Austria’s government has confirmed that a dedicated Frontier-Worker Permit will open for applications on 1 December 2025. The new document is aimed at the tens of thousands of employees who live in neighbouring countries but commute daily or weekly to jobs in Austrian border districts. Until now these “Grenzgänger” have relied on a patchwork of posted-worker notifications, short-stay rules and repeated Schengen entries that provided little legal certainty for employers or assignees.
Under the scheme, applicants must hold permanent residence and full labour-market access in their home country (for example Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland or Liechtenstein) and their Austrian worksite must be located in a district that physically borders that country. A positive labour-market test from the Public Employment Service (AMS) will be mandatory, confirming that no suitable local candidate is available. The permit does not confer residency; family members receive no derivative status and must qualify independently if they wish to live in Austria.
![Austria to Launch Frontier-Worker Permit on 1 December 2025]()
For corporate mobility managers the permit plugs a long-standing compliance gap. Companies in Burgenland, Lower Austria and Tyrol have struggled since 2021—when Vienna tightened enforcement of the EU Posting of Workers Directive—with repetitive notification and wage-attestation requirements for permanent commuters. The single-document solution will eliminate those filings while leaving payroll, social-security and double-taxation rules unchanged. The AMS expects adjudication to take 4–6 weeks; employers are advised to maintain proof of employment on board until approvals arrive, especially while temporary Schengen border checks with Hungary and Slovenia remain in force.
Business chambers welcomed the move, noting persistent labour shortages in logistics, manufacturing and elderly-care services along the frontier. Trade unions, however, have urged officials to apply the labour-market test strictly to prevent wage dumping. In the medium term the government hopes the permit will make cross-border recruitment more predictable without encouraging permanent migration into Austria’s already tight housing markets.
Practical tip: HR teams should begin identifying affected commuters, gather evidence of local recruitment efforts and budget processing time well in advance of the holiday period. Remember that any change of workplace to a non-border district will require a new authorisation.
Under the scheme, applicants must hold permanent residence and full labour-market access in their home country (for example Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland or Liechtenstein) and their Austrian worksite must be located in a district that physically borders that country. A positive labour-market test from the Public Employment Service (AMS) will be mandatory, confirming that no suitable local candidate is available. The permit does not confer residency; family members receive no derivative status and must qualify independently if they wish to live in Austria.
For corporate mobility managers the permit plugs a long-standing compliance gap. Companies in Burgenland, Lower Austria and Tyrol have struggled since 2021—when Vienna tightened enforcement of the EU Posting of Workers Directive—with repetitive notification and wage-attestation requirements for permanent commuters. The single-document solution will eliminate those filings while leaving payroll, social-security and double-taxation rules unchanged. The AMS expects adjudication to take 4–6 weeks; employers are advised to maintain proof of employment on board until approvals arrive, especially while temporary Schengen border checks with Hungary and Slovenia remain in force.
Business chambers welcomed the move, noting persistent labour shortages in logistics, manufacturing and elderly-care services along the frontier. Trade unions, however, have urged officials to apply the labour-market test strictly to prevent wage dumping. In the medium term the government hopes the permit will make cross-border recruitment more predictable without encouraging permanent migration into Austria’s already tight housing markets.
Practical tip: HR teams should begin identifying affected commuters, gather evidence of local recruitment efforts and budget processing time well in advance of the holiday period. Remember that any change of workplace to a non-border district will require a new authorisation.
