Austria’s August 2026 Immigration Reform: Easier Employer Changes, Six-Month Unemployment Protection and Faster Decisions

A note on timing: this reform was published in the Austrian Federal Law Gazette on 6 August 2026 and took effect on 7 August 2026. It is an August update, but its practical impact on employers and foreign workers makes it worth highlighting for readers who may not have reviewed it yet.

Overview

Federal Law BGBl. I No. 81/2026 amended two Austrian statutes: the Settlement and Residence Act (NAG) and the Foreign Nationals Employment Act (AuslBG), w.e.f. 7 August 2026. The law is marked as implementing Directive (EU) 2024/1233, the recast EU Single Permit Directive, which Member States had to transpose by 21 May 2026.

For employers and foreign workers, three changes matter most: a notification route for changing employers, protection against permit withdrawal during unemployment, and a general 90-day decision deadline. The same law also reforms family reunification for beneficiaries of international protection, which we summarise at the end.

1. Changing employers

The reform applies to holders of a residence title that authorises dependent employment with a specific employer.

How it works under the NAG (§ 26):

• A holder who wants to change employer, or take up work with a new employer after a period of unemployment, must notify the authority.

• The notification must state the type of work and name the new employer precisely.

• Unless the holder has already filed an application under § 26(1), or expressly asks for a different title, the notification is treated as a change-of-purpose application for the same type of title, now linked to the new employer.

• If no decision has been issued within 45 days of the notification reaching the authority, the holder is provisionally entitled to start the activity covered by the requested purpose.

• This route applies where the labour-market provisions in § 20d(2a) and (2b) AuslBG do not apply.

How it works under the AuslBG (§ 20d(2b)):

• For holders of employer-specific titles who change employer, the existing application procedure continues to apply.

• The holder may provisionally start the new job once 45 days have passed since the application.

• The regional labour market service office may suspend that 45-day period by notifying the applicant if the applicant caused a delay in the examination.

Exclusions. The 45-day provisional entitlement under the NAG does not apply to the intra-corporate transferee permits (§ 58) and mobile intra-corporate transferee permits (§ 58a). It also does not apply to permits under § 59, or under § 62 where the holder currently carries on — or, up to the start of unemployment, carried on — an activity excluded from the scope of the AuslBG (§ 26(4) NAG).

2. Unemployment protection

Under the NAG (§ 28(5a)):

• If the holder of an employer-specific title ends the employment and reports this to the authority without undue delay, the authority must refrain from withdrawing the title for six months.

• The six months run from the start of unemployment as defined in § 12(1)(1) of the Unemployment Insurance Act (AlVG).

• The period is extended by three months if the worker credibly shows that the former employer employed them under the working conditions described in § 28c(2)(1) AuslBG.

• The rule does not apply to permits under § 59, or under § 62 where the previous activity fell outside the AuslBG.

Under the AuslBG (§ 20d(7)):

• Before the regional labour market service office tells the residence authority that the admission requirements are no longer met, it must give the holder at least six months to look for work.

• This covers holders of the Red-White-Red Card, the EU Blue Card, the Settlement Permit – Artist, the “cross-border commuter” residence permit and the “family community” residence permit under § 69 NAG, where the permit allows dependent employment.

• The same three-month extension applies.

3. Decision deadlines

The new § 19a NAG requires decisions on residence titles to be made without delay and at most within 90 days. This binds the settlement authority and, where relevant, the labour market authority under §§ 20d and 20e AuslBG.

• Extension: the deadline can be extended by 30 days in exceptional, well-justified circumstances linked to the complexity of the case. The applicant must be told by procedural order before the original deadline expires. No extension is available for proceedings under §§ 64 and 67 NAG — although the same law repeals § 67(3) (§ 81(44)), so this carve-out will soon apply only to § 64 in practice.

• Excluded titles: the 90-day rule does not apply to the settlement permit (§ 43), the artist settlement permit (§ 43a(1)(2)), the settlement permit excluding gainful employment (§ 44), “Permanent Residence – EU” (§ 45), titles under §§ 46, 46a, 47 and 69, or residence permits under §§ 59, 60, 63 and 66. It also does not apply to § 62 permits where the applicant’s activity falls outside the AuslBG.

