By Rudolf Adlmanninger, insurance broker (Versicherungsmakler) · Last updated 12 September 2026
In short: Every Austrian residence title under the Settlement and Residence Act (NAG) requires proof of health insurance that covers all risks and provides benefits in Austria, and the proof has to be in the file when you apply. What that proof looks like depends on your permit and on the day your statutory cover starts. If a job is waiting, a private policy normally bridges the gap until your insured employment begins and the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) takes over. If you are coming to study, you declare the planned student self-insurance in the application and take it out after you arrive. Self-insurance with the ÖGK rarely solves a first application: the fund asks third-country nationals for a valid residence permit and applies a six-month waiting period, and Vienna’s immigration authority MA 35 accepts self-insurance only where there is no waiting period. A private policy can be applied for before you move — you sign from abroad, and the cover starts when you cross the border. We are an independent insurance broker, we advise in English by video call or telephone, and we advise on insurance, not on immigration law.
Fast track: Care Austria for your permit application
- Who it is for: non-Austrian nationals who need proof of all-risk cover in the file for a residence title.
- Accepted: on the MA 35 list; Care Concept issues the supplementary declaration with the policy in every case.
- Price: Standard from €155 a month (open-ended, ages 0–49; 2026 rates).
Apply for Care Austria online Book a 15-minute call
You conclude the policy through us and get our advice on top — the ÖGK route is explained below.
Rudolf Adlmanningeradvises online, in English★ 5.0 stars on Google · 24 reviews · read them allIn the insurance business since 1994GISA 16750586Broker information
Which insurance evidence does your permit need? The essentials at a glance
- The rule: every Austrian residence title requires cover that includes all risks and pays out in Austria (§ 11 NAG) — and the proof goes into the file when you apply.
- With a job waiting: statutory cover starts on the day your insured employment begins, whether or not the registration has been filed yet; for the weeks before, migration.gv.at says the authorities accept travel health insurance covering costs well above €30,000 with a rescue and repatriation guarantee — a floor, not a target, and ordinary visa travel cover is not automatically enough.
- Without a job or family cover: a private policy the authority accepts — Care Austria and Care Austria Education are on Vienna’s MA 35 list without a supplementary declaration, and in our experience the district authorities elsewhere in Austria accept it too.
- Why not the ÖGK first: voluntary statutory insurance needs a valid residence permit for third-country nationals and normally has a six-month waiting period — MA 35 accepts it only without a waiting period.
- Honestly: we advise on insurance, not on immigration law. The permit itself is decided by the competent authority — we make sure the insurance part of your file is right.
Care Austria can be applied for before you travel; the cover starts when you enter Austria.
Free and direct: your enquiry reaches Rudolf Adlmanninger — we do not pass it to other advisers. A 15-minute call by phone or a 30-minute video consultation on a shared screen — you choose.
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Prefer to call? +43 676 322 48 30 (also on WhatsApp – call or message)
How does POINTNER finanz help — in English, before you arrive?
- A 15-minute callTell us your permit category, your nationality, whether a job is waiting and when you plan to arrive. We tell you which insurance evidence your file needs — and if travel cover is all you need for now, we say so.
- We sort out your caseWe check the accepted policies against your situation, the waiting periods and what happens to the policy once your statutory cover begins. On request we go through the terms on a shared screen.
- Quote and applicationYou receive a written quote; for Care Austria you can obtain a quote and apply online through our partner link, before you enter Austria, so the certificate is ready when the authority asks for it.
We are based in Austria and use Central European Time, switching to summer time in summer — roughly one hour ahead of the UK, six ahead of New York and three and a half to four and a half hours behind Delhi, depending on the season. Early-morning and evening slots exist for exactly that reason; please check the time zone shown when booking.
Which health insurance does an Austrian residence permit actually require?
The standard is set by law and it is a high one. Section 11 para. 2 no. 3 of the Settlement and Residence Act (NAG) requires that the foreign national “has health insurance cover which covers all risks and which also pays out in Austria” — our translation of “über einen alle Risken abdeckenden Krankenversicherungsschutz verfügt und diese Versicherung in Österreich auch leistungspflichtig ist”. That is two conditions: all risks, and benefits payable in Austria. A policy that only reimburses treatment at home does not qualify, however good it is.
