Work permit in Austria for a third country national with permanent residence in another EU country

Question

I have been checking multiple offical immigration government sites in Austria among them migration.gv.at but couldn't find clear explanation of my case.

So I am a third country national but I have a 5 years permanent residence in Slovakia, I work in IT sector in a multinational company in Bratislava, capital of Slovakia which is 40 min drive from Vienna Austria. I want to work in Vienna but I need to apply for a work permit. I was checking many forums for expats and some claimed that if I have a permanent residence in one EU country then I don't need to apply for a work permit in Austria which is my case. Is it true ?

Second question, I have a house in Bratislava. If I find a job in Vienna, can I work there but still live in Bratislava or I must have a residence address in Austria even if I have my house in Slovakia?

Answer 1

I don't think having permanent residence in Slovakia excuses you from applying for a work permit in Austria, although Austrian national law might have such an exception. Your status as a "long-term resident" does however mean that Austria must consider your case in light of directive 2003/109/EC (see Chapter III). Unfortunately I could not find enough specific practical information about how to invoke the directive when seeking work authorization in Austria.

The Austrian legislation that implements the directive may be found at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/NIM/?uri=CELEX:32003L0109. It's a bit of a mess!