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Does Austria have a golden visa?

No. Austria runs no residence-by-investment programme, and buying a Vienna apartment does not come with the right to live in it. This page explains what the law offers instead — and how the routes compare with what a golden visa promises.

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In short

  • Austria has no golden visa and no residence-by-investment programme. Neither buying real estate nor placing money in an Austrian bank or fund confers a residence permit.
  • Property ownership and the right of residence are two separate legal questions. A non-EU owner without a permit is limited to 90 days in any 180 under the Schengen rules.
  • The route wealthy newcomers actually use is the settlement permit for financially independent persons: proven regular income (2026: at least EUR 2,616.78 a month for a single applicant), accommodation, full health cover, German at A1 — and a strict annual quota.
  • Active investors use the Red-White-Red Card: self-employed key workers (typically at least EUR 100,000 of investment capital creating or safeguarding jobs) or start-up founders (EUR 30,000 capital, a points test).
  • Citizenship cannot be bought. Ten years of residence is the rule; the exceptional-achievements award is rare, discretionary and not for sale.

The direct answer

People searching for an "Austrian golden visa" usually have one of two things in mind: a residence permit granted in exchange for a real-estate purchase or a capital investment, or a passport obtained the same way. Austria offers neither, has never offered either, and shows no political appetite to start. Its immigration law admits people on the strength of what they will do in Austria — work, run a business, study, join family — or, for those who need to do nothing, on the strength of what they can prove they live on. Money placed in an Austrian asset is not, by itself, one of those grounds.

That is worth stating bluntly because the assumption travels. Advisers in jurisdictions that run such programmes sometimes present a Vienna apartment as a residence strategy; it is not one. What Austria does offer is a set of ordinary routes, several of which suit high-net-worth applicants well, mapped in full on the immigration overview. The difference is that each has conditions unrelated to the size of the investment.

Buying property gives you a property, not a permit

Foreigners can buy Austrian real estate — subject to provincial approval rules for non-EU/EEA buyers and to restrictions on holiday homes in the Alpine provinces, both explained on the page for foreign buyers. The purchase is registered in the land register and the owner enjoys full ownership rights. None of that touches immigration status. A third-country national who owns a flat in the first district may use it for visa-free stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, exactly as a tourist may; a longer stay needs a national visa, and settling for more than six months requires a residence title obtained on its own merits. Staying on without either is unlawful — and a stay of more than six months incidentally makes the owner an Austrian tax resident, a point developed under tax residence.

The same is true of financial investments. An Austrian securities account, a stake in an Austrian company or a deposit with a Vienna private bank is welcome, and the banking side is described under banking and finance, but no permit category counts such an investment towards admission. Only an active business investment, assessed for its benefit to the Austrian economy, opens an immigration door — and that door is the Red-White-Red Card, not a golden visa.

What a golden visa promises — and what Austria offers instead

The table sets the usual features of a residence-by-investment programme against the Austrian routes that come closest to serving the same people. Read across a row and the pattern is consistent: Austria replaces a purchase price with a condition — income, business substance, language, time.

What a golden visa typically promises What Austria offers Where to read more
Residence in return for a property purchase Nothing. Ownership and residence are separate; a permit must be obtained on other grounds. Foreign buyers
Residence in return for a passive capital investment Nothing for passive capital. Active investment in a business can qualify under the Red-White-Red Card for self-employed key workers — typically EUR 100,000 or more, judged on jobs and macro-economic benefit, with a business plan. Self-employed key workers
No need to work, live on your own means The settlement permit for financially independent persons: fixed and regular income of at least twice the social-insurance reference rates (2026: EUR 2,616.78 a month single, EUR 4,128.24 for a couple, plus EUR 403.76 per child), accommodation, full health cover, German at A1 before applying. Strict annual quota; no gainful employment in Austria. Financially independent persons
Fast processing, no language test The Red-White-Red Card for key workers: points test, a salary of at least EUR 3,465 a month (2026), a statutory decision deadline of eight weeks, no German required — but it presupposes Austrian employment matching your qualifications. Red-White-Red Card
Founding a company as the ticket in The Red-White-Red Card for start-up founders: an innovative business, EUR 30,000 of capital (half of it equity), at least 50 of 85 points; conversion after two years requires two full-time employees and either EUR 200,000 of annual turnover or EUR 100,000 of further financing. Start-up founders
Minimal physical presence Austrian settlement titles expect you to settle. For permanent residence after five years, absences of more than six consecutive months or ten months in total restart the clock. Permanent residence
Family included automatically Largely yes: spouses and children under 18 can be included in the independent-means application (each needing a quota place) or receive the Red-White-Red Card plus alongside a card holder. Family reunification
Citizenship after a short period, or by donation Ten years of residence as the rule, six in privileged cases, with German at B1, a citizenship exam and the renunciation of other citizenships. The exceptional-achievements award waives the years but is discretionary, rare and not purchasable. Austrian citizenship

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens sit outside this comparison altogether: they need no permit, only a registration certificate after three months, as described on the page for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens. For them the golden-visa question never arises — which is one reason a family with a second EU nationality often has the simplest Austrian move of all.

