Employment of foreigners: Facilitation for Red-White-Red Card and for Displaced Persons from Ukraine
Empolyment of foreigners: Today, a couple of amendments to the Act on the Employment of Foreign Nationals came into force in Austria, which make life easier for displaced persons from Ukraine as well as for third-country nationals applying for a Red-White-Red Card.
No employment permit for displaced persons from Ukraine
Persons who were displaced from Ukraine after 24 February 2022 due to the armed conflict in Ukraine are allowed to work in Austria. Until now, however, it was necessary for the employer to apply for an employment permit at the Public Employment Service Austria (AMS) before taking up the employment, which meant an increased workload and delays for the employer. This requirement has now been dropped.
From now on, persons holding an ID card for displaced persons can start employment in Austria without the employer having to obtain an employment permit in advance. However, the general labour and social law requirements that apply to all workers in Austria, such as a ban on underpayment or the obligation to register with the social security system, naturally also remain in place for displaced persons from Ukraine.
Employment of foreigners: Changes to the admission criteria for the Red-White-Red Card
Further changes in the Act on the Employment of Foreign Nationals concern the point schemes that are used to assess the conditions for issuing Red-White-Red Cards. From now on, language skills in French, Spanish, Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian (BKS) will also be counted as 5 points when assessing the requirements for issuing a Red-White-Red Card as a particularly highly qualified worker, skilled worker in a shortage occupation, other key worker or as a start-up founder, provided that these can be proven to be at least at B1 level of the European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Employment of foreigners: Changes for seasonal workers
In addition, the issuing of a Red-White-Red card for regular employees (seasonal workers) will be made easier. From now on, they only have to prove German language skills at A1 level of the European Framework of Reference for Languages and no longer, as before, at A2 level in order to be admitted to employment as a regular employee and thus be able to obtain a Red-White-Red card.