen visa

The Schengen visa allows a stay for tourism or family visits (but not for work) in 28 European countries for up to 90 days in any 6-month period. People travelling for business trips, conferences or meetings apply for a Schengen business visa.

Anyone who wants to stay longer, or to work, needs a visa from the country they intend to visit.

The Schengen visa is required for citizens of countries who do not benefit from the ‘90-day rule’, such as nationals of South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and China.

It is not needed for other non-EU nationals such as Brits, Americans, Canadians or Australians who can spend up to 90 days in every 180 in the Schengen area without needing a visa. You can see the full list of countries who need a visa here.

Schengen countries include EU member states, excluding Ireland (which opted out), Cyprus, and Bulgaria and Romania for land borders. Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein and Switzerland are not EU members but have also joined the Schengen Convention.

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