Retire in Austria as a foreigner: permit, income, costs and health insurance (2026)

Can I retire in Austria? Find your route first

Yes, foreigners can retire in Austria, but the route depends on your family link, not on your age. We found no permit called “retirement visa” in Austria; non-EU retirees without a family link here use the settlement permit except gainful employment (§ 44 NAG).

Retirement in Austria in 9 official facts

How to retire in Austria: the settlement permit step by step

Retiring to Austria from outside the EU takes six steps, and the quota decides when you can start. The detailed document list is on our Austria retirement visa guide; the German permit family is explained on Niederlassungsbewilligung.

1. Check the income test. Your fixed, regular own income must reach €2,616.78 a month (single) or €4,128.24 (couple) in 2026, and pensions, annuities or other regular income count (migration.gv.at). These are base amounts, and regular costs such as rent above €386.43 a month raise them (§ 11 (5) NAG). Our page on taxes in Austria for expats explains how Austria taxes foreign income of residents and how the double tax treaty with the paying country comes in.
2. Get German to A1 and the certificate the authority asks for, unless a legal exemption applies, for example on health grounds (§ 21a NAG).
3. Find housing. A rental contract or property you own counts as proof of accommodation (if you buy first, see buy property in Austria as a foreigner).
4. Arrange all-risk health insurance that pays in Austria, valid from your arrival (see health insurance for retirees).
5. Secure a quota place and apply as a rule in person at the Austrian consulate for your place of residence (visa-free nationals may file in Austria after lawful entry, but without a right to stay beyond the visa-free period, § 21 (6) NAG); booking windows are published by each embassy, for example Abuja for 2027. Fee €218.
6. Collect the visa D if your nationality needs one, move, register your address within three days and renew the permit in Austria before it expires (migration.gv.at says the permit is, as a rule, issued for one year at first).

How much do you need to retire in Austria?

The minimum you need to retire in Austria is the permit’s income test, €2,616.78 a month for one person in 2026, or more if regular costs such as rent exceed €386.43 (§ 11 (5) NAG). The real cost to retire in Austria depends on rent and region. Statistik Austria’s household survey shows retired people living alone spend about €2,570 a month on average, including large one-off purchases, so it is an average, not a minimum budget (Konsumerhebung 2024/25). Put side by side, the permit’s income test for one person is close to that average, and a foreign retiree also pays for private health insurance, at least for the first permit. The average main-tenancy rent including operating costs was €694.7 a month or €10.5 per m² in the second quarter of 2026, without heating (Statistik Austria).

Prices rose 3.6 % in the year to September 2026 (Statistik Austria). More rent, food and transport data is on cost of living in Austria; all insurance prices by age are on Care Austria prices.

Can Americans retire in Austria?

Yes, Americans can retire in Austria through the same settlement permit as every other non-EU citizen. We found no special route, so retirement in Austria for US citizens (and retiring in Austria as an American) starts with the income test and the quota. Americans may enter visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180 days (BMI list, as of 16 October 2026) and, as visa-free nationals, may file the first application in Austria after a lawful entry. Filing there “does not create a right of residence beyond the visa-free period”, so you leave in time and wait abroad if the decision takes longer (§ 21 (6) NAG; Austrian consular section in Washington). Medicare “usually doesn’t cover health care while you’re traveling outside the U.S.” (medicare.gov), so you need cover that pays in Austria. Our guide to moving to Austria from the US covers consular fees in dollars and timing.

Can I retire to Austria from the UK?

Yes, British citizens can retire to Austria on the same terms. Since Brexit, British citizens without an EU passport are third-country nationals for this permit, with visa-free entry for short stays (BMI list). We have not verified how an S1 form or the UK State Pension is treated for the permit’s insurance condition, so ask the residence authority before you rely on it. Our guide to moving to Austria from the UK has more.

Can Canadians and Australians retire in Austria?

Yes, Canadians and Australians can retire in Austria on the same settlement permit. Canada and Australia are on the visa-free list too (BMI), and the route, income test and quota are the same as for Americans. We found no bilateral retirement scheme for either country.

What health insurance do retirees need in Austria?

Retirees need all-risk health insurance that pays in Austria, and for the first permit it cannot come from the ÖGK. The law requires cover “covering all risks” (§ 11 (2) Z 3 NAG), travel insurance is “in any case not sufficient” for a national residence title (BMI), and the public option is not open yet. ÖGK self-insurance costs €565.25 a month in 2026, needs residence in Austria and a valid permit, and pays benefits in kind only after a 6-month waiting period unless waived (ÖGK). The ÖGK waives the wait only after enough recent statutory cover in Austria, the EU/EEA or a treaty state whose agreement adds up insurance periods; the US agreement covers pensions only, so cover from the US does not count. The rules are on ÖGK self-insurance.

