Nationals from third countries for stays of up to 6 months
Holder of a residence permit for students or researcher mobility of another EU Member State (except the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark) can contact our law office in case of questions via contact form.
Guest speakers can enter Austria visa free or with a visa C and stay in Austria for a maximum of a week.
Recipients of OeAD grants from third countries1 need provided that they stay for no longer than six months a visa for gainful employment (“Visa C for Gainful Employment” [„Visum C – Erwerb“] or “Visa D for Gainful Employment” [„Visum D – Erwerb“]).
For stays of a maximum of 90 days you have to apply for a “Visa C for Gainful Employment”. For stays between 91 days and a maximum of six months you have to apply for a “Visa D for Gainful Employment”.
Procedure
You have to apply for this visa in person at the competent Austrian representative authority in your country of residence at least four weeks before entering Austria. The authority can issue the visa free of charge.
Attention: For US American and Canadian OeAD scholarship holdersspecial rules apply for the issuance of visas!
Visas cannot be extended in Austria. After entering Austria with a visa you cannot – apart from a few exceptions2 – apply for any other visas or residence permits (for staying for longer than six months) in Austria.
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).
You have to submit the legalised originals plus photocopies of all the documents listed here:
- fully completed and signed application form visa C | visa D
- two recent colour photographs size 3.5 x 4.5 cm (according to the EU and ICAO criteria for passport photos)
- valid passport + photocopies of all pages containing entries and stamps
- confirmation of the award of the scholarship by the OeAD
- proof of accommodation in Austria: 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 30,000 euro 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.
In case that you cannot provide proof of having appropriate insurance for the whole duration of your stay please purchase travel health insurance for 10 to 14 days and the OeAD-GmbH will then take out insurance on your behalf and at your costs when you arrive in Austria (please see here). In that case the OeAD confirmation can also serve as proof of insurance after expiry of the travel health insurance (see here) - Proof of family ties and/or economic ties with the home country (e.g., proof of employment, spouse, children, etc.)
- if available return flight ticket
ATTENTION: We recommend making and keeping a photocopy of the submitted application and of the visa!
The Austrian representative authority and the residence authority may ask for additional documents in individual cases.
Generally the issuance of visas is free of charge for holders of OeAD scholarships. Additional fees however 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-GmbH is only possible under the following conditions:
- Minor employment (as of 2024: 518.44 euro/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 your scholarship.
Travelling to other countries
With a “Visa C for Gainful Employment” or a “Visa D for Gainful Employment” you are entitled to travel to other Schengen countries3 for up to 90 days within the validity period of the visa. Additional visas may be necessary for travelling through non-Schengen countries.
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 also apply for a visa (“Visa C” or “Visa D” without the gainful employment addition) at the competent Austrian representative authority in their country of residence before travelling to Austria or – depending on their nationality – travel to Austria for a maximum period of three months without requiring a visa. You can neither apply for nor renew a visa in Austria. The above-mentioned documents have to be submitted for each family member.
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, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary and Croatia.
