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Austria

Work in Austria as a foreign doctor, nurse or AHP (2026)

In Austria a non-EU degree is first nostrified, then you register: doctors with the Austrian Medical Chamber, nurses in the Gesundheitsberuferegister. Here is each step in order.

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Overview

If you trained as a doctor outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, you cannot register in Austria with your foreign degree as it stands. A medical university in Vienna, Graz or Innsbruck must first recognise it as equivalent to the Austrian degree, a procedure called Nostrifizierung.

After that you pass the Austrian Medical Chamber's German exam and apply for entry in the Ärzteliste, the register of doctors kept by the Österreichische Ärztekammer (ÖÄK). Nurses follow a parallel route: a Fachhochschule (university of applied sciences) nostrifies a nursing degree, and you then register in the Gesundheitsberuferegister (GBR).

This page is for health professionals trained in countries such as India, the Philippines, Nigeria, Pakistan or Kenya, people working in the Gulf, and UK graduates, who since Brexit are treated as third-country applicants. It sets out who decides what, the German levels each step needs, the exams, the fees the official bodies publish, the residence permits and what Vienna's public hospitals pay doctors.

The key fact about Austria is that nostrification of a medical degree almost never ends in a simple yes. Every applicant sits a joint sample test (Stichprobentest) in ten clinical subjects, and the university then sets supplementary exams that you pass as an extraordinary student. Forensic medicine and prescribing (Rezeptierkunde) are always required. The medical universities ask for German at C1 before the test, so language is the first hurdle.

Nostrification only makes you a doctor in training, not a specialist. Foreign specialist or general practice training can be credited by the ÖÄK, but the Austrian specialist or general practitioner exam is always compulsory, and since 2015 a foreign exam cannot replace it. For nurses, a positive decision usually comes with conditions too, but Austria lets you register and work for up to two years while you complete them, if you have German at B1.

Nursing, general practice and many medical specialties are on Austria's 2026 list of shortage occupations, so the Red-White-Red Card for skilled workers in shortage occupations is the usual permit. The official guidance from the recognition contact points (AST) is that doctors get the card only once they hold a professional licence after nostrification, so most doctors complete the university stage before they move for work.

The health system

Doctors are regulated by the Ärztegesetz 1998 (Austrian Medical Act). To practise in any capacity, as a doctor in training, general practitioner (Ärztin/Arzt für Allgemeinmedizin) or specialist (Fachärztin/Facharzt), you must be entered in the Ärzteliste of the Österreichische Ärztekammer before you start work. The nine provincial medical chambers (Landesärztekammern) handle registration in practice.

Nursing is regulated by the Gesundheits- und Krankenpflegegesetz (GuKG). There are three nursing professions: Pflegeassistenz (one-year training), Pflegefachassistenz (two-year training) and the gehobener Dienst für Gesundheits- und Krankenpflege, the registered nurse (DGKP), trained in a three-year bachelor's degree at a Fachhochschule.

Since 1 July 2018 nurses, the seven higher medical-technical professions (MTD: physiotherapists, biomedical scientists, radiographers, dietitians, occupational therapists, speech therapists and orthoptists) and operating technical assistants must be in the Gesundheitsberuferegister to practise. The Arbeiterkammer registers employed members; Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (GÖG) registers everyone else, including new entrants. Registration is free and lasts five years.

Who nostrifies depends on the profession. The medical universities handle medicine and dentistry. Fachhochschulen handle nurses (DGKP), midwives and the MTD professions, a role they took over from the provincial governments on 1 January 2020. The provincial governments (in Vienna, MA 40) handle Pflegeassistenz, Pflegefachassistenz, the medical assistant professions, paramedics and masseurs.

Specialist training is organised under the Austrian medical training regulations (ÄAO 2015). Every new doctor starts with a Basisausbildung, the basic clinical rotation, which falls from nine to six months for training starting from 1 August 2026, before moving into general practice or a specialty.

Public hospitals are run by provincial operators, such as the Wiener Gesundheitsverbund in Vienna, KAGes in Styria and tirol kliniken in Tyrol. Pay follows each province's pay law or collective agreements, so there is no single national salary scale for hospital staff.

Hospitals in Austria

Careers, pay and how to apply at hospitals that hire internationally trained staff.

Regulators in Austria

Also responsible here (no separate guide yet)

  • Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection (recognition of non-medical health professions)EU/EEA recognition for nurses and other non-medical health professions, including the One-Stop procedure

The route, step by step

  1. 1. Check which authority decides your case

    Doctors start with the medical universities and the ÖÄK; registered nurses and MTD professionals with a Fachhochschule; nursing assistants with the provincial government. The free AST contact points (Anlaufstellen), funded by the social affairs ministry, and berufsanerkennung.at, run by the Austrian Integration Fund, help you find the right body. If your diploma is already recognised in another EU country where you have worked for three years, a faster EU route may apply instead, so ask first.

