If you are a key employee (manager, specialist and trainee employee with a university degree) who enters Austria in the framework of an intra-corporate transfer from a third country, you will be issued a residence permit as an intra-corporate transfer (‘ICT’), provided you meet the legal requirements. As a transferee, you must have been employed within the same company group for at least nine uninterrupted months immediately prior to the transfer in the case of managers and specialists, and for at least six uninterrupted months in the case of trainee employees.
Key Workers are:
- managers: directors of the branch or of a department thereof;
- specialists: skilled workers possessing specialised knowledge essential to the branch with a high level of qualification or specific technical knowledge;
- trainee employees: university graduates whose career development is to be promoted or who undergo an industry-specific, technical or methodological training.
Requirements are:
- temporary employment in the company of at least nine months or, for trainees, at least six months preceding the transfer;
- submission of a work contract also providing the necessity of the temporary transfer;
- proof of a genuine economic activity of the company.
Direct transfer from a third country to Austria
You will receive a residence permit as an intra-corporate transferee (‘ICT’) that will be issued for no longer than three years or, for trainees, for no longer than one year.
Transfer from another EU member state to Austria (‘mobile ICT’)
If you are already a holder of a residence permit ‘ICT’ of another EU member state and your activity in Austria is to exceed 90 days, you will receive a residence permit for mobile intra-corporate transferees (long-term ‘mobile ICT’).
For an activity of less than 90 days the provisions for posting of workers by EEA and Swiss companies apply (short-term ‘mobile ICT’). As a short-term ‘mobile ICT’ you do not need a specific residence permit for Austria.
| Where and how to apply | Application for a residence permit You are supposed to apply for a residence permit for intra-corporate transferees personally with the competent Austrian representation (embassy or consulate) in your home country or country of residence. Alternatively, the owner of the Austrian branch may lodge the application with the competent residence authority in Austria (Provincial Governor [Landeshauptmann/Landeshauptfrau] or authorised Regional Administrative Authority [Bezirkshauptmannschaft] or Local Administrative Authority [Magistrat], respectively). Along with the application an employer’s declaration (Arbeitgebererklärung) has to be submitted, which is a written confirmation of the company on the conditions of employment of your job. If you are already a holder of a residence permit ‘ICT’ of another EU Member State, you can apply for a residence permit ‘mobile ICT’ in Austria. Your application will be forwarded to the regional branch office of the Public Employment Service (AMS) competent for the place of business of your host branch, which will issue an expertise if the labour-market related requirements are met. If all requirements are fulfilled, the AMS will send a confirmation to the residence authority, which will consequently issue the residence permit, provided that the other requirements (as e.g. health insurance) are met. If the application is approved, the Austrian representation will inform you accordingly. When you are allowed to apply in Austria the residence authority in Austria will inform you. |
| Family members | Family members (spouses, registered partners and minor unmarried children) of holders of a residence permit for intra-corporate transferees (‘ICT’ and ‘mobile ICT’) may take up employment if holding a residence permit ‘family reunification’ granting access to the labour market, if they can prove a legally binding offer of employment from an Austrian employer |
| Further information | Intra-corporate Transfer of Managers, Specialists and Trainee Employees (‘ICT’ and ‘mobile ICT’) |
| Rights | Austrian Migration Portal |
| Mobility | Upon the fulfilment of certain conditions you can, on the basis of an ICT permit issued in one EU country, work in other EU countries if the entity where you will work belongs to the same company. If the duration of your mobility is shorter than 90 days during a 180-day period, you are subject to short-term mobility rules. If the duration of the mobility is longer than 90 days, you are instead subject to long-term mobility rules. The following procedures apply if you have an ICT permit in an EU Member State and intend to move and work in Austria: |
| Short-term mobility | Third-country nationals who hold a valid intra-corporate transferee permit issued by another Member State are allowed to stay in Austria and work in any other entity, established in the latter and belonging to the same undertaking or group of undertakings, for a period of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, subject to the conditions laid down in Directive 2014/66/EU. |
| Long-term mobility | Transfer from another EU member state to Austria ("mobile ICT") If you are already a holder of a residence permit ‘ICT’ of another EU Member State and your activity in Austria is to exceed 90 days, you will receive a residence permit for mobile intra-corporate transferees (long-term ‘mobile ICT’). For an activity of less than 90 days, the provisions for posting of workers by EEA and Swiss companies apply (short-term ‘mobile ICT’). As a short-term ‘mobile ICT’, you do not need a specific residence permit for Austria. Application for a residence permit If you are already a holder of a residence permit ‘ICT’ of another EU Member State, you can apply for a residence permit ‘mobile ICT’ in Austria. Your application will be forwarded to the regional branch office of the Public Employment Service (AMS) competent for the place of business of your host branch, which will issue an expertise if the labour-market related requirements are met. If all requirements are fulfilled, the AMS will send a confirmation to the residence authority, which will consequently issue the residence permit, provided that the other requirements (as e.g. health insurance) are met. If the application is approved, the Austrian representation will inform you accordingly. When you are allowed to apply in Austria the residence authority in Austria will inform you. |
| Further information | Intra-corporate Transfer of Managers, Specialists and Trainee Employees ("ICT" and "mobile ICT") |