The federal government’s migration portal repeats the requirement in English and adds the point that catches people out: “Yes, already at the time of application, you have to furnish proof of health insurance coverage that provides benefits in Austria and covers all risks.”
The same FAQ then describes a stopgap — the authorities “will accept travel health insurance, provided it covers costs well above € 30,000 and includes a guarantee covering potential rescue and return costs” — followed by “After receiving your Red-White-Red Card and taking up your employment, you will be covered by Austrian statutory insurance.”
Read that in context, because it is the most misread sentence in this whole area. It describes a bridge between two dates, the day you enter and the day your employer registers you. Vienna’s MA 35 draws the line explicitly: if you took out private travel health insurance for the visa that got you into Austria, “diese Reisekrankenversicherung [ist] nicht ausreichend für Ihren Antrag auf einen Aufenthaltstitel” — that travel policy is not sufficient for the residence title application. Treat the €30,000 as a floor, not a target, and expect your authority to want a policy built for residence rather than for a fortnight’s holiday.
Sources: RIS (Austrian legal information system): § 11 Abs. 2 Z 3 NAG (German), migration.gv.at: Frequently asked questions and City of Vienna (MA 35): Accepted private health insurance policies (German) — https://www.wien.gv.at/zusammenleben/einwanderung-aufenthalt-krankenversicherungen (all accessed September 2026)
Which comes first, the permit or the policy?
In most cases the policy — but it depends on who files the application and where.
As a rule, first applications “shall be filed with the competent Austrian consular representation (embassy or specific consulates) abroad”, and the insurance evidence goes in with the file. For family members migration.gv.at is explicit: “you have to personally file your application before entering Austria with the competent Austrian representation (embassy or consulate) abroad.”
For the two employment titles this page is mostly about there is a second route many applicants never hear about. For both the Red-White-Red Card and the EU Blue Card, migration.gv.at states that the application “may either be filed by yourself with the competent Austrian representation … or, on the other hand, by your potential employer with the competent residence authority in Austria”, together with an employer’s declaration (Arbeitgebererklärung). And if you may enter under a visa-free regime, “after entering the country legally and while residing here legally, the application may be submitted in person to the competent immigration office within Austria”. What that route does not do is buy you time: under § 21 para. 6 NAG an application filed in Austria “schafft kein über den erlaubten visumfreien oder visumpflichtigen Aufenthalt hinausgehendes Bleiberecht” — it creates no right of residence beyond the visa-free or visa period you already hold, and it does not authorise you to start work. Keep an eye on the date your permitted stay runs out, whatever stage your file has reached.
Which route is open to you depends on your passport and your category — a question for your employer’s HR department or the Austrian representation responsible for you. We advise on insurance, not on immigration law, and we will not guess at it. What does not change across the three routes is the insurance evidence: it has to be in the file at the moment the application is made.
If you are coming to study, the sequence is different
Degree-programme students have their own procedure. According to the OeAD, Austria’s agency for education and internationalisation, students can satisfy the “health insurance covering all risks” requirement by taking out the student self-insurance (“Studierendenselbstversicherung”) with the ÖGK after entering Austria and enrolling — €78.84 a month as of 2026. A written statement that this will be done can be attached to the application or entered in the form under “Krankenversicherung”, and the ÖGK confirmation is then presented to the residence authority. The OeAD is equally clear about the interim: travel health insurance “is only sufficient for the period until a ‘health insurance covering all risks’ can be taken out after entry”. If that is your situation, our page on student health insurance in Austria is the one you need.
Why ÖGK self-insurance rarely solves a first application
The obvious answer — “just insure yourself with the ÖGK” — usually does not work for an employed newcomer’s first application.
First, the ÖGK lists a valid residence permit among the documents to be submitted by applicants from outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland. If you are applying for your first permit, you do not have one yet.
Second, benefits start only after a waiting period of six months, waived only if you were covered by statutory insurance — or entitled as a dependant — for at least six uninterrupted weeks immediately beforehand, or 26 weeks in the previous twelve months, in Austria, another EU or EEA state or a state with a social security agreement. MA 35 accepts self-insurance only in that clean form: no private policy is needed if “you insure yourself with the Österreichische Gesundheitskasse (ÖGK) and have no waiting period until your insurance begins. If you have a waiting period, you must bridge the waiting period with a private insurance policy.”
