Family reunification
How spouses, registered partners and children under 18 join you in Austria — and which permits skip the quota and the German test.
In short
- Family means spouses and registered partners — both at least 21 at application — and unmarried children under 18, including adopted children and stepchildren.
- Families of Red-White-Red Card and EU Blue Card holders receive a Red-White-Red Card plus: no quota, and unrestricted access to the labour market.
- Adult family members generally prove basic German (A1) before entry; families of EU Blue Card holders, researchers and very-highly-qualified Red-White-Red Card holders are exempt, as are children under 14. Families of key workers are not.
- The household income must reach the 2026 reference rates: EUR 1,308.39 for a single person, EUR 2,064.12 for a couple, plus EUR 201.88 per child, monthly.
- Families of independent-means permit holders are includable, but each person needs a place under the annual quota.
Who counts as family
Austrian residence law draws the family circle tightly. Eligible are the spouse or registered partner — with the additional condition that both spouses have reached 21 by the time the application is filed — and unmarried children under 18, including adopted children and stepchildren. The age is tested at the moment of application: a child who applies at 17 remains in the procedure after turning 18.
Everyone outside that circle — unmarried partners, parents, adult children, siblings — needs an independent basis for residence. The one softening applies where the sponsor is an Austrian citizen: dependent parents in the direct ascending line, and a life partner who can show a durable relationship in the country of origin, may be granted a settlement permit as a dependant, outside the quota, if the sponsor signs a liability declaration. For financially strong families this is usually the residence permit for financially independent persons; the full menu of options is compared on the immigration overview.
One group follows different, more generous rules altogether: family members of EU, EEA or Swiss citizens who exercise free-movement rights. Their position — including for non-EU spouses — is covered on the page for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens.
Which permit your family receives
What the family gets depends entirely on what the sponsor holds. The differences are not cosmetic: they decide whether a quota applies, whether German must be proven before entry, and whether the spouse may work.
| You hold | Your family receives | German before entry | Quota |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red-White-Red Card for key workers, shortage occupations, self-employed key workers or start-up founders | Red-White-Red Card plus — full labour-market access | A1 (children under 14 exempt) | None |
| Red-White-Red Card for very highly qualified workers, EU Blue Card or researcher permit | Red-White-Red Card plus — full labour-market access | Exempt | None |
| Independent-means permit | The same permit — no gainful employment | A1 (children under 14 exempt) | Yes — one place per person |
| Austrian citizenship | Family member residence title | A1 (children under 14 exempt) | None |
| Permanent residence (Daueraufenthalt – EU) | Red-White-Red Card plus | A1 (children under 14 exempt) — exempt if you originally held an EU Blue Card, a researcher permit or a very-highly-qualified Red-White-Red Card | None if you originally held a Red-White-Red Card, EU Blue Card or researcher permit; otherwise yes |
German before entry — and who is exempt
Most adult family members must file a certificate of basic German at A1 level, from a recognised examination institute, together with the application — that is, before entry. The bar is deliberately low, but it is a real gate: applications without the certificate are incomplete.
The exemptions matter in practice. Children under 14 need no certificate. Nor do family members whose sponsor holds an EU Blue Card, a researcher permit or a Red-White-Red Card for very highly qualified workers; since August 2026 the exemption follows the sponsor who has since moved up to a Red-White-Red Card plus or to permanent residence. It is one of the quiet advantages of the EU Blue Card for internationally mobile families. The families of key workers, by contrast, are not exempt, even though the key worker personally needs no German. Health grounds, documented medically, also excuse the test, as does a written declaration that the stay will not exceed 24 months within three years — but that declaration carries an irrevocable waiver of any renewal beyond the first, so it is no route for a family that means to settle. After arrival, the ordinary integration track applies: A2 within two years (Module 1), and B1 (Module 2) as the gateway to permanent residence.
The income requirement
The sponsor must show fixed and regular monthly income high enough that the enlarged household will not need social assistance. The yardstick is the reference rates of the General Social Insurance Act (ASVG), reset each year:
| Household | Required monthly income (2026) |
|---|---|
| Single person | EUR 1,308.39 |
| Married couple or registered partners | EUR 2,064.12 |
| Each child, in addition | EUR 201.88 |
Two practical notes. The figures are net floors, not targets: regular commitments such as rent above a modest allowance are added to the required amount, so a family with a substantial Vienna apartment should budget for a correspondingly higher threshold. And income can be evidenced broadly — employment, self-employment, investment income or pension entitlements all count, provided they are fixed and regular. For high-net-worth households the rates themselves are rarely the obstacle; documenting regularity in a form the authority accepts is the real task.
Quotas, timing and the application
Family members of Red-White-Red Card and EU Blue Card holders face no quota — the family can normally file together with the main applicant at the Austrian consulate in the country of residence and travel together. The application fee is around EUR 218 per person (as of 2026).
Where the sponsor's own title is quota-bound — above all the independent-means permit — each family member needs a quota place of his or her own. The annual quotas open in January and the sought-after categories fill quickly, so families should file early in the year and treat the timeline as a planning constraint, not an afterthought. How the immigration step slots into the wider sequence of a move is laid out in the relocation timeline.
Settling the family in
A Red-White-Red Card plus is, for a spouse, one of the strongest titles in the system short of permanent residence: any employment, any employer, any self-employment, no further labour-market test. Children move into an education system with strong international options — the English-curriculum schools, fees and districts are compared on the schools and universities page — and the whole family joins Austrian health insurance by co-insurance. That is free for children and for a spouse raising children in the household; a childless co-insured spouse costs a supplementary contribution of 3.4% of the sponsor's contribution base, as described on the healthcare page.
Years spent in Austria on family titles count in full towards permanent residence after five years and towards citizenship after ten — the family's clock runs alongside the sponsor's from the day of arrival.
Questions on this page
Can my partner join me if we are not married?
Only spouses and registered partners qualify for family reunification, and both spouses must be at least 21 when the application is filed. An unmarried partner needs a residence title in his or her own right — unless the sponsor is an Austrian citizen, in which case a durable relationship formed in the country of origin can support a settlement permit as a dependant.
Do my children need German before they can enter Austria?
Children under 14 are exempt from the A1-before-entry requirement. Older family members generally need the certificate, unless the sponsor holds — or originally held, before moving up to a Red-White-Red Card plus or permanent residence — an EU Blue Card, a researcher permit or a Red-White-Red Card for very highly qualified workers, in which case the whole family is exempt.
Can my parents or adult children join me?
Not under the standard rules. Family reunification covers spouses, registered partners and unmarried children under 18, including adopted children and stepchildren. Parents and adult children need a route of their own, such as the independent-means permit; where the sponsor is an Austrian citizen, dependent parents may instead qualify for a settlement permit as a dependant, quota-free, against a liability declaration.
May my spouse work in Austria?
A spouse holding a Red-White-Red Card plus has unrestricted access to the labour market. Family members of an independent-means permit holder receive the same permit as the sponsor and, like the sponsor, may not take up gainful employment.
When can family members apply for permanent residence?
After five years of continuous lawful settlement, on the same terms as the sponsor, including German at B1 level. Time in Austria under family permits counts in full.
Considering a move to Austria?
Tell us where you stand — the country you are leaving, the shape of your family and your assets, and when you plan to move. We advise on the legal and tax consequences of relocating to Austria and coordinate with advisers in the country of departure.
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