  2. 2. Learn German early

    Doctors need German at C1 to apply for nostrification at the medical universities, a B2 certificate to sit the ÖÄK language exam, and then pass that exam. Nurses can apply to a Fachhochschule without German, but need B2 (or B1 plus enrolment in a B2 course, a concession for nursing until summer semester 2027) before starting supplementary courses, and B2 for GBR registration. This is usually the longest stage.

  3. 3. Doctors: get the ÖÄK confirmation and apply for nostrification

    Ask the ÖÄK ([email protected]) for a certificate that nostrification is indispensable for your work in Austria; send a certified copy and translation of your degree, a CV and your passport. Then apply to one medical university only, paying the €150 fee. Documents must be legalised (apostille or full diplomatic legalisation) and translated by a court-sworn translator, with the translation firmly bound to the original.

  4. 4. Doctors: sit the sample test and pass the supplementary exams

    After comparing your curriculum, the university invites you to the joint Stichprobentest: ten clinical subjects, with at least 60% needed in each, and only one attempt. Your result decides which exams you must pass as an extraordinary student, always including forensic medicine and prescribing. MedUni Wien gives up to eight semesters, and the AST lists tuition of €389.56 a semester.

  5. 5. Doctors: pass the ÖÄK German exam and register

    The ÖÄK Sprachprüfung Deutsch, held in Vienna, has oral sections with a patient and with colleagues and a 30-minute written task. The 2026 fee is €1,179.65. With your nostrification decision, a job offer, residence with labour market access and documents no more than three months old, apply to your provincial medical chamber for entry in the Ärzteliste as a doctor in training.

  6. 6. Doctors: train in Austria and get foreign training credited

    You start in the Basisausbildung and then train in general practice or a specialty. Once nostrified, you can ask the ÖÄK under section 14 of the Ärztegesetz to credit specialist training you completed abroad; it decides within up to four months of a complete application. The Austrian general practitioner or specialist exam is always required before you receive the diploma.

  7. 7. Nurses: apply for nostrification at a Fachhochschule

    Apply online to one Fachhochschule that teaches nursing, with your diploma, transcript, the official curriculum from your university, a summary of your clinical placement hours and proof of experience. Hochschule Campus Wien, for example, accepts only degrees of at least three years from a recognised institution and charges a €150 fee. Your knowledge may be checked in an interview, usually in German, with a sworn interpreter at your cost if needed.

  8. 8. Nurses: complete the conditions and register in the GBR

    A conditional decision lists the courses, exams or placements you must complete as an extraordinary student. With German at B1 you can register in the GBR and work for up to two years while you finish them. Once you hold the final decision, register with GÖG (or the Arbeiterkammer if you are an employed member) for free and receive a professional ID valid for five years.

  9. 9. Get a job and a residence permit

    Nurses, general practitioners, most specialties and doctors in training (Turnusarzt) are on the 2026 shortage list, so the Red-White-Red Card for skilled workers in shortage occupations is the usual route. Your employer signs an employer's declaration, the AMS checks your points, and the card costs €218. For a regulated profession, the authority asks for proof that you may practise in Austria.

Language requirements

  • Austria's licensing language is German. IELTS, OET and other English tests do not count for registration; English only earns points for the Red-White-Red Card.
  • Doctors: the medical universities require German at C1 for nostrification. MedUni Graz names ÖSD, Goethe, telc, DSD II, TestDaF level 5, the ÖIF test or a university language centre. For the Ärzteliste you then pass the ÖÄK Sprachprüfung Deutsch, which needs a B2 certificate no more than 10 years old and is set at least at the C1 (advanced) level. It is pass or fail, has unlimited attempts and results arrive within 10 to 14 days.
  • Exemptions from the ÖÄK exam include three years of work in a German-language health system, a German-language school leaving exam or degree, GP or specialist training and exam in a German-speaking country, a degree in German language, or an equivalent exam passed in a country where German is an official language.
  • Nurses and MTD professions: the GBR requires B2 for registered nurses, operating technical assistants and all MTD professions except speech therapy, which needs C1. Pflegeassistenz and Pflegefachassistenz need B1. Accepted certificates include ÖSD, ÖIF, Goethe, telc, TestDaF and the University of Vienna language centre; a placement test or attendance certificate is not enough.
  • You may not need a certificate if German is your mother tongue, you studied or trained for at least a year in Austria, Germany, Switzerland or South Tyrol, you have at least a year of work in a health or social profession there, or your supplementary measures lasted a year and covered the language. The GBR can still ask for a certificate if it has doubts.
  • Fachhochschulen set their own levels for supplementary courses: Hochschule Campus Wien asks B2 for nursing, radiography, dietetics and orthoptics, C1 for physiotherapy, biomedical science, midwifery and occupational therapy, and C2 for speech therapy.