Two footnotes that are missing almost everywhere else. The contribution of €565.25 a month is not necessarily final: the ÖGK reduces it on application, taking your economic circumstances into account and asking for current evidence of income, and the reduction has to be reapplied for every two years — filed together with the self-insurance application, it takes effect from the start. And spouses, registered partners and children can be co-insured on a self-insurance, though cohabiting partners cannot.
The MA 35 list also names the cases in which no private cover is required at all: you are covered by law through your employment, you are self-employed and insured with the SVS, or you are co-insured with somebody who holds statutory cover. If any of these situations applies to you, include the confirmation from whichever statutory insurer covers you — the ÖGK, or the SVS for the self-employed — and skip the rest of this page.
Sources: migration.gv.at: Other forms of settlement, migration.gv.at: EU Blue Card and Other Key Workers (application routes), RIS: § 21 Abs. 6 NAG (German), OeAD: Residence permit “Student”, ÖGK: Selbstversicherung in der Krankenversicherung (German) and ÖGK: Self-insurance coverage for health insurance (English leaflet, PDF) — https://www.gesundheitskasse.at/cdscontent/load?contentid=10008.768503&version=1656489322 (all accessed September 2026)
The order of events, and what is needed at each step
| Step | What is needed | Who provides it |
|---|---|---|
| Application (embassy or consulate abroad, or filed by your employer in Austria) | Evidence of health insurance covering all risks and providing benefits in Austria — in the file from day one, plus the supplementary declaration where the authority requires one | You, or your insurer |
| Title granted, visa D issued, entry into Austria | The private policy must be in force. Care Austria’s cover starts no earlier than the day you cross the border and no earlier than payment of the first premium | Your insurer |
| The day your insured employment begins | Compulsory insurance starts on that day under § 10 para. 1 ASVG — expressly “unabhängig von der Erstattung einer Anmeldung”, regardless of whether the registration has been filed. Your employer must still register you with the ÖGK before you start | The law creates the cover; your employer files the registration |
| End of the bridging policy | Proof of the statutory cover to the private insurer, and written confirmation of the date the private contract ends | You and your insurer |
Whatever you end up with, the certificate you hand over should show all of it at a glance: who is insured, that the cover is valid in Austria, the start date and — where the term is fixed — the end date, the name of the tariff, the supplementary declaration if the authority requires one for that product, and the insurer’s confirmation that the application has been accepted rather than merely received.
Which private policies does the authority accept?
MA 35 publishes a list of private health insurance policies that, in its words, have been examined for a stay in Austria and are sufficient. For some the authority additionally requires a signed supplementary declaration from the insurer, written into your contract word for word; for others it does not. For Care Austria the distinction makes little practical difference: Care Concept issues the supplementary declaration with the policy documents in every case.
| On the MA 35 list | Supplementary declaration required? |
|---|---|
| Allianz Elementar, “Meine Gesundheitsversicherung für Nichtsozialversicherte” | No (the tariff combinations listed underneath it do require one) |
| Allianz Worldwide Care, “Austrian Inbound (NAG6+) Essential” and “… Premium” | No |
| Care Concept, “Care Austria” and “Care Austria Education” | No |
| Care Concept, “Care Austria 364” and “Care Austria 364 Education” | Yes |
| DONAU, Generali, UNIQA, Wiener Städtische (named tariffs) | Yes |
| An insurer that is not on the list | Possible — the insurer has to sign the authority’s general declaration, and the scope of cover must correspond essentially to Austrian statutory insurance |
Two limits belong next to that table, and both matter more than the table itself.
This is the Vienna list. Austria’s nine provinces run their own immigration authorities and decide independently, so the list is a published reference rather than a rule binding on all of them. In our experience the district authorities across Austria accept Care Austria as well; where a different product is in question, ask the district authority responsible for your address what it wants to see before you sign anything.
