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READER QUESTIONS

Can owners of second homes in Austria get residence permits?

The short answer is no. But having a holiday home in Austria might help make your application for a residence permit a little easier – but you need to be willing to make Austria your primary residence.

Published: 15 May 2023 16:40 CEST
Updated: 6 April 2024 10:59 CEST
Can owners of second homes in Austria get residence permits?
Have a second home in Austria? Here's how you might be able to get residency -- if you're planning on making it your main. (Photo by Sarah Mutter on Unsplash)

Buying holiday property in Austria can be an exceptionally difficult undertaking – not just for non-EU foreigners, but even for Austrians and EU citizens living in Austria itself. In general, only about 15 percent of homes in any given region can be used as second homes.

But what about those people who already own holiday homes in Austria – including perhaps Brits who bought their Austrian second homes some time ago but didn’t take up residence in Austria before the Brexit deadline? Can having that home already entitle you to a residence permit.

Strictly speaking? No.

But what if you’re looking to make Austria your primary residence? Perhaps you bought your second home years ago, are finishing up your working life and looking to make the move to Austria to retire?

If that’s the case, having a second home in Austria may be an advantage and make getting a residence permit easier – if you’re willing to make that home your primary residence.

READ ALSO:

What qualifies as primary residence under Austrian law?

Austrian authorities hold that your primary residence – wherever it is – should be the “focal point of your personal life”. Where you spend most of your time, where you work, where you spend your social life, and where you have your economic relationships are all relevant to determining the location that is “the focal point of your personal life”. Having a job in the area would certainly qualify, but so too would having family nearby that you see regularly – like children or grandkids, for example.

If the “focal point of your personal life” could apply to more than one place, Austrian authorities recognise your primary residence as being the home with which you have the “closest association”. A quick heads up that they’ll use this criteria sometimes to determine whether someone is improperly listing a second home as their primary residence. Anyone found guilty of doing that is subject to a fine of up to €25,000. This is in place to help prevent people from trying to get around second home caps or getting bogus residence permits.

British second home owners in Austria now have to comply with the EU 90-day rule for third country nationals, unless they apply for residency and intend to stay in Austria most of the time. Photo by Nina Rath on Pexels.

Having your intended primary residence in Austria is a necessary condition of getting a residence permit for Austria anyway.

This is because applicants for an Austrian residence permit have to be able to demonstrate that they intend to spend most of their time – at least 183 days a year – in Austria, in order to be eligible for the permit.

You can also lose your residence permit if you spend more than a certain number of months outside the EEA. In general, this is more than six months at a time or over 10 months in a period of five years. In some cases though, these limits can be extended with permission.

Basically, if you want a residence permit for Austria, you need to be ready to spend most of your time here.

READ ALSO: READER QUESTION: How long can I stay out of Austria and keep my residency rights?

How do you change your second home to your primary residence in Austria?

If you are willing to make the leap and move to Austria to spend most of your time, your second home could help give you a leg up in applying for residency.

That’s because you need to be able to prove that you have accommodation in Austria that’s suitable for you and your family. That’s not enough by itself, as you’ll need proof being able to support yourself as well – for example through a job offer or perhaps international pension payments you’re still eligible to collect in Austria. But you’ll obviously already be able to easily prove you have accommodation through your second home.

You can register your second home as your primary residence through a simple visit to your local authority, or by post. Everyone resident in Austria – including Austrian and EU citizens – has to do this when they move to a new place. The only difference here is that when you visit or write your local authority, instead of registering a new place, you’ll tell them that you’re switching the status of your second home to be that of your primary residence.

What residence permit should I apply for?

That obviously depends on your situation. Switching your second home to your primary residence obviously will already help assure Austrian authorities that you have suitable accommodation that you intend to use. But you’ll still have to meet all the other requirements for your relevant residence permit – whether you’re working or intending to apply for a settlement permit in order to retire.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The EU's new Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport controls is due to come into force later this year, but among many questions that remain is the situation for non-EU nationals who live in the EU or Schengen zone.

