Austria

Niederlassungsbewilligung – ausgenommen Erwerbstätigkeit (settlement permit, excluding gainful employment). Austria’s settlement permit for the independently wealthy who will not work there — a real option, but only about 285 places a year, booked in a one-week window each December.

Free, with the law behind every answer

Niederlassungsbewilligung – ausgenommen Erwerbstätigkeit (settlement permit, excluding gainful employment)

A settlement permit, initially valid for up to 1 year, renewable, without the right to work.

Who qualifies

A quota place must be available: the 2026 settlement ordinance allocates roughly 285 places nationwide to this category, booked through a one-week online reservation window each December (2026 slots were booked 1–8 December 2025).
Statutory settlement quota (Niederlassungsverordnung 2026)
Regular monthly income of at least about €2,617 for a single applicant, €4,128 for a couple, plus about €404 per child (2026 rates: double the standard needs-based minimum-income rates).
Migration.gv.at: Other forms of settlement
No employment in Austria or abroad while holding the permit, except passive management of one’s own assets.
Migration.gv.at: Other forms of settlement

You keep your U.S. citizenship.

Does it fit your family?

One question, from the program’s own rules.

Steady monthly income, from any source?

Not legal advice.

What it takes.

Income: At least $2,879 a month, steady and documented.
Time: The quota booking window itself is the bottleneck (a single week in December); once a slot is secured, the permit decision follows in a few months.
Cost: About $500–1,000 in fees and document costs; no capital investment required, only ongoing income.
The hard part: Getting a quota place at all: with roughly 285 slots offered once a year in a narrow booking window, demand can exceed supply well before the week is out.

Dollar figures are converted from the local currency at the rate the program’s research used; the official figure is in the local currency.

Citizens by 2038.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

2027
First residence permit
1 year, renewable for 1 year at a time.
2028
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 1 year.
2029
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 1 year.
2030
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 1 year.
2031
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 1 year.
2032
Permanent residence
‘Daueraufenthalt – EU’ after 5 unbroken years actually settled in Austria, with module 2 of the integration agreement (German at B1 and the values course) and a secure income.
2037
Apply for citizenship
With a language test and a civics test.
2038
Citizenship

Language: German at B1 (B2 for the 6-year option).
Civics: The citizenship test: basic knowledge of Austria’s democratic order, its history and the history of your province.
Time away: 10 years of lawful, unbroken residence, at least 5 of them on a settlement permit; no more than 20% of the period spent abroad. You also need a steady income of your own, averaged over 36 months in the last 6 years.
Two passports: Usually not: new citizens are asked to give up their other citizenship.

The first permit and first renewal last 12 months each; after 2 years, with German at A2 (module 1), renewals run 3 years. The 10-year citizenship clock usually means giving up the old passport.
How long the decision takes isn’t published; we allow a year.
This country asks new citizens to give up their other citizenship.

The law behind these dates

Living there.

Time you must spend there: The program sets no minimum number of days. Renewal still expects it to be your home.
Tax: Living in Austria on this permit generally makes you Austrian tax resident, with worldwide income taxable and no special low-tax regime for this permit.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

Start today.

Read the settlement-permit-without-employment guidance.Open migration.gv.at ↗
Gather these documents.
- Proof of steady income: at least $2,879 a month
- Request your FBI Identity History Summary
- Health cover for the move

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