Changing employer in the first two years is only possible by obtaining the permit again, through the full cycle. The spouse does get a card with free access to the labour market.
The sharp end of the 2025-2029 government's tough migration policy is aimed at asylum and protection statuses: family reunification for people with international protection was suspended and put under a quota, and laws implementing the EU migration pact were passed. We found no measures against labour migrants living there legally. If anything, the work channel eased over the year: applicants may now wait for the card decision inside the country on a jobseeker visa, and the shortage list grew.
The real price is how secure the status is. For the first two years the card is valid only with one employer, and changing employer means starting over: a new opinion from the AMS employment service, a new decision, new fees. The law gives no grace period after dismissal at all: the basis for the card falls away and it is withdrawn, leaving only a change of purpose of stay if a quota place exists. After a withdrawal decision you get 14 days to leave voluntarily, and an appeal normally suspends enforcement. The Court of Audit found that agencies took 4-5 months on average before starting a withdrawal, but that is administrative tolerance, not a right.
Delivery is slow, especially in Vienna. The Ombudsman Board has for years criticised Vienna's MA 35 office for waits of more than six months for a simple appointment; it accounts for about 70% of all complaints in the country. The state does not publish refusal statistics for the card. A renewal filed on time keeps your lawful stay and right to work until the decision.
For families the mechanics are good: a spouse gets the Red-White-Red Card plus with free access to the labour market, at once and outside any quota. The 2026 income threshold is €1,308.39 for one person, €2,064.12 for a couple and €201.88 per child, but rent is deducted from income, so with Vienna rents of €1,000-1,200 a couple in fact needs about €2,700-2,900 net. The law allows 6 months for a decision; in family cases practice runs 6-12 months or more. Registering your address within 3 days of moving in is mandatory but quick.
The index score ignores nationality. This is what changes for citizens of specific countries.
Visa-free short stays of up to 90 days in 180, as in the rest of the Schengen area. For living and working there, the same Red-White-Red Card route.
EU temporary protection is extended to 4 March 2028. Since 31 July 2026 new applicants must show they left in line with their military obligations; people who already hold the status are not affected.
When we checked on 3 August 2026 we found no formal nationality bar on the route. In practice, sanctions compliance at banks causes systematic friction with accounts. The first application goes through an Austrian mission abroad, and how reachable those missions are varies by country.
The place interval 45-63 shows where the country lands when the data is nudged and the index is recalculated. One place of difference in the table means nothing; a difference of a league means something.
The thin mark on each bar is the average across 97 countries
The strongest category here is Family rights: 82 out of 100, against a 97-state average of 72.2. The weakest is Agency processing: 45 against 48.7. Above the world average: 2 out of 7.
All 97 states are calculated for one applicant: 35 years old, income of $2,500 and $3,856 a month before tax, passport not counted, the most accessible route that is actually in use.
Your passport, your income and your family do not change the table. They change which of its lines apply to you. A different income makes entry read differently, a family makes the family category read differently, and your passport makes everything read differently.
By law a decision on the Red-White-Red Card is due within 8 weeks of filing. In reality over 40% of cases run longer, and when you apply from abroad three different agencies are involved.
Hardly: there is no digital nomad visa, and the self-employed card requires proof of benefit to the economy, in practice around €100,000. Study remains an option.
At least €160 per person per application: a €120 fee plus card production. The same at renewal and when changing employer in the first two years; a family of three pays about €900-1,000 in state fees over five years, not counting German exams.
Yes, if you lose your job the card is withdrawn: the law gives no grace period to find a new employer. After the decision you have 14 days to leave, and an appeal usually suspends enforcement.
Long-term resident status after 5 years with German at B1. Citizenship after 10 years, with a test on the country and giving up your previous citizenship; after 6 years only with B2 and proven integration.
Labour migrants are treated fairly: there is no pressure on them and families get good rights. The tough policy targets asylum, while newcomers struggle with the employer tie, slow Vienna and one of the most closed paths to citizenship in Europe.
97 states, 26 indicators, seven categories, 2,522 scores. Every score has a source and a source class: primary means the texts of laws and government portals; reliable secondary means reports by international organisations, tax reviews by audit firms and specialist legal publications; weak means community posts and single secondary sources. The classes add up to a confidence level for the country, and a country with low confidence gets neither a score nor a place.
Every indicator is scored against a fixed ruler, not against its neighbours. Adding new countries therefore does not move the old ones, and a change in a score means a change in policy and nothing else.
A high place does not mean a good country. It means one thing: the state machine treats newcomers predictably and by the rules. Living there may be expensive, dull or hot; that is not our question.
Checked 01/10/2026. Facts come from the country's index card and official websites.
We make mistakes and we will go on making them: policy changes faster than any database. Our answer is not a pose of infallibility but a visible trail of corrections. Every correction is published: what it was, what it became, the source and the reason for the error. The corrections log opens with the second issue, together with the first block of changes.