Published: 27 April 2024 07:59 CEST
Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

Currently scheduled to start in autumn 2024 (unless it’s delayed again, which is not unlikely) the EU’s new Entry & Exit System is basically an enhanced passport check at external EU borders, including a facial scan and fingerprinting.

You can find a full explanation of the new system HERE.

Travellers crossing an external EU or Schengen border for the first time will be required to complete EES ‘pre-registration’ formalities including that facial scan and fingerprinting.

There are, however, several groups exempt from EES and one of them is non-EU nationals who have a residency permit or long-stay visa for an EU country.

So if you’re a foreigner living in the EU or Schengen zone, here’s what you need to know.

Exempt

One of the stated aims of EES is to tighten up enforcement of over-staying – IE, people who stay longer than 90 days in every 180 without a visa, or those who overstay the limits of their visa.

Obviously these limits do not apply to non-EU nationals who are resident in the EU or Schengen zone, which is why this group is exempt from EES checks. They will instead be required to show their passport and residency permit/visa when crossing a border, just as they do now.

In its explanations of how EES will work, the European Commission is clear – exempt groups include non-EU residents of the Bloc.

A Commission spokesman told The Local: “Non-EU citizens residing in the EU are not in the scope of the EES and will not be subject to pre-enrollment of data in the EES via self-service systems. The use of automation remains under the responsibility of the Member States and its availability in border crossing points is not mandatory.

“When crossing the borders, holders of EU residence permits should be able to present to the border authorities their valid travel documents and residence permits.”

How this will work

How this will work on the ground, however, is a lot less clear.

Most ports/airports/terminals have two passport queues – EU and non-EU. It remains unclear whether the non-EU queue will have a separate section for those who are exempt from EES.

It does seem clear that exempt groups will not be able to use the automated passport scanners – since those cannot scan additional documents like residency permits – but should instead use manned passport booths. However it is not clear whether these will be available at all airports/ports/terminals or how non-EU residents of the EU will be directed to those services.

There’s also the issue that individual border guards are not always clear on the processes and rules for non-EU residents of the EU – even under the current system it’s relatively commonly for EU residents to have their passports incorrectly stamped or be given incorrect information about passport stamping by border guards.

Brits in particular will remember the immediate post-Brexit period when the processes as described by the EU and national authorities frequently did not match what was happening on the ground.

The Local will continue to try and get answers on these questions. 

READ ALSO What will EES mean for dual nationals

What if I live in the EU but I don’t have a visa/residency permit?

For most non-EU citizens, having either a visa or a residency permit is obligatory in order to be legally resident.

However, there is one exception: UK citizens who were legally resident in the EU prior to the end of the Brexit transition period and who live in one of the “declaratory” countries where getting a post-Brexit residency card was optional, rather than compulsory. Declaratory countries include Germany and Italy.

Although it is legal for people in this situation to live in those countries without a residency permit, authorities already advise people to get one in order to avoid confusion/hassle/delays at the border. Although EES does not change any rules relating to residency or travel, it seems likely that it will be more hassle to travel without a residency card than it is now.

Our advice? Things are going to be chaotic enough, getting a residency permit seems likely to save you a considerable amount of hassle.

Delays 

Although residents of the EU do not need to complete EES formalities, they will be affected if the new system causes long queues or delays at the border.

Several countries have expressed worries about this, with the UK-France border a particular cause for concern.

READ ALSO Travellers could face ’14 hours queues’ at UK-France border

Where does it apply?

EES is about external EU/Schengen borders, so does not apply if you are travelling within the Schengen zone – eg taking the train from France to Germany or flying from Spain to Sweden.

Ireland and Cyprus, despite being in the EU, are not in the Schengen zone so will not be using EES, they will continue to stamp passports manually.

Norway, Switzerland and Iceland – countries that are in the Schengen zone but not in the EU – will be using EES.

The full list of countries using EES is: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Therefore a journey between any of the countries listed above will not be covered by EES.

However a journey in or out of any of those countries from a country not listed above will be covered by EES.

You can find our full Q&A on EES HERE.

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