Registering your residence in Austria (Meldezettel)

If you move into a flat, house, or room in Austria, you must register your residence with the responsible Meldebehörde (registration authority). This applies to your own registration and also to minor children living in the same household. 12

Who needs this

• You must register if you take up accommodation in Austria for the first time, move within Austria and create a new main residence (Hauptwohnsitz), or establish an additional residence (Nebenwohnsitz). 1
• The rule applies whether you register a main residence or a secondary residence. 12
• In Vienna, the rule also applies to everyone staying in Austria, regardless of citizenship, including children. 3

Step by step

1. Register after you have actually moved in. A registration before moving in is not allowed. 13
2. Use the online service, register in person, send the documents by post, or have a messenger submit them. Fax and email are not allowed. 12
3. Fill in a Meldezettel (registration form) completely and legibly, and sign it yourself and have it signed by the Unterkunftgeber (person providing accommodation). 13
4. Submit the form and required documents to the competent Meldebehörde. In Vienna, you can go to any Meldeservice, not only in your district. 13
5. The authority enters your new address in the Zentralen Melderegister (Central Register of Residents) and you receive a confirmation of registration (Bestätigung der Meldung / Meldebestätigung). 3

Documents

• A Meldezettel for each person. 13
• Public documents showing surname, first names, surname before first marriage or registered partnership, any other name, date of birth, place of birth, and nationality; for example, passport and birth certificate. 1
• For foreign nationals: a travel document, and in Vienna also the current card from the asylum procedure if applicable. 13
• If applicable: proof of academic degrees or the titles Ingenieur*in or Meister*in. 13
• If applicable: rental contract, purchase contract, current land register extract, or consent to data retrieval. 3
• For minors: documents proving care and upbringing responsibility, if required, such as the birth certificate, marriage certificate, custody decision, or another proof. 3

If you do not register in person, original documents or certified copies (beglaubigte Abschriften) must be sent or handed over with the signed form. 13

Cost and time

• The registration itself is free of charge. 13
• In Vienna, a Meldebestätigung has specific fees: 21 euros application fee, 6 euros attachment fee per sheet, 21 euros certificate fee, plus a federal administrative charge of 3 euros for a Meldebestätigung or 2.10 euros for a private household confirmation (Privathaushaltsbestätigung). If the confirmation is for submission to social insurance, these fees and charges do not apply. 4

Deadlines

• You must register within three days after moving in. 123
• If you are only changing the quality of the residence, for example from Nebenwohnsitz to Hauptwohnsitz or the reverse, the deadline is one month. 2
• If you only move out without immediately registering elsewhere, you must deregister within three days before or after moving out. 2

City by city

• Vienna: You can register at any Meldeservice in Vienna, regardless of district. The city also notes that a new main residence automatically deregisters the old main residence, and that a change between main and secondary residence is handled as an “Ummeldung” in that sense. 3
• Vienna: A Meldebestätigung can be requested for all residences registered since 1 March 2002. Wohnsitze that were deregistered before 1 March 2002 are only recorded in the local registers and must be requested from the competent municipality. 4