Austrian visa resources
Austria's immigration authority
There is no single national office; provincial and district settlement authorities decide applications, with the Interior Ministry running migration.gv.at and consulates receiving applications abroad.
Important
Austria handles immigration through a layered system rather than one central agency. Decisions on national residence titles rest with the settlement and residence authorities of the federal provinces, while the Federal Ministry of the Interior (Bundesministerium fuer Inneres, BMI) sets the framework and runs the official migration platform, migration.gv.at. Austrian representations abroad, under the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA), receive first applications and issue entry visas.
Which office is competent depends on your intended place of residence in Austria.
Who does what
- Competent first-instance settlement authorities (Niederlassungsbehoerde): the Provincial Governor's Office (Amt der Landesregierung) or the authorised district bodies - the District Administrative Authority (Bezirkshauptmannschaft) or Municipal Authority (Magistrat); in Vienna this is the immigration office (MA 35)
- Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI): sets policy and operates the migration.gv.at information platform
- Austrian embassies and consulates (BMEIA): receive first applications abroad, check them for completeness, forward them to Austria, and issue the visa D
Official website
- The Migration Platform of the Austrian Federal Government: migration.gv.at
- General citizen information: oesterreich.gv.at
- Representations abroad and consular matters: bmeia.gv.at
Next steps
Official sources
For the most accurate and up-to-date information, always refer to the official government sources.
Verified against official sources · last reviewed 2026-08-21. Information only — not legal advice.