How to Hire Caregivers from Abroad in Austria (2026)

7 min

The Care Shortage in Austria: Cost, Needs, and Realistic Expectations

Austria faces a acute, structural deficit in elderly care and nursing personnel. Residential care homes (Seniorenwohnheime), mobile care organizations (Mobile Pflegedienste), and specialized rehabilitation facilities across all nine federal states face ongoing staffing gaps. The shortage is particularly pronounced in Vienna (Wien), Lower Austria (Niederösterreich), Upper Austria (Oberösterreich), and Styria (Steiermark). Care professions-ranging from care assistants to registered nurses-are consistently listed on the nationwide shortage occupation list (Mangelberufsliste) published by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy (Bundesministerium fuer Arbeit und Wirtschaft - BMAW).

Hiring caregiver and elderly care workers from non-EU countries into Austria is fully legal and supported by specific immigration pathways, but it is not a quick fix. Austria strictly regulates health and care professions. You cannot place a foreign worker directly on a floor or into a home care setting without first completing formal qualification recognition (Nostrifizierung). If your facility needs immediate shift cover for next month, international recruitment will not meet your deadline. However, if you are planning workforce stability over a 6-to-12-month horizon, hiring non-EU care staff is one of the few sustainable ways to keep beds open and care teams operating at full capacity.

It is important to distinguish institutional care employment from 24-hour home care (24-Stunden-Betreuung). The 24-hour home care sector in Austria relies heavily on self-employed independent contractors from Central and Eastern Europe. This guide addresses formal, direct employment of non-EU care workers by Austrian companies, care homes, and healthcare institutions operating under Austrian employment law.

The Legal Route: Rot-Weiss-Rot Karte and Qualification Recognition

To employ a non-EU citizen in Austria as a care worker, the core legal pathway is the Red-White-Red Card (Rot-Weiss-Rot - Karte) for Skilled Workers in Shortage Occupations. This residence and work permit grants the holder the right to live in Austria and work specifically for your organization.

The application process involves two parallel and interdependent requirements: professional recognition of foreign credentials and the immigration permit application.

Step 1: Professional Recognition (Nostrifizierung) - Before a worker can perform care duties, their diploma must be evaluated under the Austrian Health and Nursing Act (Gesundheits- und Krankenpflegegesetz - GuKG). Depending on the target position (Pflegeassistenz, Pflegefachassistenz, or Diplomierte Gesundheits- und Krankenpfleger/in), the application is submitted to the competent authority. For nursing professions, this is typically handled by the relevant Provincial Government office (Amt der Landesregierung) or the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection (Sozialministerium). The authority compares the candidate's foreign curriculum against Austrian educational standards. It issues a decision (Nostrifizierungsbescheid) stating either full recognition or specifying adaptational requirements (such as completing clinical hours or passing supplemental exams).
Step 2: Permit Application - The application for the Rot-Weiss-Rot - Karte is filed either by the candidate at the competent Austrian embassy or consulate in their home country, or directly by you as the employer at the local residence authority in Austria (Bezirkshauptmannschaft or Magistrat, such as MA 35 in Vienna).
Step 3: Labor Market Verification by AMS - The residence authority forwards the file to the Public Employment Service Austria (Arbeitsmarktservice - AMS). Because care roles are classified as shortage occupations, the standard individual labor market test (Ersatzkraftverfahren) is streamlined or waived. The AMS verifies that the worker achieves the required minimum points on the statutory criteria (qualifications, work experience, language skills, and age) and that the offered salary meets collective agreement standards.

Always verify current eligibility rules, point thresholds, and documentation formats directly with the official migration portal of the Austrian government (migration.gv.at) or your regional AMS office before initiating contracts.

Timeline: From Offer Letter to First Shift

A realistic timeline for bringing a non-EU care worker to Austria ranges between 6 and 10 months. Attempting to rush this process usually leads to rejected files or extended delays at regional administrative bodies.

Months 1 to 2: Document Gathering and Translation - The candidate collects official diplomas, transcripts, training module overviews, and police clearance certificates. All non-German documents must be translated by a certified translator and legalized or apostilled according to international standards.
Months 3 to 5: Recognition Process (Nostrifizierung) - The Provincial Government evaluates the educational records. Issuing the formal decree (Bescheid) takes between 8 and 16 weeks depending on the regional workload.
Months 6 to 8: RWR Card Application and AMS Review - The combined application is submitted to the residence authority or embassy. The AMS evaluation takes up to 8 weeks by statute, though internal processing times vary regionally.
Months 9 to 10: Visa Issuance, Entry, and Registration - Once approved, the embassy issues an entry visa (Visa D). The worker travels to Austria, registers their residential address (Meldezettel), picks up their physical Rot-Weiss-Rot - Karte from the authority, and formally starts employment.