Care Austria and Care Austria Education end automatically once you are granted the residence title “Daueraufenthalt EU” (long-term resident — EU), and you then have to arrange different cover. The same happens once compulsory statutory insurance starts, typically with a job: the policy terms exclude insurability for anyone covered by compulsory insurance under § 4 ASVG (§ 1 no. 3 b); once that cover actually exists and has been evidenced, insurability lapses (§ 1 no. 4) and the contract ends with it (§ 2 no. 6 c), without notice and without waiting for a renewal date. That is not a defect — it is what a policy for newcomers is for — but it is a date for your calendar.
An insurer signing the authority’s general declaration undertakes that the cover matches what the ÖGK provides, that inconsistent exclusions are waived, and that no waiting periods or cut-off periods apply to benefits. That is the yardstick a policy has to meet, listed or not.
And a note on why a list like this is hard to find in English: the official sites do not carry it. migration.gv.at states the legal requirement on every category page but names no insurer and no price; workinaustria.com quotes the 2026 self-insurance contribution of €565.25 but says nothing about the waiting period, § 11 NAG or accepted private policies. The one authority that does publish product names publishes them in German only — which is what this page is for.
Sources: City of Vienna (MA 35): Aufenthaltsrecht — Akzeptierte private Krankenversicherungen (German), migration.gv.at: Health insurance and workinaustria.com: Health insurance in Austria — https://www.workinaustria.com/en/your-personal-guide/health-social-services/health-insurance/ (all accessed September 2026)
What does Care Austria cost, and where are its limits?
Care Austria (partner link) is private health insurance for people moving to Austria, underwritten by Advigon Versicherung AG and administered by Care Concept AG in Bonn. It comes in two terms: Care Austria 364, where you choose a term from one month up to a maximum of 364 days and the contract ends when that term expires, and an open-ended variant. We normally work with the 364 version, because a bridging policy with a built-in end date is what most newcomers actually need. Note that “Care Austria 364” is one of the products for which MA 35 requires the supplementary declaration in your contract — Care Concept issues it automatically with the policy.
Premiums according to Care Concept, as at September 2026, per insured person and per month — the premiums are the provider’s own figures and are not part of the published 364 policy terms:
| Plan, age at entry and term | Monthly premium |
|---|---|
| Care Austria Education (in education or training, ages 12–35), term up to 364 days | €51.00 |
| Care Austria Education (ages 12–35), open-ended | €56.00 |
| Care Austria Standard, ages 0–64, term up to 364 days | €95.00 |
| Care Austria Standard, ages 65–74, term up to 364 days | €219.00 |
| Care Austria Standard, ages 0–49, open-ended | €155.00 |
| Care Austria Standard, ages 50–64, open-ended | €222.00 |
| Care Austria Standard, ages 65–74, open-ended | €510.00 |
Two things that table does not say. The open-ended premiums are adjusted in steps set out in the terms, the next on 1 January 2028: the published schedule then shows €187.00, €268.00 and €617.00 a month for the three age bands; statutory ÖGK contributions are adjusted every year as well, and each step carries a special right of cancellation. And on the open-ended contract Education is a discount group rather than an age band — guaranteed for the duration of the training, but no longer than six years and only until the insured person turns 36, after which the contract continues as Care Austria Standard. On the 364-day side it works differently: “Care Austria 364 Education” is a tariff in its own right, with its own eligibility (ages 12 to 35, and the training or working-holiday programme has to remain the main reason for the stay). There is no six-year premium guarantee and no automatic continuation — if eligibility falls away, a switch to Care Austria 364 Standard is possible, but it does not happen by itself.
Set against ÖGK self-insurance at €565.25 a month in 2026, the difference for a working-age adult is not subtle. What the higher statutory contribution buys is a place inside the system: an e-card, contract doctors who bill the fund directly, no individual health assessment. That does not mean the ÖGK pays for everything — statutory benefits have their own limits and cost-sharing — but the price does not depend on your medical history. For a first application the honest summary is usually not “which is better” but “which options are open to you”.
What the contract actually says
The terms and conditions are published, and five points in them decide whether this policy works for you.
