Austrian immigration law
The labour-market side of immigration — who needs a permit to work in Austria, when a GmbH shareholder counts as an employee, and the admission criteria behind the Red-White-Red Card, including start-up founders and self-employed key workers.
Ausländerbeschäftigungsgesetz (AuslBG), BGBl. Nr. 218/1975, in der geltenden Fassung
The AuslBG decides whether a non-EU national may work in Austria and on what basis. For founders, two rules matter most: a GmbH shareholder holding less than 25% who works in the company is treated as an employee unless the AMS confirms real influence on management (§ 2(4)); and the admission criteria for the Red-White-Red Card — very highly qualified persons, skilled workers in shortage occupations, other key workers and graduates, the EU Blue Card, and the two founder routes: self-employed key workers (EUR 100,000 investment or job creation) and start-up founders (EUR 30,000 capital, business plan and points).
Each section below shows the English and the German side by side, paragraph by paragraph; the German text is copied from the official consolidated version (RIS) and our English is an unofficial working translation. The points tables in Annexes A to D are not reproduced here.
In practice: Red-White-Red Card for founders (guide) · Relocation & residence · Company formation.