Residence in Austria for founders, investors and financially independent individuals — the Red-White-Red Card and the quota-based settlement permit — arranged in the right order with the company, so the structure and the people are solved together, not one after the other.
There is no Austrian golden visa and no citizenship-by-investment programme in the ordinary sense. You cannot buy a permit; you qualify for one — by running a real business, by bringing genuine economic benefit, or by proving you can support yourself without working in the country. That is a feature, not an obstacle: an Austrian residence stands up to scrutiny at a bank, a border and a tax office in a way that a purchased status does not.
It also means two things decide most cases before the paperwork does: which route genuinely fits you, and timing. The most attractive route for private wealth is capped by an annual quota and allocated first-come, first-served in the first working days of the year. Prepare late and the honest answer is: wait twelve months.
The financially-independent quota is small and demand vastly exceeds it — in 2025 the nationwide allotment was gone within hours of opening. The application file has to be complete before the window, not during it.
These are the routes we actually work with. Each answers a different question — are you building a company, investing in one, or moving your life to Austria without working here.
Niederlassungsbewilligung – ausgenommen Erwerbstätigkeit. The most relevant route for relocating private wealth — and the one where timing, not documents, decides the year you actually move.
Income evidence, private health insurance, Austrian accommodation and the German-language element are assembled in advance. This is the work that has to be finished early.
Appointment booking / pre-registration opens the preceding autumn; applications are lodged at the Austrian representation on the first working days of the year, first-come, first-served. Miss it and the next chance is a year away.
The authority reviews sustainable means of subsistence, insurance, accommodation and the language element. A place within the annual quota must still be available when your file is decided.
The permit lets you live in Austria but not work here. It is renewed on continuing to meet the conditions — income, insurance, accommodation and the German-language step at renewal.
After five years of continuous lawful settlement you can generally move to long-term residence (Daueraufenthalt – EU). Citizenship is a separate, much longer question.
Exact figures are set every year and are checked against your household size. Treat the numbers here as orientation and confirm the current thresholds when you apply.
Because you may not earn in Austria on this permit, the required income sits well above the ordinary subsistence rate. As a rule of thumb a couple should expect to evidence several thousand euros of reliable monthly income, with a margin added per child. Pensions, investment income and other durable sources count where they are demonstrably stable.
Public health insurance in Austria is tied to employment, so this route needs comprehensive private insurance meeting EU-wide standards for the whole household.
Owned or rented accommodation in Austria that is considered adequate for the household — a genuine local address, not a mailbox.
A basic German-language element applies, with the exact timing depending on the permit and whether it is a first application or a renewal. It is modest, but it is real — start early.
Family members are not free riders on the main applicant's status. On the quota routes, each person generally occupies a quota place, and the income and insurance thresholds rise with household size. A family of four is a different plan — and a different quota exposure — from a single applicant, and it has to be modelled that way from the start.
If you are founding or investing, the legal form, the shareholding and the residence route pull on each other: a Red-White-Red founder route depends on the company case; the financially-independent route depends on not working in it. Deciding the entity before the permit — or the reverse — is the single most common source of rework in this practice. We map both together.
Building the company as well? See company formation and the full Setup & Relocation hub.
Tell us the family, the source and shape of your income, whether you intend to run a business in Austria, and your timing. In one working session we identify the realistic route, the quota exposure and the sequence — and the specialists to bring in.