Visa, Entry & Residence

Get yourself familiar with visa, entry and residence requirements for AUSTRIA. Check information provided in the OeAD database.

Certification or legalization of documents

All international students will need to legalize documents via the Austrian Embassy. Be aware, this is a compulsory pre-process to be initiated as soon as possible.
Prior your visa – student residence permit – application.

Why?

It confirms the authenticity of your academic certificates, transcripts, and other documents. The procedure is carried out by the AT embassy, a lawyer and the university who has conferred the degree.
Certified documents are compulsory attachments for the visa application.

The CDE Student Handbook provides you with guidance on steps-to-do for pre-arrival arrangements and first things to do upon arrival in Salzburg, at Paris-Lodron University Salzburg (PLUS). Be aware of schedules concerning your personal visa application, housing and travel arrangements.

Residence Permit Student (international)

International students apply for a long-stay visa (student residence permit) before travelling.

WHERE

Austrian Representations
in your country of residence.
Your prime contact for regulations and procedures should be always the visa authority.

WHAT

Residence Permit – Student
Participants in Erasmus+ projects staying in Austria for more than six months need a residence permit student before travelling.

Passport

International Passport

This document must be valid for your entire stay.

Helpful explanation of the application form residence permit student. You will also need a valid police certificate of good conduct (Aktuelles polizeiliches Führungszeugnis oder ein vergleichbares Dokument).

The academic year at PLUS starts in October, we expect students to arrive in September week 4.

Residence Permit Student (Austria)

Apply for a residence permit student, if granted, apply for a Schengen (Visa D) to be able to enter and stay in Austria.

Schengen Visa D

If the residence authority in Austria decides to grant you with a ‘residence permit student’, you have to apply for a Visa D at the representative authority to be able to enter Austria. This must generally be submitted in person at the competent Austrian representative authority (embassy, consulate general) in your country of residence. Visa types ‘Visa D’ is the (national) Schengen visa allowing you to enter and stay in Austria for a certain period of time. In combination with a valid travel document it entitles the visa holder to move freely across the other Schengen states’ territory for up to 90 days within a period of 180 days.

In Austria

the residence permit student will be issued in the form of a credit card-sized card with photo and it also serves as an identity document and has to be carried along at all times or kept close by to prove your entitlement to stay in Austria.

After your arrival, register at the Meldeamt within three working days. By law all people living in Austria have to register their place of residence at the registration office. Then, you have to collect your residence permit at the Salzburg ‘Amt für Fremdenrecht und örtliche Sicherheit‘ within a certain period, check the following guidelines to be aware of requirements: OeAD and Guide to entry and residence requirements for foreign students!

EU/EEA nationals need neither a visa nor a residence title, they register within three months of entering Austria; see AT immigration guide.

A student visa which allows to pursue studies in France or Czech Republic must be validated upon your arrival. Apply for a visa at the competent authority outside of France or Czech Republic. French Embassy in Vienna | Czech Embassy in Vienna

Official website for visas in France. Students travelling under a European Union programme, a multilateral programme with mobility measures in one or several European Union Member States or under an agreement between at least two higher education institutions in at least two European Union Member States are issued a specific visa marked “Student – Mobility”.

Long-term residence permit for the purpose of study is intended for foreigners who will study in the Czech Republic for a period longer than three months, more information.

latest update: November 11, 2025