I am waiting for my Article 50 card and wish to spend time away from Austria. What must I do?

I applied for an Article 50 card in Vienna at the start of 2021 and received the application certificate, but have still not received the Article 50 card. Is there any way I can chase this up? I’ve tried contacting MA35Magistratsabteilung 35 Residency and citizenship issues in Vienna are handled by Magistratsabteilung 35 (MA35). It has several offices in Vienna and where you need to go depends on whether or not you are an EU citizen (you go to one or other of its EU Referat offices depending on the district you live in), or its premises for third country nationals. with no luck. I might be leaving Austria next month but hope to be back next year to work – will I need to have received the card in order to do this?

If you have applied for residency in Austria and you have the documentation to confirm your application, you can use this to travel. MA35 have provided the following e-mail address to follow up on the progress of your Article 50 card: anliegen@ma35.wien.gv.at

Please state the following information:

  • your individual case number in the subject line of the e-mail (it can be found on the Bestätigung der Antragstellung confirming your application);
  • forename, surname;
  • date of birth

Please note: for UK nationals granted long-term residence status (Daueraufenthaltsrecht) in Austria, the UK national can be out of/away from Austria for up to 5 years without it affecting your immigration status.

Otherwise, UK nationals who do not have long-term residency can only be out of Austria for 6 months (in special circumstance such as illness, pregnancy, study this can be extended to 12 months).

This question was adapted from a question raised at the British Embassy’s Outreach Q&A Session held on 23 September 2021. The full write-up of that event can be downloaded.

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By Michael Bailey

Naturalised Austrian born in SW England, studied in Scotland and living in Austria since 2000.