Austria runs on registration. Your address: 3 days. Your driving licence: 6 months. Your German: 2 years. None of it is hard — all of it is enforced. Here's the admin, in the order it hits you.
Last verified: 8 July 2026Everyone living in Austria must register their address with the local registration office (Meldeamt/Magistrat) within 3 days of moving in — landlord's signature on the form, passport in hand. The Meldezettel confirmation is the key that opens everything else: your permit card collection, bank account, ÖGK self-insurance, and eventually your driving-licence exchange. Moving within Austria? Same rule, every time.
Your US or Canadian licence remains valid for 6 months from the day you register residence. After that you must hold an Austrian licence — and the good news is that for ordinary car licences (category B), both the US and Canada are on Austria's no-practical-test exchange list. You apply at any driving licence authority with your licence, Meldezettel, photo, and a medical certificate (ärztliches Gutachten) from an authorised doctor. The exchange fee is €90 (rate since July 1, 2025), plus the doctor's fee. Allow several weeks — the authority verifies your foreign licence with the issuing state, and you can't drive between handing in the old licence and receiving the new one if your 6 months have run out.
| Level | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | Before you apply | "Deutsch vor Zuzug" — required with the first permit application (certificate max 1 year old) |
| A2 | Within 2 years of settling | Integration Agreement Module 1 — mandatory |
| B1 | Year 5 | Module 2 — required for permanent residency (and citizenship under current law) |
| B2 | Watch this space | The pending citizenship reform would raise the naturalisation requirement to B2 — not yet law (July 2026) |
Accepted certificates come from ÖSD, Goethe-Institut, telc, and ÖIF. Both ÖSD and Goethe run exam centres in the US and Canada — sit A1 at home before you file. And a candid note: everyday life in Vienna is manageable in English; a good life in Klagenfurt or rural Styria is not. The Integration Agreement deadlines are the legal minimum, not the actual target.
Documents, the medical, timing, and what to do if the authority queries your state licence.
Airline rules, the 10-day certificate window, and summer embargo season.
ÖIF courses, exam formats, and a realistic 5-year plan from zero to B1.
Utilities, driving licences, phone plans, pets — the small stuff adds up. Ask us anything, or get matched with a relocation adviser we've vetted for Austria.