The application asks health questions, and pre-existing conditions carry a cost. Care Concept states that “in our online application form you need to answer a few health-related questions”. Existing illnesses, the lasting effects of previous accidents and infirmities are covered under the conditions — but for those conditions the policyholder bears an excess of €5,000 per insured person and per insurance year, and benefits for them are capped at €30,000 over the entire term of the contract. There is no benefit at all where the claim was already certain when the application was made. In isolation those limits would work out as an exclusion for the condition in question. They do not stand in isolation. Both sets of terms carry an Austria clause that has to be read alongside them — § 15, “Generalerklärung zum Leistungsumfang”, in the open-ended conditions and § 9 no. 4 in the 364 conditions — and both say the same thing: for a stay in Austria, every health risk the ÖGK would cover as a statutory benefit counts as covered by the insurer; exclusions, restrictions, waiting periods and cut-off periods that cannot be reconciled with that are waived; and the caps and excesses written into the terms apply in Austria only in the amount the ÖGK itself would charge. So the €5,000 governs what falls outside the statutory catalogue rather than every claim you make in Austria — where your case turns on that line, we go through it with you. On the 364 terms an insurance year means the 364 days from the start of the first contract, including any follow-on contracts. Your medical history still matters for the application: the insurer decides whether to accept it at all, and depending on the answers a pre-existing condition can lead to exclusions, loadings or a refusal. If your medical history is anything other than uneventful, have this checked before you rely on the policy for a permit.
Cover begins on entry, not on signature. The application is to be made before you set off, or within one year of entering Austria — so yes, you can arrange this from your home country. But cover starts no earlier than the date shown on the policy, no earlier than payment of the first premium, and no earlier than you cross the border into Austria. There is a general waiting period of 31 days, and it falls away precisely when you take out the policy before your departure (or entered Austria within 31 days before the application, or the contract follows on seamlessly from comparable previous cover). Childbirth and dentures carry a special waiting period of eight months, and a pregnancy already existing at the start of cover is excluded apart from unforeseeable complications. Those are the general figures: for treatment in Austria the Austria clause described above covers waiting periods as well, so what is left of them in your case is worth establishing before you plan around a date.
Billing depends on the practice. Care Concept settles directly with doctors and hospitals that accept it; where a practice does not, you pay and send the invoice in for reimbursement (the terms provide for reimbursement against original invoices). Care Concept describes the reimbursement as being “in accordance with ÖGK” and issues a digital insurance card rather than an e-card. Budget for the cash flow, not just for the premium.
The age limit is a limit on joining, not an end date — on the open-ended contract. The open-ended conditions state expressly that an insured person turning 75 during the term of the contract “führt … nicht zum Wegfall der Versicherungsfähigkeit” — it does not end their insurability. The Care Austria 364 terms are worded differently: there, people are insurable only up to the 75th birthday, and a 364-day contract ends on expiry in any case, so from 75 there is no follow-on contract. If you are close to 75 and intend to stay, the open-ended contract is the one to take, and we check the dates with you. What the age limit governs is entry: Care Austria can be taken out until the day before your 75th birthday. If your 75th birthday falls on 1 October, an application concluded on 30 September still works; from the birthday itself a new contract is no longer possible. Above that age we treat it as an individual enquiry.
Spouses and children can be included. According to Care Concept, family members can be insured alongside you; premiums depend on age and plan and we obtain them on request. Newborns can be added without waiting periods if they are registered within two months of the birth and the cover applied for is no wider than the insured parent’s.
So there is no confusion about how we work: the link above is a partner link. The Allianz policy, like any other insurer, we can arrange for you after an individual check and calculation — so ask us first; Care Austria you take out through us, online through our link. If the right answer for you is an insurer we earn nothing from, that is the one we will name.
Source: Care Concept AG: Care Austria — health insurance for foreign nationals in Austria — https://www.care-concept.de/oesterreichversicherung_eng.php?navilang=eng (premiums as at September 2026 according to Care Concept) and Advigon Versicherung AG / Care Concept AG: Versicherungsbedingungen VB-KV 2023_10 (Care Austria), §§ 1–3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 15 and the premium schedule (German, PDF) — https://www.care-concept.de/krankenversicherung/care_austria/krankenversicherung_oesterreich_avb_adv_2023_komplett.pdf, and Advigon Versicherung AG / Care Concept AG: Versicherungsbedingungen VB-KV 2020_07 (Care Austria 364, CAU 364_2020_07), §§ 2, 6, 7, 9 and Teil B (German, PDF) — https://www.care-concept.de/krankenversicherung/care_austria/krankenversicherung_oesterreich_avb_adv_2020_364_komplett.pdf (all accessed September 2026)
Which Red-White-Red Card category applies to me?