If the Nostrifizierungsbescheid requires the worker to complete supplementary clinical practice or courses in Austria before full registration is granted, you may initially hire them under a specific temporary permit as a care trainee or assistant while they complete these requirements.

Mandatory Pay, Collective Agreements, and Accommodation Standards

You cannot undercut local wage standards when hiring from abroad. Austrian law strictly enforces equal pay to prevent social dumping. Salary offers are verified by the AMS during the permit review.

Pay in the Austrian private care sector is primarily governed by the SWOE Collective Agreement (Sozialwirtschaft Oesterreich - KV). Public healthcare facilities and municipal care homes follow applicable federal or provincial public sector salary scales (Vertragsbedienstetengesetz or Landesbediensteten-KVs).

Base Salary Requirements - Under the SWOE-KV, gross monthly minimum salaries vary by qualification level. A care assistant (Pflegeassistenz) falls into dedicated salary groups with base pay typically starting between EUR 2,450 and EUR 2,750 gross per month for full-time employment (37 or 38 hours per week). A qualified nurse (DGKP) earns significantly more, typically ranging between EUR 3,100 and EUR 3,800 gross per month depending on documented years of prior experience.
Mandatory Payments - Salaries in Austria are paid 14 times per year (12 regular monthly payments plus a 13th and 14th month installment known as Urlaubsgeld and Weihnachtsgeld). Furthermore, care personnel working shifts, nights, Sundays, or public holidays must receive statutory and KV-mandated allowances (Zulagen und Zuschlaege).
Accommodation Obligations - Institutional care employers in Austria are not legally obligated to provide permanent free housing to non-EU employees. However, given the competitive housing market in cities like Vienna, Salzburg, or Innsbruck, providing or subsidizing initial temporary accommodation (such as a staff room or studio apartment for the first 3 to 6 months) is standard practice and often essential to secure international candidates.

What This Costs You, Roughly

Direct costs associated with bringing a care worker to Austria fall into predictable administrative and relocation categories. Below is an estimated breakdown of typical employer expenses per candidate:

Qualification Recognition Fees (Nostrifizierung): EUR 200 to EUR 600 (official authority processing fees).
Document Translation and Legalization: EUR 300 to EUR 900 (depending on the length of curriculum transcripts and country of origin).
Residence Permit and Visa Fees: EUR 160 to EUR 250 (payable to the Austrian administrative authorities).
Travel and Arrival Support: EUR 300 to EUR 1,000 (one-way flight and initial transfer).
Initial Accommodation Support (Optional but Common): EUR 400 to EUR 800 per month (subsidized rent or temporary temporary staff housing during onboarding).
Adaptation Course / Supplemental Training Costs: EUR 500 to EUR 2,500 (if the recognition decree requires specific clinical modules or exams at an accredited Austrian institution).

Protecting Your Business: Illegal Recruitment Fees and Compliance

When sourcing care personnel internationally, you must ensure ethical compliance throughout your recruitment pipeline. Legitimate employers bear the financial costs of international hiring. A worker must never be charged recruitment fees, placement fees, or mandatory upfront documentation charges by an agency or broker to secure a job offer in Austria.

Charging candidates fees for placement violates international labor standards (such as ILO conventions) and Austrian legal principles. If an agency acting on your behalf demands money from jobseekers, your business risks severe reputational damage, potential legal liability, and immediate rejection of visa applications by authorities if exploitation is detected. Ensure that your contracts with third-party partners explicitly prohibit charging fees to candidates, and verify directly with prospective hires that no payments were demanded of them.

Finding Care Candidates Directly on Workuro

If you want to reduce intermediary involvement and manage your hiring pipeline directly, you can search the Workuro candidate registry. Workuro provides a directory where workers abroad create transparent profiles detailing their qualifications, care background, language proficiency, and target destination countries.

You can search specifically for care assistants, specialized care staff, and registered nurses who have expressed an explicit interest in relocating to Austria. As an employer, you review candidate profiles and reach out to workers directly to assess their clinical background and German language capability. Workuro is not a recruitment agency, takes no placement commission, and imposes no per-hire fees. You manage the interview, selection, and employment offer yourself.

Please note that the Workuro registry is young and continuously growing. While you will not find millions of profiles, you will find active jobseekers looking for legitimate European employment opportunities. Hiring through direct contact allows you to establish clear expectations regarding the Austrian recognition process from the very first conversation.