The Anmeldebescheinigung is a registration certificate for citizens of the European Economic Area, or EEA, and Swiss nationals who stay in Austria for more than three months.
It's not the same as the Meldezettel, the residence registration form everyone must file when moving into a home in Austria, or a residence permit meanth for third country nationals. Instead, it's a separate confirmation that an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen has a right of residence under EU law.
But as part of a wider digitalisation and bureaucracy-cutting package, the government has suggested that this particular administrative step could disappear.
According to ORF, NEOS State Secretary Josef Schellhorn, who is responsible for cutting bureaucracy, named the Anmeldebescheinigung for EEA citizens as an example of an official procedure that brings “neither a benefit for authorities nor for those affected”.
Abolishing it would remove around 70,000 administrative procedures per year, according to the government.
READ ALSO: Anmeldebescheinigung: How to get Austria's crucial residence document
What is the Anmeldebescheinigung now?
Under the current rules, EEA citizens and Swiss nationals who want to stay in Austria for more than three months need a registration certificate.
The EEA includes all EU countries, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Switzerland is covered separately. In Vienna, the immigration authority MA 35 is responsible. Applicants must apply within four months of arrival, and the certificate currently costs €44. It's valid indefinitely.
If someone stays in Austria for less than three months, they only need a valid passport or identity card, not an Anmeldebescheinigung. But having the document or not having it doesn't affect a right of residency per EU law, and anyone who doesn't have the document would only face a fine.
Is Austria definitely scrapping it?
Not yet.
The government has named the Anmeldebescheinigung as a possible example of a procedure that could be abolished, but there's still no finished law or a fixed abolition date.
For now, EU/EEA and Swiss citizens should assume the existing rules still apply unless the law is formally changed.
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Why is the government looking at this now?
The possible abolition comes as part of a broader push to make Austrian administration more digital and less repetitive.
The government says it wants to move away from people carrying folders full of certificates, forms and documents to appointments. Digitalisation State Secretary Alexander Pröll of the ÖVP summed up the idea by saying that “the data must run, not citizens”.
A key part of the plan is expanding the Digital Austrian Data Exchange, known as dadeX, into a central data infrastructure for the Austrian state. ORF reported that €15 million is budgeted for this in 2027 and 2028.
The aim is that authorities at federal, provincial and municipal level will be able to retrieve data directly, rather than asking citizens and companies to submit the same documents again and again.
By the end of 2029, the legal framework should allow relevant registers, from the residence register to the criminal record register and the transparency database, to be connected.
READ ALSO: Five essential documents you need when moving to Austria
What should EU citizens do now?
For now, nothing has changed.
If you are an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen and have recently moved to Austria, you need an Anmeldebescheinigung under the current rules. If you live in Vienna, MA 35 remains the relevant authority. In other provinces, the responsible authority may differ.
If the government follows through and abolishes the requirement, it could simplify life for future arrivals. But until then, the Anmeldebescheinigung is still one of those Austrian documents that many EU citizens only hear about after they move.
Key vocabulary
die Anmeldebescheinigung – registration certificate for EU/EEA and Swiss citizens staying longer than three months
der Meldezettel – residence registration form for your address
der EWR – European Economic Area
die Behörde – authority or public office
die Entbürokratisierung – reduction of bureaucracy
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