The insurance requirement is identical across the categories — each lists “evidence of health insurance covering all risks (compulsory health insurance or equivalent insurance policy)” among the documents. What differs is the points, the salary and the paperwork. The table below names the feature that sets each category apart and the usual period of validity; it is a guide to those differences rather than the full list of requirements, and a binding job offer — in some categories a labour market test as well — comes on top.
| Category | Validity | The distinguishing requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Very Highly Qualified Workers | 24 months | At least 70 of a possible 100 points |
| Skilled Workers in Shortage Occupations | 24 months | Training in an occupation on the annual shortage list, at least 55 of 90 points |
| Other Key Workers | 24 months | At least 55 of 90 points and a statutory minimum of €3,465 (2026) gross a month plus special payments |
| Graduates of Austrian universities and colleges | 24 months | A degree from an Austrian institution and a job offer matching it |
| Regular Workers in Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry | see migration.gv.at | Seasonal and regular work in those sectors |
| Self-employed Key Workers | 24 months | Macroeconomic benefit — for example a sustained transfer of investment capital of at least €100,000 |
| Start-up Founders | up to 24 months | At least €30,000 company capital with an equity share of at least 50 %, and at least 50 points |
Two neighbouring titles complete the picture. The EU Blue Card runs 24 months, for graduates of a course of study of at least three years — with an exception for information and communications technology professionals and service managers, who can qualify instead on at least three years of relevant professional experience acquired in the seven years before the application. It requires a binding job offer and, in 2026, gross annual earnings of at least €55,678 including special payments. The Red-White-Red Card plus grants “fixed-term settlement and unlimited labour market access” and is valid for one year — three years once you have lawfully settled here for two years and fulfilled module 1 of the Integration Agreement. It is not only a follow-on title: family members of Red-White-Red Card and EU Blue Card holders receive it directly, and then its validity can depend on the sponsor’s permit.
The Job Seeker Visa sits outside this scheme. It is not a residence title but a Category D visa, “valid for six months, to look for work”, open to applicants who reach the 70 points for Very Highly Qualified Workers without yet having a job offer, and applied for in person at the Austrian representation where you live. Insurance-wise it is the hardest case on this page, because there is no employer and no start date to bridge to: a fixed-term private policy is normally the only route, and it has to keep running until a job actually begins.
Source: migration.gv.at: Permanent immigration and the category pages Very Highly Qualified Workers, Skilled Workers in Shortage Occupations, Other Key Workers, Graduates, Self-employed Key Workers, Start-up Founders, Red-White-Red Card plus, EU Blue Card and Sonstige Schlüsselkräfte (German, minimum pay plus special payments) — https://www.migration.gv.at/de/formen-der-zuwanderung/dauerhafte-zuwanderung/sonstige-schluesselkraefte/ (all accessed September 2026)
What happens to my insurance once I start working in Austria?
For an ordinary employment contract of the kind these cards are built around, it changes hands and you do not have to do anything to make that happen. Your employer registers the employment with the ÖGK before your first working day and has to give you a copy of that registration — check the start date on it. Your cover itself does not hang on that piece of paper: under § 10 para. 1 ASVG compulsory insurance begins “unabhängig von der Erstattung einer Anmeldung mit dem Tag des Beginnes der Beschäftigung” — regardless of whether a registration has been filed, on the day the employment begins. The registration documents the cover rather than creating it, and the same goes for the e-card. The card follows by post and may require a photograph to be registered; treatment does not wait for it. If your card is a Self-employed Key Workers card, the insurer is not the ÖGK but the SVS, the social insurance institution for the self-employed.
The private policy is the part you do have to handle, and the conditions describe two mechanisms that are easy to confuse.
The one that fits a job start is not cancellation at all: under the Care Austria conditions, insurability ends for a running contract as soon as other cover required by law “tatsächlich abgeschlossen wurde und der entsprechende Nachweis vorgelegt wurde” — has actually been taken out and the proof submitted. So the practical step is to send the insurer your ÖGK registration and ask for written confirmation of the date the private contract ends.
