Nationals from third countries for stays of more than 6 months

Holder of a residence permit "students" or "researcher mobility" of another EU Member State (except Ireland and Denmark) can contact our law office in case of questions via contact form.

Procedure

OeAD grant/scholarship holders from third countries¹ need a “Residence Permit for Special Cases of Gainful Employment" (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung — Sonderfälle unselbstständiger Erwerbstätigkeit") for entry and stays of more than six months in Austria.

Checklist

Application in home country:

In order to enter Austria you have to apply in person for a “Residence Permit — Special Cases of Gainful Employment” at the competent Austrian representative authority in your country of residence.
If the documents are found to be complete and sufficient a positive decision will be issued and the competent Austrian representative authority in your country of residence informed about this. Then you apply for a “Visa D” for the purpose of collecting the residence title at the Austrian representative authority with which you are entitled to collect your residence permit.
Application in Austria during visa-free stay:

OeAD grant/scholarship holders, who are allowed to enter Austria without requiring a visa, may also submit their application for a “Residence Permit for Special Cases of Gainful Employment” during the permitted period of their visa-free visit at the competent residence authority in Austria.

Please note that your permitted stay without a visa does not coincide with the receipt of your scholarship as while you are in receipt of a scholarship you either need a visa for gainful employment (“Visa D for Gainful Employment”) or a “Residence Permit for Gainful Employment”.

ATTENTION: Please bear in mind that your application does not entitle you to overstay this permitted time (with a visa or visa-free).

As the decision period of the residence authority can last up to 6 months, you should apply immediately after arrival in Austria.

In case the residence authority does not issue the residence title within the permitted stay, you musst leave Austria in due time and await the decision in your country of residence. In this case please also inform the residence authority about your new contact details.

Necessary documents for applying

Documents in languages other than German must be submitted together with authorised German translations. Non-Austrian documents as a rule also have to be legalised (exceptions in case of specific legalisation agreements). The legalisation of documents needs to be done before they are translated into German language as all seals and stamps need to be translated as well.

You have to submit the legalised originals plus photocopies of the following documents:

fully completed and signed application form (Guide for filling in the application form)
two recent passport-sized colour photographs, size 3.5 x 4.5 cm (according to the EU and ICAO criteria for passport photos) not older than 6 months
photocopy of your valid travel document with all pages (original must be shown)
photocopy of your birth certificate (original must be shown)
confirmation of the award of a scholarship by the OeAD
needed means of subsistance [as of 2024]: EUR 1.217,96/month
The following monthly costs need to be added to the amount stated above:
- for the health insurance covering all risks and
- the differencial amount if the rent and the installment of the loan/alimony are higher than EUR 359,72/month
  Information on how to calculate the minimum means of subsistance can be found here.
filled in declaration of regular expenses (loans, maintenance payments or other financial burdens)
proof of accomodation in Austria for the duration of your stay: e.g. rental contract, private accommodation agreement, booking confirmation from the OeAD student housing or a student hall of residence
proof of health and accident insurance: Before travelling to Austria you have to take out a travel health insurance for 10 to 14 days valid from the day of entering Austria and covering costs of at least EUR 30,000 and also cover costs for treatment of the COVID-19 disease and a guarantee to cover possible recovery and repatriation costs.
The insurance must pay the costs for medical treatment in Austria directly and not just reimburse them in your home country against submission of receipts.
proof of health insurance "covering all risks".
In case that the health insurance that you have in your home country is also valid in Austria (in case of social security agreements), please provide the relevant confirmation.
Police clearance certificate (no older than three months at the moment of application).

ATTENTION: We recommend making and keeping a photocopy of the submitted application and of the visa or residence permit!

The Austrian representative authority and the residence authority may ask for additional documents in individual cases.
The fee for the residence permit is EUR 160. For foreign civil status documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate, civil union certificate) depending on the type of document furhter fees (EUR 3,90, EUR 7,20 or EUR 14,30) may be charged.

Working while receiving the scholarship

While you are receiving your scholarship you are only allowed to work in Austria with explicit approval of the OeAD-GmbH. You have to await the written decision of the OeAD-GmbH before taking up a job. Should you break this rule you will lose your scholarship. There is no legal right to approval by the OeAD-GmbH.
Approval of the OeAD is only possible under the following conditions:

Minor employment (for 2024: EUR 518.44/month)
Employment including scientific, teaching, and/or research activities at a university, university of applied sciences or other research institution. The job however must include other activities than the scientific activities supported by the scholarship.

Bringing along family members

Being in receipt of a scholarship does not entitle you automatically to bring along family members (spouse, unmarried minors) to Austria.

The scholarship is not sufficient for this!

If you do want to bring your family along, you have to bear the additional costs yourself and provide proof of being able to cover these costs (e.g. bank/savings account which can be accessed from Austria). Family members can then apply for a “Residence Permit – Family” for each family member at the Austrian representative authority in their country of residence. They have to await the processing of their applications in their country of residence. Only in exceptional cases (e.g. people who are allowed to enter Austria without requiring a visa) it is possible to apply for the residence permit at the competent residence authority in Austria. Further information is available here.

Travelling to other countries

All residence permits entitle their bearers to travel to or through other Schengen countries within the validity period of the permit for a maximum duration of 90 days within 180 days. The “Visa D” entitles its bearer to travel to other Schengen countries for up to 90 days within the validity period of the visa. Additional visas may be necessary for travelling through non-Schengen countries.

In some cases OeAD scholarship holders can also apply for a Settlement Permit - Researcher (“Niederlassungsbewilligung – Forscher”) or a Residence Permit - Student ("Aufenthaltsbewilligung - Student"). A "Settlement Permit - Researchers" is only granted if your Austrian host institution has concluded a hosting agreement for carrying out a research project with you. Please note that only very few institutions offer such an agreement.

The award of your scholarship is not a hosting agreement!

¹Third countries are all countries except EU/EEA countries and Switzerland
²Whether or not an exception will apply will be checked in the individual cases
³In addition to Austria the Schengen area includes the following countries: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic and Hungary.