Introduction

You say your goodbyes. Give a last nod and a wave to your family & friends, and. you. are. off. You have to get the bus, make sure you are on time, you reach the airport, check in, go through security, and wait. You sit in front of your gate, simmering. Read a book, no, actually listen to a podcast, or even better stare off in to the distance. Time’s up. Board. Fly. Disembark. Wait for your connection. Tired. Getting late. Board again. Fly. The night view is oddly relaxing. Lights, finally here. Taxi, need a taxi. A new land, and at night as foreign as ever. Home. Time for sleep.

But in all honesty, the weirdest part is the transition. It’s so sudden it’s really hard to put into words. It’s not easy to grasp what you are actually doing and that’s probably for good, because it can be an overwhelming feeling.

But it’s all good you know…you did it for a reason, and trust me you’ll like it here, so let’s fight through it together!

Minor Tips & Guides!

Biking

Biking is a must in Salzburg! You can bring your car over for a while but you’ll have to register it eventually. There are a lot of bike lanes in Salzburg, even in remote areas outside of the city, and as you would expect you see bikers everywhere. It’s also important to note that drivers here can actually handle bikes and usually are very polite & predictable in giving the right of way.

For cheap used bikes I recommend: https://www.carlavelorep.at/

For good, refurbished (upcycled) bikes I recommend: https://www.fanzybikes.com/

Flights

The Salzburg airport (Salzburg Flughafen // W. A. Mozart) is supposedly Austria’s 2nd largest airport, but despite that it’s still pretty small for an airport.

There may very well not be a direct flight to where you are going, so a lot of times you either have to take an unnecessary connecting flight, or take a train to Munich (1.5h) / Vienna (3h) and fly from there.

For details on how to get to the airport through public transport have a look here. There’s also more info in the official website which might be of value to you, so have a look.

Renting

Time to find a house, oh boy oh man if this isn’t fun. Let’s get to it.

Sites:

Some info:

  • At the time of writing prices for a ~35sqm house is ~700E/month and a price for a ~50sqm house is ~1200E/month.

  • Most contracts are for 3 years, with the possibility to break the contract on the first year no questions asked.

  • Most apartments/houses are behind an agency, which means you ahve to pay a comission (Provision) to them. If you want to avoid that (you probably do) you can search for “Provisionfrei” accommodation.

  • On top of the provision, you will have to pay the Kaution, which is a deposit (2-3 months of rent) which you may or may not get back at the end of your stay - depending on the state of the accommodation when you leave it.

  • In the rent, Betriebskosten (operating costs) may or may not be included. Operating costs may include things like heating, electricity, water, building administrative costs, etc.

  • You may stumble upon two categories: Warmmiete (warm rent) and Kaltmiete (cold rent). The first is always higher than the latter, because it includes operating costs while kaltmiete does not.

  • An apartment viewing appointment is called “Wohnungsbesichtigungstermin”

  • I suggest you try to contact the owner in German, it usually helps grease the wheels

  • A parking space is usually included in the total price of the rent. If you don’t need it you might be able to get a rent reduction, although don’t count it

  • Almost all apartments come unfurnished, and furniture ain’t cheap (unless you buy used)

  • Almost all apartments have basements/storage units, and most of them also have common drying & washing rooms as well as bike-storage rooms

  • If you are a student maybe take a look at OeaD

Let’s talk areas:

  • Aigen: expensive, but nice
  • Nonntal: close to the city, pretty nice
  • Parsch: close to everything, pretty nice
  • Lehen: supposedly a ‘bad’ part of town, probably still not that bad
  • Liefering: away from the town, basically countryside
  • Absolutely no idea about the rest

So yeah, finding a house is definitely an experience. It takes time, it takes patience, and it sucks so….chin up :D

Meldezettel

Did you find a house? Oh damn! Nice! Congrats. Along with the contract the owner/agent will probably hand you a Meldezettel. A what? A Meldezettel. This paper states that you’re gonna be living there now, and the municapility of Salzburg demands they know that. Sign the paper, and go to the Registration Office:

Kiesel Building, Saint-Julien-Str. 20
5020 Salzburg

Opening hours of the registration office:
Monday – Thursday 07:30 – 16:00, Friday 07:30 – 13:00

You can book an appointment if you want: here (Choose Melde-Service and enter your info) You can also not book an appointment (see below).