Visas

  • Red-White-Red Card: skilled workers in shortage occupations

    For 2026, graduate nurses, Pflegefachassistenz, Pflegeassistenz, general practitioners, many medical specialties, Turnusärzte, physiotherapists and radiographers are Austria-wide shortage occupations. You need completed training in the occupation, a binding job offer paid at least the legal or collective agreement minimum, and 55 of 90 points for qualification, experience, language and age. The card lasts 24 months, is tied to your employer and costs €218.

  • Recognition comes first for doctors

    The AST states that a Red-White-Red Card for doctors can only be issued once the professional licence has been granted after nostrification. Registration in the Ärzteliste itself needs residence with labour market access. The exception is section 35 of the Ärztegesetz: an authorisation for supervised work for educational purposes at a teaching hospital, for up to one year, which does not count as specialist training.

  • EU Blue Card

    You need a degree of at least three years, a job matching it, and a salary of at least €55,678 a year in 2026, including special payments. The AMS also runs a labour market test. The fee is €218, the card is issued for 24 months, and for a regulated profession you must show you are entitled to practise in Austria.

  • Very highly qualified workers and the job-seeker visa

    If you score at least 70 points on qualifications, experience, language, age and Austrian studies, you can get a six-month job-seeker visa (€195) without an offer, or apply directly for a Red-White-Red Card with one. Health professionals still need recognition before they can practise.

  • Student permits during nostrification

    The AST notes that if you do not move on a Red-White-Red Card, you may get a residence permit as a student once admitted as an extraordinary student at a university or Fachhochschule, or to a nostrification course. This permit allows other work of up to 20 hours a week if the employer has an AMS work permit.

  • Red-White-Red Card plus, family and EU citizens

    After 21 months of qualifying work in the past 24, you can move to a Red-White-Red Card plus with unrestricted labour market access. Family members apply for their own permits; check migration.gv.at. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens need no permit, and qualifications listed in the EU directive are recognised automatically: by the ÖÄK for doctors, and by the ministry for nurses, where its One-Stop procedure can issue recognition within an hour.

Pay

There is no national pay scale for Austrian hospitals: each province and many operators set their own. The figures below are the gross monthly salary schemes for doctors employed by the City of Vienna (Wiener Gesundheitsverbund, under the Wiener Bedienstetengesetz) from 1 July 2026, as published by the Vienna Medical Chamber. They include a €150 allowance and exclude duty, overtime and other supplements, which are paid separately. Nursing and MTD pay is set by provincial pay laws or collective agreements we could not confirm from an official table, so check the figure in your job offer.

  • Doctor in training (Ärztin/Arzt in Ausbildung), Vienna

    €4,993.21 to €5,621.83 a month

    Pay steps 1 to 4, Wiener Bedienstetengesetz, from 1 July 2026.

  • General practitioner (Allgemeinmedizin), Vienna

    €7,524.52 to €10,245.09 a month

    Pay steps 1 to 12, including the €150 allowance, from 1 July 2026.

  • Specialist or senior physician (Fachärztin/Facharzt, Oberärztin/Oberarzt), Vienna

    €7,932.12 to €10,430.19 a month

    Pay steps 1 to 12, including the €150 allowance, from 1 July 2026.

  • EU Blue Card salary threshold

    €55,678 a year (2026)

    Annual gross salary including special payments, as stated by migration.gv.at.

  • Registered nurse (DGKP) and MTD professions: Set by province or employerRed-White-Red Card applicants must be paid at least the legal or collective agreement minimum.

Key terms in Austria

The permits, numbers and bodies you will meet on the way, each explained in plain English.

Questions

Yes, but only after nostrification at a medical university in Vienna, Graz or Innsbruck, which makes your degree equal to the Austrian Dr. med. univ. You then pass the ÖÄK German exam and register in the Ärzteliste as a doctor in training. The exception is a diploma already recognised in another EU country where you have worked for at least three years.

It is a sample test in ten clinical subjects, run jointly by the Austrian medical universities three times a year. You need 60% in a subject to pass it, and you may sit it only once. If you pass at least six subjects, you are set exams in the others; with five or fewer, you take exams from the regular degree. Forensic medicine and prescribing are always set.

