Your rights and duties during reception in Austria
After you apply for asylum, you will receive support and services while you wait for a decision on your asylum case. This is called reception.
During this time, you have certain rights and duties. You will receive support such as accommodation, food and basic services. At the same time, you must follow certain rules.
On this page, you can learn what reception means, what support you can receive and where you may stay.
At the end of the page, you can find more information about your rights, duties and possible consequences.
What is reception?
Reception is the support you receive as an applicant while you wait for the authorities to conclude the examination of your application for international protection. It includes the reception rights and obligations that are explained in this section.
In Austria, the BBU is responsible for providing material reception conditions on federal level. On provincial level, the nine different provinces are responsible.
During your stay, the staff of the BBU will inform you about the reception services and support available to you depending on your situation.
You can also ask other organisations for information and help free of charge.
An interpreter will help you communicate with the staff in a language you understand, where necessary. The interpreter will not share anything you say with anyone else.
What will you receive?
While the authorities examine your application for international protection, and depending on your personal and financial situation, you will receive:
accommodation
food
daily expenses allowance
opportunity to engage in remunerated work
personal hygiene products
clothing
The authorities will ask you questions to better understand your personal and financial situation.
Language courses and vocational training
Depending on your situation, the authorities might ask you to attend:
- courses about the society where you live (laws, rules and culture)
- mandatory return counselling and return workshops.
You can attend:
- language courses,
- courses and workshops to learn new skills (vocational training).
The staff will inform you about these courses and when you can start them.
Where will you stay?
The authorities will tell you where you will stay and explain the conditions.
The place where you will stay while your application for international protection is being examined depends on many factors.
You will be accommodated in federal reception facilities by the BBU or in provincial reception facilities by one of the nine provinces in Austria. The authorities will assign an accommodation to you, therefore you cannot choose your place of residence.
No matter where you are staying, you have the right to:
- be safe: nobody, including the staff, is allowed to threaten, insult or harm you
- stay with your husband, wife, children and siblings under 18 or with an adult relative who needs daily care
- stay with your relatives, if you are an adult in need of daily care
- get help to communicate with your family and to try and find them, if you do not know where they are.
You can make a formal complaint if you believe that:
- any of the staff threatened, insulted or harmed you.
- you are unsatisfied with the reception conditions.
The authorities will inform you how to make a formal complaint.
You can always ask the authorities, non-governmental organisations or the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for more information.
The following sections provide more information about the different types of accommodation in Austria:
The authorities decide in which facility you will stay. Depending on your situation, you may be able to move freely in Austria.
The place where you will stay depends on aspects such as available places, your situation and your needs (for example, the composition of your family, your health).
You will receive support and services only as long as you are staying in the accommodation assigned to you. The authorities will check that you are staying in this accommodation.
You can choose to stay in private accommodation if you have sufficient financial resources and if the BFA does not decide that you have to stay in specific accommodation. In this case, you may also be allowed to stay with your family or friends.
The rights and obligations you have if you stay in private accommodation will be explained to you by the responsible federal state government.
The BFA will decide that you have to stay in a specific geographical area. In this case, they will communicate it to you in writing in a language you understand.
The authorities may decide that you have to stay in this area so that your application for international protection can be examined faster, or because of available places in reception centres.
You will be able to move freely within this area.
If you need to leave the area for a short period, you need to ask the authorities for permission at least 72 hours in advance or or as soon as you know the reason. You can only ask to leave in the following situations:
- to fulfil a legal obligation
- to attend an appointment with a court, public prosecutor or authority
- for justified, urgent and serious family reasons
- for necessary medical treatment that is not available within the geographical area you are staying
- to receive legal advice or support from recognised human rights or victim support organisations.
The authorities may approve your request or not.
If your request is rejected, you can appeal this decision. However, you must still not leave the area until a new decision is made.
Depending on your situation, the authorities may decide that you have to stay in a specific place (for example in a specific reception centre).
You will be allowed to go out of that specific place with certain restrictions. Your presence in that specific place will be checked regularly.
The authorities might decide this for several reasons. For example:
- there is a risk you might run away
- another country may be responsible for examining your asylum application and the authorities think that you might run away
- you left this country without permission, you were returned and there is a risk you might run away again or
- for reasons of public order.
The authorities will communicate this decision to you in writing in a language you understand. They will inform you about your rights, obligations and the negative consequences if you do not respect the decision.
You can appeal this decision. However, you can only do so at the end of the procedure together with the final decision in your case.
You can ask the authorities if you can stay somewhere else for a limited period. You can only ask to leave for justified, urgent and serious family reasons, or for necessary medical treatment.
The authorities may approve your request or not.
If your request is rejected, you can appeal this decision. However, you must still not leave the area until a new decision is made.
Attention!
If you don’t respect the decision to stay in this specific place and the restrictions imposed, and there is a risk you might run away again, you may be detained.
Under what conditions can you be detained?
Detention means that you are placed in a specific facility that you cannot leave freely. The authorities must have a valid reason to detain you. They must be sure that no other option is possible in your case. The authorities will consider your personal situation before deciding.
The reasons for detention can be, for example:
- important aspects of your asylum application (for example your identity) cannot be verified without detention
- you did not respect the obligation to stay in a specific place, and there is a risk you run away again and the authorities cannot reach you
- you received a decision to be transferred to the EU+ country responsible for examining your asylum application and there is a risk you run away before the transfer
- you pose a security risk.
If you are detained, you can appeal the decision. You can request free legal assistance and representation.
Your rights, duties and possible consequences
While you are in reception, you have important rights, but also duties you must follow. If you do not follow these duties, this may have consequences. Click on a topic below to learn more.