Ordinary cancellation is the other mechanism and a much slower one: possible for the first time after one year of cover, then to the end of an insurance year with one month’s notice, with the insurance year running to 31 December. The minimum insurance term of one month in the same conditions is not a right to cancel monthly. Care Austria 364 sidesteps the question, because the term you chose simply expires — whether an ordinary right to cancel exists during that term is something we clarify with the insurer for you, because the 364 terms provide only for extraordinary cancellation while the consumer information speaks of monthly cancellation. None of this transfers unchanged to another insurer’s product — ask before you sign, or ask us and we will ask for you. Paying two health insurance premiums for the same month is one of the most common and most avoidable newcomer mistakes.
Sources: RIS: § 10 Abs. 1 ASVG (German), ÖGK: Wer meldet bei der Sozialversicherung an? (German), chipkarte.at: e-card photo and exceptions (German) and Advigon / Care Concept: VB-KV 2023_10, § 1 Ziff. 4, § 2 Ziff. 5 und 6, § 3 (German, PDF) — https://www.care-concept.de/krankenversicherung/care_austria/krankenversicherung_oesterreich_avb_adv_2023_komplett.pdf and Advigon / Care Concept: VB-KV 2020_07 (Care Austria 364, CAU 364_2020_07), § 2 Ziff. 5 bis 7, § 3 (German, PDF) — https://www.care-concept.de/krankenversicherung/care_austria/krankenversicherung_oesterreich_avb_adv_2020_364_komplett.pdf (all accessed September 2026)
What about my spouse and children?
Family members face the same insurance requirement plus an income hurdle. Family members are spouses and registered partners — at least 21 at the time of application — and unmarried minor children including adoptive children and stepchildren. Family members of Red-White-Red Card holders, EU Blue Card holders and researchers obtain the Red-White-Red Card plus, with no quota requirement; family members of Austrian citizens receive the title “Family Member”.
The general requirements are accommodation adequate for the family size, health insurance “providing benefits in Austria and covering all risks”, and a fixed and regular income at or above the standard rate, which “in 2026 amounted to € 1,308.39 for singles, € 2,064.12 for married couples and an additional € 201.88 for each child”. Those are baseline figures rather than a guaranteed pass: the authority looks at your regular commitments, housing costs included. First applications by family members are filed in person at the Austrian consular representation abroad, before entry.
In insurance terms this is usually one decision: whether each person travels on their own policy, or whether the employed spouse’s statutory cover can carry the others. On the private side a spouse and children can be insured alongside you, with a premium per person; on the statutory side, co-insurance depends on the sponsor’s cover being in force first. Which is why the answer turns on who starts work when — ten minutes on a call rather than an afternoon of reading.
Source: migration.gv.at: Family reunification (accessed September 2026)
Frequently asked questions
Do I need health insurance before I apply for a Red-White-Red Card?
Yes. migration.gv.at states that “already at the time of application, you have to furnish proof of health insurance coverage that provides benefits in Austria and covers all risks”. Whether the file is opened at an embassy abroad or by your employer at the residence authority in Austria, the insurance evidence has to be in it from the start.
Does travel insurance count as proof for the application?
Only as a bridge, and not everywhere. migration.gv.at says the authorities “will accept travel health insurance, provided it covers costs well above € 30,000 and includes a guarantee covering potential rescue and return costs”, in the context of the period before statutory insurance begins. MA 35, by contrast, states that a travel policy taken out for your visa is not sufficient for the residence title application. Treat the €30,000 as a floor, not a target, and ask the authority responsible for your address.
Can I use ÖGK self-insurance for my first residence permit?
Usually not. The ÖGK requires a valid residence permit from applicants outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland — which you do not yet have — and applies a six-month waiting period unless you were insured immediately beforehand. MA 35 accepts self-insurance only where there is no waiting period. Students are the exception: their self-insurance is designed to be taken out after arrival.
How much does the insurance for a residence permit cost?
