On this page, you will find:
To find organisations working for LGBTQI+ rights, visit our Austria LGBTQI+ Resources page.
For Austria country of origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents visit our Austria COI page.
Refugee protection
Click here to see the numbers and origins of refugees hosted by Austria.
The following sections contain information on the most important international treaties and agreements of which Austria is signatory, as well as national legislation relevant to the protection of refugees.
Austria acceded to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees at its inception in 1951, as well as the subsequent 1967 Protocol. Additionally, Austria is party to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, however, the Austria entered reservations on Article 27 for the former.
The central pieces of legislation governing migration and asylum in Austria include the Asylum Act 2005, the Settlement and Residence Act, the Citizenship Act 1985, the Act Governing the Employment of Foreign Nationals, and the Integration Act. The Austrian Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum act as the principal authority in asylum procedures and other procedures relating to migration.
Legal aid organisations
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Address: Währinger Strasse 59/2/1 1090 Vienna
Tel: +43 1 408 42 10
Email (legal advice): legal advice@asyl-in-not.org
Email (office): office@asyl-in-not.org
Asyl in Not provides legal advice and support to asylum seekers in a variety of languages including German, English, French, Farsi, Arabic, Kurdish, Serbo-Croat and Macedonian. The legal advice line is open on Mondays from 9:00a.m.-12:00p.m. CEST. Asyl in Not also provides violence counseling for clients who are or have been affected by gender-specific violence, as well as advocacy and workshops for people with expertise in migration and law.
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Address: Albrechtskreithgasse 19-21, A-1160 Vienna, Austria
Tel:+43 (1) 488 314 10
Fax: +43 (1) 48 831 94 00
Email: office@caritas-austria.at
Caritas Austria’s work includes the service point, Asylum Centre Vienna, which is responsible for the basic care of eligible refugees living in Vienna. The centre both advises and supports refugees and asylum seekers through the provision of legal advice, representation, payment of rent and food allowance, benefits for school and clothing, health insurance, travel reimbursement, and accommodation. Caritas Austria also provides an additional broad range of programmes including disaster relief, hunger awareness campaigns, homecare for disabled people, shelters for homeless people, counselling and support centres for people struggling with substance abuse, and refugee aid initiatives.
Website
Address: Steinergasse 3/12 1170 Vienna
Tel: +43 1 402 67 54
Fax: +43 1 402 67 54 16
Email: refugee service@diakonie.at
Contact person(s): Mag. Christoph Riedl (christoph.riedl@diakonie.at) and Mag. Pamela Haderlein (pamela.haderlein@diakonie.at)
Diakonie Refugee Service provides social and legal advice to refugees and asylum seekers, working together to develop strategies for coping with their everyday life. Diakonie Refugee Service has legal advice centres in Vienna, Traiskirchen, Salzburg, Villach and Innsbruck to inform and advise refugees and asylum seekers on the most important legal issues relating to asylum law, residence, and the right to stay. Diakonie Refugee Service has additional social counseling centres in Lower Austria and Burgenland, offering clients psychosocial counselling and support on health matters. In Vienna, they also run a women’s counseling centre, as well as a specialized contact point for young people and a housing counselling centre.
Website
Address: Taubstummengasse 7-9, Erdgeschoss, 1040 Wien, Austria
Tel: +43 1 310 88 8010
Email: info@helpinghands.at
Helping Hands is an NGO focused on legal aid and support for all aspects of asylum legislation, as well as all forms of racism and discrimination. The Helping Hands team consists of a high-trained team of professional solicitors and aims to find concrete and individual solutions to cases. Helping Hands will also represent people who face deportation from Austria, as well as those who have been deported in their legal proceedings to return to Austria.
Organisations providing other support to refugees
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Address: Burggasse 81/7 A-1070 Vienna
Tel: +4315321291
Email: asylkoordination@asyl.at
Asylkoordination is a research, public education, and advocacy organisation that works to improve, on a broader scale, the legal and social situation of refugees in Austria. Their website provides information on relevant authorities in Austrian asylum, as well as existing counseling centers for support in law and social counseling.
Website
Facebook
Address: Verein “Projekt Integrationshaus”, Engerthstraße 163, 1020 Wien, Austria
Tel: +43 1 212 35 20
Email: info@integrationshaus.at
Ingrationshaus Wien (Vienna) is a centre which offers a range of psychosocial support services and care. The centre offers services such as counselling, psychosocial care, education, social pedagogy, and youth-coaching projects. Ingrationshaus has a particular focus on the needs of people requiring special care, including those who have undergone trauma, single parents, and minors.
Website
Email: contact@w2eu.info or w2eu_info@yahoo.com
W2eu.info is a website that provides additional, independent sources of information for refugees and asylum seekers coming to Europe. W2eu.info possesses additional information on international and national legal protections, as well as contacts for legal representation and counseling.
Austria LGBTQI+ Resources
Find organisations working for refugee LGBTQI+ rights in Austria.
Austria COI
Find Austria Country of Origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents.
We are always looking to expand the resources on our platform. If you know about relevant resources, or you are aware of organisations and/or individuals to include in our directories, please get in touch.
Last updated May 2023