Austria’s Red-White-Red Card: How the Points Route Works

Every few weeks someone sits down in our Dubai office with a printout of an Austrian points table and a worried look. They hold a master’s degree, a decade of engineering experience in the Gulf, and no idea whether the number at the bottom of that table is enough. Austria’s Red-White-Red Card is a points system, but it is really three different doors with three different locks. This guide walks through each door using the figures the Austrian government publishes on migration.gv.at, as at September 2026.

Three routes, one card

The Red-White-Red Card is the name printed on the card, but the points route behind it splits into three categories on the official site. Each has its own points table, its own minimum score and its own conditions on pay. Which door you knock on depends on your occupation and whether you already hold an Austrian job offer.

Think of it as three queues at the same counter. Each queue takes a different ticket, and standing in the wrong one costs months.

Two things are shared across all three. The card is generally issued for 24 months and is tied to the employer named in your application. The government application fee for the card is published on the official migration portal. We describe how the process typically runs on our Austria page.

Very Highly Qualified Workers: the 70-point route

This is the category most of our UAE clients ask about first. It is the only one of the three where you do not need a job offer before you travel. If you score at least 70 points, you can apply for a job-seeker visa valid for six months, land in Austria, and look for work. Once you find employment that matches the criteria, the Red-White-Red Card can be issued.

The catch is the threshold itself. Seventy of a possible 100 is a demanding score, and the two criteria below carry the heaviest weight.

The qualifications block also carries separate salary, research and award sub-criteria, all inside the same 40-point ceiling. The official table lists further criteria beyond the two reproduced here, so read the full source page before you add up your own score.

Two patterns stand out. A PhD alone takes you to 40, more than half of the 70 you need. And age is unforgiving: no points are awarded from 45 upward. We meet senior managers in Abu Dhabi who assume seniority compensates for age. On this table it does not.

Skilled Workers in Shortage Occupations: the 55-point route

If your trade or profession appears on Austria’s nationwide shortage list, the bar drops to 55 points out of 90. The official site republishes this list for each calendar year, and the 2026 list is the current one. Check it before anything else, because if your occupation is not on it, this door is closed regardless of your score.

The qualifications criterion works differently from the graduated scale above. Completed vocational education or training in the listed shortage occupation is worth the full 30 points available for qualifications. It is all or nothing for that sub-criterion. There is also a 5-point bonus if English is the predominant working language at the company.

You need a binding job offer to apply. On pay, the rule is not a single euro figure. The employer must pay at least the minimum set by law, regulation or collective agreement for that occupation, and if overpay is customary at that company, it must be granted to you as well.

For a technician in the UAE with a formal vocational qualification, this is often the more realistic route. The work is matching your qualification title to the occupation on the Austrian list, which is rarely a word-for-word match.

Other Key Workers: the salary floor and the labour market test

The third category also requires 55 points out of 90, but it is the hardest of the three to clear in practice. Points alone are not enough. The employer must pay a statutory minimum gross salary of €3,465 per month for 2026, and the AMS, Austria’s Public Employment Service, must confirm that no equally qualified jobseeker already registered in Austria can be placed in the role. That is the labour market test, and it does not apply to the other two categories.

The points come from four criteria plus two possible bonuses.

The sports bonus is a genuine quirk. Professional athletes and coaches get 20 points toward the 55, and they do not have to furnish proof of completed formal training for the qualifications criterion. For everyone else, the labour market test is the part to plan around, because the AMS will check whether someone already in Austria could do the job.

From card to plus card: what the 24 months buy you

The initial Red-White-Red Card ties you to one employer for a period generally set at 24 months. Nobody enjoys that, but it is the bridge to something much better.

If you were employed in line with the eligibility criteria for at least 21 of the preceding 24 months, assessed by the AMS, you can move to the Red-White-Red Card plus. This is the same bridge for all three categories. The plus card gives you fixed-term settlement with unlimited labour market access: you can work for any employer or be self-employed, no longer limited to the company on your original application.

The plus card is valid for one year at first. Once you have been lawfully settled in Austria for at least two years and you meet Module 1 of the Integration Agreement, you can obtain a plus card valid for three years.

We could not confirm on the official site a specific route from the plus card to permanent residence for these three categories, so we do not describe one. Anyone who quotes you a fixed number of years should show you the official page that says so.

From the UAE: what this means for you

Start by scoring yourself honestly against the official table for the one category that fits you, not all three. The biggest time-waster we see is a Very Highly Qualified Workers application built by someone who would clear the Shortage Occupations bar comfortably but falls short of 70.

Then gather the paper. Degree certificates and transcripts, reference letters from former employers in the UAE and at home, your passport, and evidence of any qualification that maps to a listed shortage occupation. Reference letters slow people down most: a former line manager who has moved on, an HR department that only issues a standard template. Start those requests early.

On attestation, confirm with the Austrian mission which form of legalisation they require for each document before you join any queue. Doing it twice is expensive.

Language skills carry up to 25 points in the Other Key Workers category, so find out which recognised tests are held in the UAE and book a session well ahead of your intended application date. The English working-language bonus of 5 points depends on the company, not on you, so ask the employer directly.

We do not quote processing timelines from Dubai or Abu Dhabi, because the facts we have verified do not include them. Many people we meet are weighing Germany at the same time. The two systems are built differently, so read our Germany page before choosing where to put your effort, and see the other destinations on our countries we serve page. Our how we work page explains what a review with us covers.

Frequently asked questions

Can I apply for Austria’s Red-White-Red Card without a job offer?

Only under the Very Highly Qualified Workers category. If you score at least 70 of 100 points, you can enter on a job-seeker visa valid for six months and look for matching employment. The other two categories require a binding job offer.

Which is easier: 70 out of 100 or 55 out of 90?

The 55-point categories have a lower bar but carry conditions the 70-point route does not. Shortage Occupations requires your occupation to be on the current 2026 list. Other Key Workers adds a €3,465 gross monthly salary floor for 2026 plus the AMS labour market test.

How long until I can change employers?

The initial card is generally issued for 24 months and tied to your named employer. After at least 21 of the preceding 24 months in eligible employment, assessed by the AMS, you can apply for the Red-White-Red Card plus and work for any employer or be self-employed.

What to do next

If Austria is on your list, request a free eligibility assessment and we will score you against the category that fits, using the official table. Call us on 04 357 7796 or book a 20-minute review through our contact page. We assess honestly and we never promise an outcome, because the decision belongs to the Austrian authorities and not to us.

Sources

• migration.gv.at — Very Highly Qualified Workers — accessed 13 Sep 2026
• migration.gv.at — Skilled Workers in Shortage Occupations — accessed 13 Sep 2026
• migration.gv.at — Other Key Workers — accessed 13 Sep 2026
• migration.gv.at — Red-White-Red Card plus — accessed 13 Sep 2026
• migration.gv.at — Austria-wide shortage occupations — accessed 13 Sep 2026

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