C1 to apply for nostrification at the medical universities, and a B2 certificate to sit the ÖÄK Sprachprüfung Deutsch, which you must pass before entering the Ärzteliste. The ÖÄK exam is set at least at C1 and costs €1,179.65 in 2026. Several exemptions apply, such as three years of work in a German-language health system.

Partly. After nostrification, the ÖÄK can credit equivalent postgraduate training under section 14 of the Ärztegesetz, with no upper limit if it is fully equivalent. But the Austrian GP or specialist exam is always required; a foreign exam cannot be credited since 2015.

For registered nurses (DGKP), a Fachhochschule that teaches nursing, since 1 January 2020. In Vienna this is Hochschule Campus Wien. Nursing assistant qualifications (Pflegeassistenz and Pflegefachassistenz) go to the provincial government, for example MA 40 in Vienna.

Yes, in two ways the AST describes. With a conditional decision and German at B1, you can register in the GBR and work for up to two years while you complete the conditions. Or the provincial government can authorise supervised work for further training for up to a year, which can be extended to two years for DGKP.

Not for registration. The language requirement for doctors and nurses is German. English test results only earn points in the Red-White-Red Card points system.

The fee is €150 at the medical universities and the Fachhochschulen. Supplementary study then costs tuition each semester (€389.56 at the medical universities according to the AST; €363.36 at Hochschule Campus Wien), plus translations and legalisation. The Austrian Integration Fund can refund some recognition costs and semester tuition.

Usually the Red-White-Red Card for skilled workers in shortage occupations, because nursing, general practice and many specialties are on the 2026 list. It needs a job offer, at least the collective agreement minimum pay and 55 points, and costs €218.

No official body publishes an overall timeline. The parts that are published: the sample test runs three times a year, MedUni Wien allows up to eight semesters for supplementary exams, the ÖÄK decides training credit within up to four months, and language exam results arrive in 10 to 14 days. Learning German to C1 adds to this.

UK qualifications are now third-country qualifications in Austria, so they go through nostrification unless they were recognised in an EU country where you then worked for three years. Ask the ÖÄK international team which route applies to you.

Sources

  1. 1Österreichische Ärztekammer: Information on medical practice in Austria (April 2026, PDF)
  2. 2Österreichische Ärztekammer: Taking up medical activities in Austria
  3. 3Österreichische Ärztekammer: Information sheet on section 35 Austrian Medical Act (PDF)
  4. 4Österreichische Ärztekammer: Ausbildung im Ausland, Prüfung der Gleichwertigkeit
  5. 5Österreichische Ärztekammer: Verkürzung der Basisausbildung
  6. 6Österreichische Akademie der Ärzte: Sprachprüfung Deutsch
Show all 28 sources
  1. 7Österreichische Akademie der Ärzte: Prüfungstermine und Gebühr
  2. 8Österreichische Akademie der Ärzte: Prüfungsablauf
  3. 9MedUni Wien: Nostrifizierung
  4. 10MedUni Wien: Nostrifizierung, Antragstellung
  5. 11MedUni Wien: Nostrifizierung, Ermittlungsverfahren
  6. 12MedUni Graz: Nostrifizierung
  7. 13AST: Nostrification and professional licence for doctors from third countries (September 2026, PDF)
  8. 14AST: Einwanderung und Anerkennung von Pflegeausbildungen aus Drittstaaten (June 2025, PDF)
  9. 15Sozialministerium: Anerkennung (Berufe)
  10. 16Sozialministerium: Allgemeine Information Nostrifikation (PDF)
  11. 17Hochschule Campus Wien: Nostrifizierung
  12. 18Stadt Wien: Nostrifikation von Gesundheitsberufen (MA 40)
  13. 19Gesundheitsberuferegister: Was ist das Gesundheitsberuferegister?
  14. 20Gesundheitsberuferegister: So funktioniert die Registrierung
  15. 21GÖG: Ergänzende Informationen bei Ausbildungsabschluss außerhalb Österreichs (July 2025, PDF)
  16. 22Gesundheit Österreich GmbH: Gesundheitsberuferegister
  17. 23Berufsanerkennung.at (ÖIF): Finanzielle Unterstützung
  18. 24migration.gv.at: Skilled workers in shortage occupations
  19. 25migration.gv.at: Austria-wide shortage occupations 2026
  20. 26migration.gv.at: EU Blue Card
  21. 27migration.gv.at: Very highly qualified workers
  22. 28Ärztekammer für Wien: Wiener Gesundheitsverbund salary schemes

Keep exploring

Registering and working in Austria