Renewal of your residence Permit

You have to apply for a renewal of your residence title before your current residence title expires (three months before expiry at the earliest). Until a decision about your application for a renewal is taken you are considered to be lawfully resident in Austria even if your current residence permit expires.

In case you have to leave Austria for a short time before you receive your renewed permit the authority can if you can give well-founded reasons insert written approval to your travel document for which a fee applies and which will enable you to re-enter Austria (“emergency vignette”).

If you submit your application for a renewal after your previous residence permit has expired the application will be classified as a first-time application and you may have to apply at the Austrian representative authority in your home country. An application that is submitted after the expiry of the previous residence title will exceptionally be regarded as a renewal if you can prove that an unexpected or inevitable incident has occurred for which you cannot or can only marginally be made liable and which has prevented you from submitting the application for the renewal in time. In this case the application must be submitted within two weeks of the end of said event.

Only residence titles (residence permits and settlement permits) can be renewed in Austria – it is not possible to have a visa renewed. Only in case of ongoing medical treatment that prevents you from leaving Austria before your visa expires you are entitled to apply for a visa in Austria. The prerequisite for this is that the medical treatment is absolutely necessary and has already started.

You have to apply for the renewal of a residence title at the locally competent Austrian residence authority.

When applying for a renewal of your residence title you may also apply for a change of purpose – this means that if you fulfil the requirements you may apply for a different residence title.

You have to enclose the following documents (originals plus photocopies) with the personally signed application form :

• application form (explanation of the application form) for holders of a "residence permit - special cases of gainful employment"
• Valid travel document
• Passport-sized photograph according to the ICAO criteria (colour photograph, size 3.5 x 4.5 cm)
• Registration form
• Proof of a legal claim to accommodation in Austria according to the local standards (e.g. rental or subtenancy contract, legally valid preliminary contract, accommodation agreement
• Proof of the required minimum funds to finance your stay in Austria [as of 2024]: EUR 1,217.96/month (EUR 1,921.46/month for couples and an additional EUR 187.93 for each child)
• Proof of health insurance liable to pay for medical treatment in Austria and covering all risks
• current extract from the files of an officially recognised credit reference agency (e.g. KSV 1870 Information GmbH)

• If applicable: proof of having fulfilled the module 1 of the Integration Agreement (if this agreement was signed when applying for the first time)

• Only for holders of a “Residence Permit – Student”:
  • application form (explanation of the application form)
  • Confirmation of your continuing university enrolment
  • (After the first year of study) proof of successful study (= passed examinations equivalent to at least eight semester hours per academic year or 16 ECTS credits for each academic year)
  • Current record of studies (Studienbuchblatt)

  • Students who are pursuing non-degree programme studies (außerordentliches Studium) at a University Preparation Programme additionally have to provide proof of being admitted to degree programme studies (ordentliches Studium) within two years

• Only for holders of a “Residence Permit – Student” who want to extend their stay in Austria to look for a job or to set up a business:
  • application form (explanation of the application form)
  • Proof of successful completion of a degree programme at a university, university of applied sciences (Fachhochschule), accredited private university or a public or private university college of teacher education
  • Proof of successful completion of non-degree programme studies (außerordentliches Studium) in a public or private certificate university course, university of applied sciences certificate course or a certificate course at a university college of teacher education with at least 40 ECTS credits (the course must not serve exclusively for learning a language)
  • Proof of successful completion of non-degree programme studies (außerordentliches Studium) to establish equivalence of a foreign university degree (recognition, “Nostrifizierung”) or

  • Proof of successful completion of a professional training course required by law after completion of your degree programme

• Only for holders of a “Residence Permit – Student” who want to complete a professional training course required by law following their regular degree programme studies (e.g. court practice)
  • application form (explanation of the application form)
  • Proof of successful completion of a degree programme at a university, university of applied sciences (Fachhochschule), accredited private university of a public or private university college of teacher education
  • Proof of admission to a professional training course required by law or
  • Proof of adequate progress in your training course in accordance with the statutory provisions on which the respective training is based

If there are inevitable and unpredictable reasons that are outside the student’s sphere of influence (e.g. disease) the residence permit may be renewed despite the lack of the successful course of study or training.

• Only for academic teachers and researchers:

  • Confirmation of your activities in Austria e.g. employment contract, hosting agreement

• Only for holders of a “Settlement Permit – Researcher” who want to extend their stay in Austria to look for a job or to set up a business:
  • application form (explanation of the application form)
  • Written confirmation of the successful completion of your research work

Costs: EUR 160 (EUR 120 when submitting the application, EUR 20 when the permit is granted and EUR 20 fee for the collection of police identification data)