• Shorter deadlines remain: eight weeks under § 49(3) for titles under § 49(2), and 30 days under § 50a(5) for titles under § 50a(1) or (3).

• Pending cases: under § 81(49), the new or changed deadlines apply only to proceedings that became pending on or after the law entered into force.

4. Other procedural changes

• Online filing (§ 19(1a)): where technically possible, extension applications, change-of-purpose applications, applications for permanent residence certificates and cards, and certain further applications under § 19(11) can be filed remotely using the electronic ID (E-ID). Quota-bound changes of purpose are excluded. Availability depends on an ordinance confirming that the technical conditions exist, issued by the provincial governor for their area and by the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA) for its own procedures.

• Faster rejections: several provisions now allow an application to be rejected without waiting for the labour market service’s decision when register checks or facts evident to the authority show that a requirement under § 11(2)(1) or (5) NAG is missing.

• Expired titles: the duty to hand in a residence title no longer applies where it became invalid only because its validity period ended (§ 10(5)).

• Authority opinions: statements, opinions and expert reports of other authorities can be withdrawn, amended or revoked until a final decision is issued (§ 19(13)).

• Family members and the labour market (§ 20d(9) AuslBG): where a “family community” permit under § 69 NAG is meant to give labour market access, the labour market procedure applies, with the labour market service checking the conditions of § 4(1) AuslBG except Z 1.

• Student permits (§ 64): the qualifying study types in § 64(1) now include ordinary degree studies at universities, universities of applied sciences, private universities and teacher-training colleges. Extraordinary studies in university or college courses qualify if they comprise at least 40 ECTS credits and do not serve solely to teach a language.

5. Family reunification for protection beneficiaries (new § 46a)

The law also adds a new route for family members of people granted international protection in Austria.

• Who decides: the BFA decides on these titles, and the Federal Administrative Court decides appeals against its decisions.

• The title: eligible family members receive the “Red-White-Red Card plus” if they meet the general requirements, a quota place is available and, where the sponsor has subsidiary protection, that status was finally granted at least two years earlier.

• Eligible family members:

  • a spouse or registered partner, if the relationship existed before the sponsor entered Austria;

  • unmarried minor children, including adopted and stepchildren;

  • parents of a refugee or subsidiary-protection holder who was an unaccompanied minor when applying for protection, if they apply within three months of the final grant of refugee status (or within three months of the child turning 18); and parents of a minor granted subsidiary protection, provided that minor was unaccompanied when applying for protection;

  • adult children of a refugee who were minors when the refugee applied for protection, if the application is filed within three months.

• Age and polygamy: spouses and partners must be at least 21 at the time of application, and where a polygamous marriage exists, further spouses are not eligible.

• Three-month window: where family members apply within three months of the final grant of refugee status, certain general requirements under § 11(2)(2)–(4) are treated as met. The same general requirement waivers apply to parents of unaccompanied minors granted either refugee status or subsidiary protection

• Late applications: An application filed after the three-month window is still treated as timely if the applicant credibly shows that an unforeseeable and unavoidable event prevented timely filing without fault (or with only a minor degree of fault) and the application is filed within two weeks of the obstacle ceasing. A filing is also preserved if a motion concerning the application was lodged within three months and the delay was outside the applicant's sphere of influence (§ 46a(6) NAG).

• No genuine family life: § 30(4) requires rejection where genuine family relationships do not or no longer exist.

• Pending entry-visa applications: applications for entry titles under § 35 of the Asylum Act 2005 that were undecided before 12 June 2026 continue as applications under § 46a(2). For these, spouses and partners must not yet have turned 21. They are placed in a separate quota category by date of the original application.

Quick reference

What this means in practice

Employers of third-country nationals should review how they handle role changes, notices of termination and renewals. Workers should know that notifying the authority promptly after losing a job is what triggers the protection. Several parts of the reform depend on the exact permit type, so the exclusions above should be checked against the specific title concerned before relying on any of these rules.

This article is based on information procured from official sources and public portals. It is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal or immigration advice. Kindly consult the relevant public authority or an immigration advisor at the Legit Migrant for guidance specific to your circumstances.