Care Concept AG is on Vienna's MA 35 list: unlimited Care Austria tariffs need no extra declaration, 364-day ones do (checked 30 October 2026) (wien.gv.at). Care Austria ends when you are granted Daueraufenthalt EU (permanent residence) or another unlimited residence permit (AVB § 6), so the long-term plan is a different policy or the ÖGK (see permanent residence). Illnesses, accident after-effects and infirmities that exist when you apply have their own rules in the policy terms (AVB § 9), so ask Care Concept AG before you apply. For unlimited Standard, your first price follows the calendar year cover starts minus your year of birth; after that the 50–64 band starts on 1 January of the year you turn 50 and the 65–74 band (€510 a month in 2026) on 1 January of the year you turn 65. How doctors, hospitals and the e-card work is on health care in Austria; the permit rule in detail is on health insurance for a residence permit (prices by age are on Austria health insurance cost).

Is Austria a good place to retire, and where?

Whether Austria is a good place to retire depends on your budget and priorities; we found no official ranking of the best places to retire in Austria, so here are the measurable points. Austria’s price level was 119.7 % of the EU average in 2024 (Eurostat), and rents for new contracts are higher than for old ones (€12.4 per m² for contracts under 2 years in 2025). In Vienna, equivalised household spending was 2.4 % below the Austrian average, and households there spend more on public transport and less on cars than rural households (Statistik Austria).

• Quota places by province: in 2025 Vienna had 130 of the 385 places; small provinces had as few as 5 (Burgenland). A province-by-province comparison is on Austrian cities on official data.
• Your residence authority is MA 35 in Vienna (MA 35 in English) and the district authority or statutory city elsewhere.
• Hospitals and doctors near you that accept your insurance.
• Public transport if you do not want a car. Vienna households spend about €100 a month on it (Statistik Austria).
• German at A1 now, unless exempt (§ 21a NAG), more for daily life later.

Retire in Vienna: what is different?

Retiring in Vienna means applying to MA 35, the city’s immigration office, and competing for the largest provincial quota (130 places in 2025), which the city says is reserved within minutes. Vienna’s MA 35 publishes its own list of private insurers for residence permits (wien.gv.at).

Can foreigners buy property in Austria?

Yes, foreigners can buy property in Austria, but non-EU citizens generally need an approval from the provincial land-transfer authority (Grundverkehrsbehörde) first, and the rules differ by province (oesterreich.gv.at, updated 1 January 2026). An approval is given if there is a cultural, social or economic interest and state-political interests are not harmed; nationals of some third countries are exempt under bilateral agreements. Contact the competent authority before you sign. Owning a flat helps with the housing condition, but it does not replace the income test, the quota place or health insurance for the permit (our reading of § 11 and § 44 NAG). The purchase step by step: buy property in Austria as a foreigner.

Worked example: a couple from Ohio retiring to Graz

Illustrative example: Susan (born 1963, 63 this year) and David (born 1960, 66) want to retire to Austria from the US on two pensions. Their fixed monthly pension income, converted to euros, must reach the couple test of €4,128.24 a month for 2026; the part of their Graz rent above €386.43 a month raises that figure (§ 11 (5) NAG). Both learn German to A1, rent a flat in Graz and wait for the booking window of their consulate, because each of them needs a quota place in Styria. Each pays the €218 permit fee.

For health insurance they need two policies. Susan is in the 50–64 band, so her Care Austria Standard unlimited policy costs €222 a month. David is in the 65–74 band in 2026, 2027 and 2028 (66, 67, 68), so his costs €510 a month. Together that is €732 a month in 2026 and 2027 (Susan counts as 64 in 2027, still the 50–64 band), and from 1 January 2028 it becomes €1,234 (€617 each), because Susan counts as 65 that year (age = calendar year minus year of birth) and moves to the 65–74 band, and the scheduled premium step applies. Both policies run at least one year (AVB § 3). For comparison only, and not possible for the first permit, ÖGK self-insurance is €565.25 a month for one person in 2026, once resident with a permit. A spouse may be co-insurable, so we give no two-person ÖGK total; ask the ÖGK. David asks Care Concept AG in writing about his pre-existing arthritis before applying.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• migration.gv.at: other forms of settlement (income 2026, German A1, no work, where to apply, decision period)
• § 44 NAG, § 46 NAG and § 11 NAG (RIS) on the settlement permit, family quota and general requirements
• City of Vienna statement, 10 December 2025 (quota places reserved within minutes) and the Settlement Regulation 2025 (BGBl. II 309/2025) for the 385 places
• Austrian Embassy Abuja: appointments for the 2027 settlement permit
• BMI: visa-required countries (as of 16 October 2026) and consular section Washington: settlement and residence
• BMI: residence and health insurance, which says travel insurance is not sufficient for a national residence title
• Federal Ministry of Social Affairs: old-age pension (pension age, updated 24 June 2026)
• oesterreich.gv.at: property purchase by third-country nationals (updated 1 January 2026)
• Statistik Austria: household budget survey 2024/25 and housing Q2 2026
• ÖGK: self-insurance (contribution 2026, waiting period)
• Care Austria policy terms (AVB) and tariff page (insurer documents, read 30 October 2026)

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