Public services and online portals

Key authorities

• Municipality (Gemeinde), residence registration office (Meldebehörde): Meldezettel within 3 days, Meldebestätigung (certificate of residence). See AT-SEJOUR-TOUS-001. The municipality (the Magistrat in cities with their own status, MA 48 in Vienna) also handles household waste.
• District administration (Bezirkshauptmannschaft) or Magistrat in cities with their own status; in Vienna, the Magistratische Bezirksämter and specialised departments (Magistratsabteilungen): Anmeldebescheinigung (EU registration certificate, in Vienna MA 35, in Graz the Styrian Land government), Gewerbeanmeldung (commercial activity registration, with the authority for the place of the business), leaving a church.
• Finanzamt Österreich: the national tax administration (tax number, income tax, VAT, FinanzOnline).
• Social security: ÖGK (Österreichische Gesundheitskasse) for employees, SVS for self-employed people; they issue the e-card. See AT-SANTE-TOUS-001.
• AMS (Arbeitsmarktservice, employment service): registration as a jobseeker at the office for your main residence, unemployment benefits.
• Landespolizeidirektion (regional police directorate) and Finanzamt offices: registration of the ID Austria for foreigners.
• Vehicle registration offices (Zulassungsstellen), run by insurers: vehicle registration.
• Bildungsdirektion (education directorate of your Land): schools. See AT-ECOLE-TOUS-001.

Online services

• oesterreich.gv.at: the portal for administrative procedures. Log in with the ID Austria or, if you have a digital identity from another EU state, through EU-Login. You can register your residence there online (Online Service Meldewesen) and request a Meldebestätigung.
• ID Austria: digital identity (successor to the Handy-Signatur), which also serves as an electronic signature and, once you are logged in, as single access (Single-Sign-On) to government services. Conditions: age 14, a sufficient link with Austria, a smartphone with the "ID Austria" app (or another second factor). You must appear once in person at a registration authority, with an identity document, your smartphone and, if needed, a recent photo.
• FinanzOnline (taxes): the ID Austria is the standard access. If you have a residence in Austria, book an appointment at a Finanzamt office. If you do not: log in directly with your country's digital identity when it has one that complies with eIDAS (no separate code is then needed); otherwise, codes by video identification, a service temporarily suspended on 23/10/2026 because of a security flaw (Ministry of Finance page).
• USP (Unternehmensserviceportal): business procedures (Gewerbe, VAT, setting up).
• MeinAMS: online application for unemployment benefit.

Steps

1. Day 1 to 3: register your residence (Meldezettel), online or at the municipality. Keep the Meldebestätigung: it serves as proof of your link with Austria everywhere.
2. First weeks: social security. If you are an employee, your employer registers you; if you are self-employed, register with the SVS. You receive your number and your e-card (see AT-NIF-TOUS-001).
3. As soon as you have your Meldebestätigung: register your ID Austria at the Landespolizeidirektion or at a Finanzamt office (some municipalities also do it). An appointment is sometimes mandatory.
4. Within 4 months: apply for your Anmeldebescheinigung in person (see AT-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).
5. Then: FinanzOnline, with your ID Austria, for your tax regularisation or your return.
6. If you have a car: have it registered in Austria. With your main residence in Austria, you can only drive for one month with foreign plates. You first need the entry in the approvals database (Genehmigungsdatenbank) and payment of the NoVA (tax on first registration), then registration with a Zulassungsstelle.

Common pitfalls

• Waiting for the ID Austria for everything. The first procedures (residence, Anmeldebescheinigung) can also be done at the counter; the ID Austria already presupposes a link with Austria, often your Meldebestätigung.
• Looking for "your" Finanzamt. Since the reform, there is only one Finanzamt Österreich, with offices across the country.
• Confusing municipality and district. Residence is the municipality; residence permits and the Gewerbe are the district (or the Magistrat).
• The FinanzOnline video identification is reserved for people with no residence in Austria coming from a country without an eIDAS-compliant digital identity, it does not issue an ID Austria, and it was temporarily suspended on 23/10/2026 (security flaw reported by the Ministry of Finance).
• What varies by Land: how the counters are organised (Vienna works with numbered departments), which municipalities register the ID Austria, the documents requested for some procedures.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EEA citizens: you can log in to oesterreich.gv.at with your country's digital identity (EU-Login); ID Austria is possible as soon as you have a link with Austria.
• Swiss nationals: same residence and registration procedures as EU citizens. A Swiss driving licence must be exchanged within six months of your first move to Austria, without a practical test; an EU or EEA licence remains valid.
• British nationals (including Scots): a third country since Brexit: the residence permit falls under other rules (see AT-SEJOUR-TOUS-001). For the ID Austria, the same condition of a link with Austria applies; the ID Austria is an identification means notified under eIDAS (high assurance level, notified on 27/04/2022 according to the European Commission), but the official registration pages say nothing more for British nationals; ask each European service whether it accepts your means of identification.