Job Seeker Visa
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | Visum D zum Zweck der Arbeitssuche („Arbeitsuche-Visum“) as of 2026-08-12[2][6] FPG § 20 Abs. 1 Z 4 names the visum category; migration.gv.at calls it the „Arbeitsuche-Visum“. |
|---|---|
| Official name (English) | Job Seeker Visa as of 2026-08-12[6][7] Official English name used by the administering portal. |
| Legal basis | FPG § 20 Abs. 1 Z 4 and Abs. 2 Z 1, in conjunction with AuslBG § 12 and Anlage A AuslBG as of 2026-08-12[1][2][6] |
| Instrument type | national visa as of 2026-08-12[2] A category D visa under FPG § 20, not a residence title under the NAG. The permit fields below mean what they mean for a visa: there is no settlement, and the route's purpose is to be replaced by a Red-White-Red Card. |
Who can apply
| Nationals not served by this route | EEA, EFTA as of 2026-08-12[4][5] |
|---|---|
| Minimum age | Not applicable as of 2026-08-12[6] No minimum age. Age is a points criterion only. |
| Criminal-record condition | Not established from a qualifying source |
Permit terms
| Initial duration | up to 6 months as of 2026-08-12[2][6] FPG § 20 Abs. 2 Z 1: a visa D issued under Abs. 1 Z 1 to 8 or Z 10 entitles the holder to a stay of more than 90 days and at most six months. migration.gv.at describes it as six months to look for work. Recorded with bound 'maximum' because the statute states a ceiling. |
|---|---|
| Renewable | Not established from a qualifying source |
| Maximum total duration | up to 6 months as of 2026-08-12[2] FPG § 20 Abs. 2 Z 1; no extension of the six months is provided for this visa category. |
| Work rights | none as of 2026-08-12[2][3] FPG § 20 Abs. 2 first sentence: gainful activity is permissible only in the cases of § 24. § 24 Abs. 1 lists temporary self-employment, temporary employment, seasonal work and traineeships — the job-search visa under § 20 Abs. 1 Z 4 is not among them. The visa permits looking for work, not working; taking up the job requires the Red-White-Red Card. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
Requirements
| Job offer required | No as of 2026-08-12[2][6] The visa exists precisely for applicants who do not yet have a job offer. |
|---|---|
| Labour-market test | No as of 2026-08-12[1][6] The AMS confirms to the representation only that the applicant has reached the points required for admission; AuslBG § 12 dispenses with the individual labour-market test. |
| Qualification requirement | Recorded at the source, but not reducible to a single value as of 2026-08-12[1][6] |
| Employer sponsorship | No as of 2026-08-12[6] No employer participates in the visa procedure. |
| Own means requirement | Not established from a qualifying source The documents list requires proof of secure means of subsistence, of accommodation at least at the time of entry and of all-risk health insurance, but neither the portal nor FPG § 20 states a figure for the visa. The NAG § 11 Abs. 2 Z 4 equalisation-supplement test governs residence titles, not visas. |
| Job-search route | Yes as of 2026-08-12[2][6] |
Process
| Where to apply from | from abroad only as of 2026-08-12[6] The application is made in person at the competent Austrian representation — embassy or consulate — in the applicant's home state or state of residence. A person entitled to enter visa-free does not need the visa at all and may apply for the Red-White-Red Card in Austria during the visa-free stay. |
|---|---|
| Statutory processing time | Not established from a qualifying source |
| Fees | |
| Quota |
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Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Not established from a qualifying source No family-inclusion provision for the job-search visa was found. Neither FPG § 20 nor the administering portal's description of the route mentions family members, and the family routes in this record attach to residence titles rather than to visas. Recorded unknown rather than false because that is an absence of provision, not a sourced prohibition. |
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Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.
Profile benefits
- A 30-minute call with our consultant, who reads your profile first.
- An offer for legal support built around your case, covering the whole process.
Verification
| Sources cited | 9 |
|---|---|
| of which official (tier 1) | 9 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2026-08-12 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-12 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-17 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] AuslBG § 12 — Besonders Hochqualifizierte (admission as a key worker on the Anlage A points test)
Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS), Bundeskanzleramt · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2022-10-01 · Accessed 2026-08-12 - [2] FPG § 20 — Form und Wirkung der Visa D, including the Visum zum Zweck der Arbeitssuche and its six-month maximum (version in force from 12 June 2026)
Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS), Bundeskanzleramt · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-12 · Accessed 2026-08-12 - [3] FPG § 24 — Sonderbestimmungen zur Erteilung von Visa zu Erwerbszwecken (the closed list of visa categories that permit gainful activity)
Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS), Bundeskanzleramt · statute · Tier 1 · Published 2022-10-01 · Accessed 2026-08-12 - [4] Familienzusammenführung — family reunification: definition of family member, which title each sponsor category yields, the quota rule, 'Deutsch vor Zuzug' A1 requirement, 2026 equalisation supplement reference rates, fees
migration.gv.at — joint portal of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection and the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-12 · Archived copy - [5] Permanent immigration — Red-White-Red Card groups and general requirements for issuing residence permits (incl. the equalisation supplement reference rate from 1 January 2026)
migration.gv.at — joint portal of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection and the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-12 - [6] Besonders Hochqualifizierte — Red-White-Red Card for Very Highly Qualified Workers and the Job-Seeker Visa: Anlage A points table, minimum 70 points, fees
migration.gv.at — joint portal of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection and the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-12 · Archived copy - [7] Very Highly Qualified Workers — English-language version of the same route page (states an itemised Red-White-Red Card fee of EUR 156 + EUR 26 + EUR 20 and equalisation supplement reference rates dated 1 January 2024)
migration.gv.at — joint portal of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection and the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs · official portal · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-12 - [8] NAG § 13 — Niederlassungsverordnung (the annual quota ordinance and the exhaustive list of quota-bound residence titles)
Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS), Bundeskanzleramt · statute · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-12 - [9] NAG § 45 — Aufenthaltstitel „Daueraufenthalt – EU“
Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS), Bundeskanzleramt · statute · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-12