Residence Permits for Third-country Nationals
Third-country nationals who stay or intend to stay in Austria for longer than six months or as an intra-corporate transferee or holder of a residence title "ICT" of another Member State for longer than 90 days require a residence permit. However, if they are entitled to reside under Union law, they do not need a residence permit. Residence permits are always issued for a specific purpose (e.g. "except for gainful employment"). The alien can only change the purpose of residence during his/her stay in Austria if the requirements for the residence permit applied for are met and a quota place, if required, is available.
Residence permits in Austria
"EU Blue Card" is issued for a period of two years, unless the employment contract has a shorter duration (in these cases, the residence title is issued for a period exceeding the duration of the employment contract by three months).
"Red-White-Red - Card" is also issued for a period of two years, unless the employment contract has a shorter duration (in these cases the residence title is issued for a period exceeding the duration of the employment contract by three months).
The residence title "Settlement Permit - Researcher" is issued for a period of up to two years.
Specific residence permits ("Red-White-Red - Card plus", "Settlement Permit", "Settlement Permit - Dependant", "Settlement Permit - Except Gainful Employment", "Settlement Permit - Artist", "Settlement Permit - Researcher", "Settlement Permit - Special Cases of Gainful Employment" and residence title "Family Member") are issued for a period of three years if the third-country national has fulfilled Module 1 of the Integration Agreement and has been legally resident in Austria continuously for the last two years.
"Residence Permit - Researcher - Mobility" shall be issued for the duration of the research activity carried out in the federal territory, however, for no longer than the period of validity of the residence title "Researcher" of the other member state.
Detailed information on the topic of "residence permits for Austria" can also be found here.