This step by the Austria immigration is aimed to help fill the widening gap between the required number of workforce in the nation and the available supply of workers within the nation.
It may be mentioned that Austria needs more foreign workers due to aging domestic workforce.
Hence, a new Austria work permit- ‘red-white-red card’ has been unveiled by the nation and it will come into effect from 1st July 2011 onwards.
For getting Austria work permits to work in the nation, the eligibility criteria with regard to age, language skills, education and work experience has been laid down by the Austrian government.
The plans to relax Austria work visa norms have been formulated following a public views to attract high-skilled migrants in the competitive global market.
Till now, all non-EU migrants wishing to move to Austria for working here had to face tough competition due to restricted annual intake. The new open Austria work visa system will be flexible to cater to the growing demand of high-skilled workers possessing qualifications for different occupations.
Austria needs to allow immigrants in order to cater with the skills shortages in the coming 10 to 15 years.
Several nations including the UK, Canada, Denmark and Australia have been alluring immigrants through skilled immigration programs enabling them to live and work there.
The ‘red-white-red card’ has been fashioned along the lines of the US Green Card and named after colors in the national flag of Austria. The card gives points to the migrants on the basis of their age, previous pay scales, education, work experience and language proficiency in German.
An official spokesperson for Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Rupert Haberson said that Austria is experiencing a shortage of caregivers and certain other kinds of production technicians.
Hence, the Interior Ministry intends to offer 8,000 Red-White-Red cards annually, however, the overall immigration limit will remain unchanged.
Around 35,000 migrants come to Austria each year to live here permanently out of which one-third come to live with their family members who are already living in Austria.