According to Care Concept, as at September 2026: Care Austria Education (ages 12–35) costs €51.00 a month for a term up to 364 days and €56.00 open-ended; Care Austria Standard costs €95.00 for a term up to 364 days at ages 0–64 and €219.00 at ages 65–74, and open-ended €155.00 (ages 0–49), €222.00 (50–64) or €510.00 (65–74). Those open-ended premiums are adjusted in steps set out in the terms, the next on 1 January 2028, when the three bands show €187.00, €268.00 and €617.00 a month; statutory ÖGK contributions are adjusted every year as well, and each step carries a special right of cancellation. ÖGK self-insurance, where it is open to you, is €565.25 a month in 2026 regardless of age, reducible on application according to your economic circumstances.
Can I take out the policy before I move to Austria?
Yes — and for Care Austria it is the better sequence. The conditions provide for the application to be made before you set off, and doing so removes the general 31-day waiting period. Cover itself starts no earlier than the day you cross the border and no earlier than payment of the first premium, so the certificate exists for the authority while the cover switches on when you arrive.
What if I have a pre-existing condition?
Care Austria asks health questions in the online application. Pre-existing illnesses and the lasting effects of previous accidents are covered under the conditions, but with an excess of €5,000 per insured person per insurance year and a cap of €30,000 for those conditions over the whole contract; anything already certain at the time of application is not covered at all. Those figures have to be read together with the Austria clause in the same terms — § 15 in the open-ended conditions, § 9 no. 4 in the 364 conditions — under which every health risk the ÖGK would cover as a statutory benefit counts as covered for a stay in Austria, exclusions and waiting periods that cannot be reconciled with that are waived, and caps and excesses apply only in the amount the ÖGK itself would charge. The insurer still decides on acceptance, and depending on your answers a pre-existing condition can also lead to exclusions, a loading or a refusal.
What is the Job Seeker Visa, and do I need insurance for it?
It is not a residence title but a Category D visa “valid for six months, to look for work”, for applicants who reach at least 70 of 100 points as Very Highly Qualified Workers but have no job offer yet. You apply in person at the Austrian representation in your home country or country of legal residence, and proof of health insurance covering all risks is among the documents required. Since there is no employment to hand over to, the private policy has to keep running until a job actually starts.
Can you arrange this while I am still abroad?
Yes — that is our normal case. We advise by video call and telephone across time zones, applications run online, and the certificate can be in your hands before your embassy appointment. What cannot be done from a distance is registering your residence, and some steps — registering a photograph for the e-card, where that is required — may mean appearing in person; the e-card itself is normally sent to you by post. Our moving to Austria checklist sets out that order.
Not sure which cover your authority will accept? Let us check it with you
The insurance requirement is one line in the law and a great deal of practice on top of it. A short call is usually enough to establish what your authority is likely to want to see, whether a private policy is genuinely necessary in your case, and in which order to do things. If your employer’s registration solves it, we will say so and there will be nothing to sell.
Book a 15-minute call Send an enquiry
You speak directly to Rudolf Adlmanninger — not a call centre, and we do not pass your enquiry to other advisers. Prefer to call? +43 676 322 48 30 (also on WhatsApp – call or message).
Sources
- RIS (Austrian legal information system): § 11 Abs. 2 Z 3 NAG (German)
- migration.gv.at: Frequently asked questions
- migration.gv.at: Other forms of settlement
- migration.gv.at: EU Blue Card and Other Key Workers (application routes)
- RIS: § 21 Abs. 6 NAG (German)
- OeAD: Residence permit “Student”
- ÖGK: Selbstversicherung in der Krankenversicherung (German)
- City of Vienna (MA 35): Aufenthaltsrecht — Akzeptierte private Krankenversicherungen (German)
- migration.gv.at: Health insurance
- migration.gv.at: Permanent immigration and the category pages Very Highly Qualified Workers, Skilled Workers in Shortage Occupations, Other Key Workers, Graduates, Self-employed Key Workers, Start-up Founders, Red-White-Red Card plus, EU Blue Card
- RIS: § 10 Abs. 1 ASVG (German)
- ÖGK: Wer meldet bei der Sozialversicherung an? (German)
- chipkarte.at: e-card photo and exceptions (German)
- migration.gv.at: Family reunification
Last reviewed: September 2026. Links and figures are checked regularly and updated where needed.