Doctors Immigration to Austria 2026 | Licensing, Salary, Residency & Requirements

Austrian residency can be obtained in various ways, and each person can choose the appropriate method according to their circumstances. One of the most important questions on the path to Austrian residency is the work permit, the employment and income status of the people who want to work and live in this country. Doctors are not like the usual professions in the fields of technology, vocational, etc., and have a different status. Although medicine is a very useful profession for a society, a foreign doctor cannot easily work in Austria contrary to a foreign carpenter or mechanic. In this article, we will examine what path lies ahead if a doctor wants to work in Austria and obtain residency in this country. MIE, with years of experience with doctors, has been able to help many medical professionals to obtain European residency.

Topics reviewed in this article:

Overview of Medical Degree Recognition in Austria

Requirements of Doctors Immigration to Austria

Required Documents for Doctors Immigration to Austria

Doctors Immigration to Austria and their Exams

Immigration conditions for doctors in Austria and Residency Process

Job Opportunities with Medical Degree Recognition in Austria

Doctors Immigration to Austria and their Salary

Benefits and challenges of Medical Degree Recognition in Austria

Overview of Medical Degree Recognition in Austria

Doctors and some other professions (such as lawyers and accountants) have specific requirements in each country for work and residency. Different training, different laws and regulations, and different languages ​​in each country mean that if a doctor wants to practice medicine in another country, he or she will require to go through steps to have his or her medical education so-called equivalized and the applicant’s medical degree and profession recognized.

This recognition in Austria is called “Nostrification”. This is a process in which the qualifications of foreign doctors are reviewed by the Austrian higher education authorities and, in cases such as course units, hours completed and educational requirements, they make a comparison and therefore either fully recognize the medical degree or they will give the applicant doctor instructions such as taking as taking additional course units, other exams and more hours of study to achieve equivalence. This process is not only required for doctors immigration to Austria, but also if someone only intends to continue their medical studies in this country, they must first do Nostrification. This is essentially the equalization of the education of foreign doctors compared to doctors who have studied in Austria.

Requirements of Doctors Immigration to Austria

There are four main requirements for doctors to immigrate to Austria. First, their academic qualifications must be recognized, as explained above. Second, the applicant must prove that they have worked in the profession since graduation. This includes any work experience and internships, which the applicant must prove with work documents such as employment letters and certificates of completion of their internship. Third, doctors must prove that they have not committed any criminal offenses in the country where they received their medical degree and worked. This professional certificate is called “good standing” and must be obtained from the country of origin and officially translated into German. Fourth, they must have a high level of German language, and the doctor must pass both an official academic exam with the level of not lower than B2, and a medical language exam with the level of C1.

For foreigners, after the Austrian Medical Council or “Österreichische Ärztekammer” has issued an approval order, the applicant must take a medical exam to prove their knowledge and skills in German. After receiving confirmation of passing the exam, the foreign doctor must take the work and residence permit steps. Such as obtaining a Red-White-Red Card residence permit for professional occupations. If the doctor is a foreigner but a citizen of the European Union, he/she will not require this final step and work permit.

Required Documents for Doctors Immigration to Austria

Foreign doctors must start the nostrification process through a state-run medical university in Austria and submit their documents to it. The documents must be both officially translated into German and notarized. After reviewing them, the university will tell the applicant what additional requirements are needed, such as completing additional courses, completing more supervised work experience, or passing additional exams. After these and recognizing the applicant’s qualifications, the applicant will register in Austrian Medical Chamber.

 The documents include:

Doctors Immigration to Austria and their Exams

As mentioned above, doctors must have a high level of German in order to be allowed to work in this country. In addition to the language certificate, they must also prove their knowledge and skills through a specialized test in German. Language certificates that are accepted:

The specialist language exam is administered by the Austrian Medical Chamber and aims to assess whether a doctor can communicate verbally with patients and colleagues without any problems, can conduct the diagnosis and treatment process entirely in German, and can compile patient histories and files. The exam covers both oral and written skills.

If during the recognition process it is determined that the applicant must pass other medical tests, this will be separate from the specific language tests and will be an additional test to the ones mentioned above. These additional exams can be one or more depending on the type of qualification and training of the doctor.

Immigration conditions for doctors in Austria and Residency Process

Immigration conditions for doctors in Austria are a big picture, and recognition is only a part of it. Austria has introduced residency programs for professionals in recent years. The most popular of these is the Red-White-Red Card for foreigners, which can lead to permanent residency. The initial residency with this card will be for one year, which can be extended if the medical profession is ongoing. To receive this card, in addition to having a job offer, the specified salary must not be less than €3,465 per month.

Another type of residency that doctors can choose after recognition is the EU Blue Car, and this is for doctors who have high incomes and whose employer has specified a salary of more than €55,678 per year. In this program, initial residency may be granted for up to 4 years and can also be converted into permanent residency after 5 years.

If a doctor cannot obtain any of the above residences, he /she must obtain a general work visa with a job offer and proof of Austria’s need for his/her expertise.

Job Opportunities with Medical Degree Recognition in Austria

Foreign doctors can work in a variety of settings, each with its own advantages and disadvantages for foreign doctors. Public hospitals, which have a high level of employment in Austria, can be a good place to continue working in terms of job security and the benefits that the government provides for doctors. However, they usually have lower salaries and more bureaucracy.

Private hospitals in Austria have higher salaries and better working conditions, although job opportunities in private hospitals are usually fewer and require a strong network to get one. Doctors can also have their own practice, called “Hausarzt”. In this way, they are more independent in their work hours, but they must be active for a long time to collect their patients. Another job opportunity for doctors is university hospitals, where doctors would have research or teaching opportunities. However, salaries would be lower and competition is higher in academic environments.

Doctors Immigration to Austria and their Salary

The salary of doctors in Austria can be expressed in various categories, but having work experience in Austria is the factor that has the greatest impact on income, as follows:

In another category:

Benefits and challenges of Medical Degree Recognition in Austria

Working in Austria as a doctor can have many advantages, including:

• Working in an advanced medical system
• Having welfare and social facilities for medical staff
• High wages and financial benefits
• Standard and international work environment
• Residence permit conditions with professional work programs
• Dynamic economy and efficient legal system
• Possibility of continuing education for free
• Possibility of bringing spouse and children under 18 years of age

Similarly, foreign doctors will face challenges such as:

• Requirement to learn German at a very high level, which is time-consuming and difficult
• Requirement to pass additional units and specialized exams
• Cultural and linguistic differences
• Time-consuming to understand the medical system, bureaucracy, and job search

Concluding remarks

Doctors Immigration to Austria is not as simple as immigration of other professional groups and due to educational and linguistic differences, doctors must have their qualifications recognized in Austria and in this way, prove a high level of German language and also pass any units that is not equivalent for them in Austrian medical education. After doing this process, doctors can obtain a work permit and, get legal residence to work and live in Austria. Many doctors who have been residency applicants have been able to achieve their goals with MIE over the years and obtain legal residence in Austria and other countries of the world. We suggest that if you are a doctor and you desire to provide a work permit and legal residence in various countries, have a talk to our experienced consultants.