The entrance is on the side of the building. You have to use the elevator to go the 4th floor (might change, make sure to check the signs). Once you go in you will be called at the appropriate kiosk, you will see your name on a screen. If you don’t have an appointment you have to hit a button to get a number, you will be called when the time comes.

You have to do this within three days of the date that has been signed on the Meldezettel. Oh and bring a passport.

E-Card

The E-Card is a credit-card-sized well…card that is used for all things health insurance.

Your employer will probably give you your health insurance number (Krankenversichertennummer) with your first payslip.

In the past (i think) you got your e-Card automatically, but now it requires a passport photo & for you to register for it in person.

In Salzburg you have to go to the Landespolizeidirektion.

You can make an appointment here or by email here.

Post Office

Post in Austria is amazing! Deliveries arive super fast and there are pickup stations in a lot of places so you can pick up your packages whenever. Seriously, I love it. You forward your package to a pickup station, get a code, and when your delivery arrives you go to it with your code. Ta-da! It also requires no human interaction, which is a plus (and of course you can pick your packages up whenever).

I also really recommend downloading the app or creating an account (and going through the authentication/identity process). It is amazing how you get notifications for your deliveries as well as details like the dimensions & weight of your package! +1 Austria!

Residence Permit // Anmeldebescheinigung

The registration certificate is a cool-looking piece of paper which you need to do within 4 months of arrival in Salzburg.

The main information page from the Austrian goverment can be found here.

Montag 8 - 12 Uhr und 13.30 - 16 Uhr
Dienstag 8 - 11 Uhr
Mittwoch, Donnerstag und Freitag 8 - 12 Uhr
Antragsannahme nur bis 30 Minuten VOR Schalterschluss.

Fremdenrechtsbehörde
Adresse: Schwarzstraße 44, 5024 Salzburg
Fax: +43 662 8072 2076
E-Mail: 0101visa@stadt-salzburg.at

Check here for more info.

So, some info:

  • A regular registration certificate costs 15 euros
  • Make sure to have copies of all your stuff beforehand if possible, otherwise you have to pay to use the printer there
  • The relevant office where you actually give your documents is on the ground floor, on the left of the main hall (says “Visa” outside).
  • The main/official language is German and you will see A LOT of signs reminding you of this, although the people at the desk might still be willing to speak some English.
  • That also means: no emails in English. You will probably get back an email demanding you write your email again, but in German (at least based on personal experience).
  • You give your papework, pay at the Kassa, and then you wait your certificate to be prepared. When it is prepared and ready to be picked up, you will get a letter via post which you have to return back to the Kassa (along w/ your passport or Visa) to actually retrieve the certificate.
  • For my certificate I gave:
    • Two payslips (copies)
    • Passport (copy)
    • Company contract (copy)
    • Health insurance number
    • Meldezettel (copy)
    • Filled out request form (not the ones that are available online, they have different ones on-site that you can pick up)

Finanzamt

Finanzamt is the official platform for managing your taxes and registering yourself on it also makes you a candidate for Austrian benefits.

Registration is easy, just go here, add your details (you need an SVN) and afterwards you will get via post a password for you to login with the first time. That’s really it :D

HandySignatur

The HandySignatur is used to access lots of goverment services through your phone with no other registration, but you need to set it up first! You can find general information on the HandySignatur here. There are lots of ways to activate it, but I find that it’s easier to simply request one after registering for Finanzamt. If you do that you yet again get a password through post and use that here start the activation process.

The HandySignatur is currently in the process of being replaced by ID Austria which I’ve got no idea how to set it up but you can easily migrate your HandySignatur to an ID Austria.