The route that does the golden visa's job

For most people who arrive at this page, the honest substitute is the settlement permit for financially independent persons. It is designed for exactly the applicant a golden visa targets — someone who will live in Austria on existing wealth without taking Austrian employment — and it asks for proof of that wealth in the form of regular income rather than a one-off purchase. Pensions, dividends, rental income and distributions all count when they are fixed, documented and sufficient.

Its two frictions are the ones no amount of capital removes. The first is the quota: each province receives a fixed annual allocation, applications are accepted from early January, and the places are typically exhausted within days, so the file must be complete and lodged at the consulate on the first working days of the year. The second is language: German at A1 has to be evidenced before the application, not learned afterwards. Both are manageable with planning, and both are why the permit belongs six to twelve months before the intended move on the relocation timeline.

The permit excludes gainful employment in Austria. Holding and overseeing your own foreign companies is not Austrian employment for immigration purposes; whether actively running them from a Vienna desk crosses into gainful activity is a finer question, worth settling before you rely on it. Either way it can make those companies Austrian tax residents — see foreign income and companies. Immigration and tax run on separate tracks, and both need to be planned.

Citizenship is not for sale either

Austrian nationality law contains a provision under which citizenship may be awarded for exceptional achievements in the particular interest of the Republic, dispensing with the usual residence period. It has been used for scientists, artists, sportspeople and business figures whose work in and for Austria was already substantial, and it depends on a confirmation given by the federal government at its discretion, on which a provincial government then grants the citizenship. It is not a programme, it has no price list, and an intended donation or investment is not an achievement within its meaning. Anyone offered Austrian citizenship for a fee is being offered something that does not exist. The ordinary path — ten years, German at B1, a written exam, a secured livelihood and the renunciation of other citizenships — is set out on the citizenship page.

The wider European picture has moved the same way. Several member states have closed or curtailed real-estate-based golden visas under sustained pressure from the European Commission, and the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in 2025 that selling citizenship for investment is incompatible with EU law. Austria's position has simply not needed to change.

What to do instead of looking for one

Start from your own facts rather than from a programme. If you will live on existing wealth, the independent-means permit is the route, and the work begins with assembling the income evidence and booking an A1 examination. If you will run a business, the Red-White-Red Card for self-employed key workers or start-up founders is the route, and the work begins with the business plan. If you hold, or can obtain, an EU passport, none of this applies and the move is administrative. Who can relocate to Austria matches each profile to its route.

Then run the tax track alongside. Whichever route admits you, Austrian tax residence follows the same day you make a home here, and the structuring that a golden-visa jurisdiction leaves for later — companies, trusts, foundations, the timing of gains and distributions — is precisely what Austria rewards you for settling before arrival. That sequence is the subject of pre-immigration tax planning.

Questions on this page

Does owning Austrian property help a residence-permit application?

Only as evidence of accommodation, which the independent-means permit and the family routes require (the Red-White-Red Card and the EU Blue Card no longer do) — it confers no residence right of its own. Ownership of Austrian real estate and the right to reside in Austria are legally separate. A foreign owner without a permit remains limited to visa-free stays of 90 days in any 180-day period, and the purchase itself may need provincial approval.

Is there a minimum investment that leads to an Austrian residence permit?

Not for passive investment. The Red-White-Red Card for self-employed key workers rewards an active business investment — typically at least EUR 100,000 that creates or safeguards Austrian jobs — but the test is macro-economic benefit, not a sum deposited.

Can Austrian citizenship be bought?

No. The only route that waives the residence years is the discretionary award for exceptional achievements in Austria's particular interest. It is rare, it turns on a confirmation by the federal government given case by case, and a donation or investment is not an achievement in that sense.

Which permit do wealthy people without an Austrian job actually use?

The settlement permit for financially independent persons. It requires proven regular income, accommodation, full health cover and German at A1, and it is subject to a strict annual quota that fills within days each January.

Are golden visas still available elsewhere in the EU?

Far fewer than a few years ago. Several member states have closed or curtailed their real-estate routes under pressure from the European Commission, and a Court of Justice ruling in 2025 ended citizenship-by-investment as a commercial product. Austria never had either.

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.