Austrian Regulation on Eligible Groups of Persons

Members of the following groups of persons are exempt from paying tuition fee during the minimum study time + two tolerance semesters:

Persons who

had their main place of residence
for five consecutive years
immediately before the first application for admission to studying at a university, a university of applied sciences or a Pädagogische Hochschule (Teacher Training College) in Austria

or have a person, who is legally responsible for them (parent, spouse, registered partner) and for whom all the above listed points apply.

Proof:
Current confirmation of the registration office about the ordinary main residence in Austria during the entire period (excerpt from the population register – the registration form alone is not sufficient).

If you haven’t had your main residence in Austria for five years, the following alternative documents can be used for evidence gaps:

insurance data excerpt of the Austrian Social Insurance to proof gainful employment or the use of social services or
(collective) certificates from an Austrian secondary or post-secondary educational institution

If the requirements are met by a person subject to maintenance, you will need in addition to the above proofs:

marriage or birth certificate (if applicable with certified translation in German or English) or
proof of co-insurance with the person liable for maintenance or
other proof confirming the maintenance obligations for the applicant

If you assert that you belong to the aforementioned group of people in your application for admission to a study programme, you must declare whether you have successfully applied for admission to another Austrian university, university of applied sciences or pedagogical college in the past. If yes, you must upload the admission confirmation of the other university with your online application.

Persons who enjoy privileges and immunities in Austria on the basis of statute or statutory provisions, and persons who are abroad on behalf of the Republic of Austria at the time of obtaining their school-leaving certificate and enjoy privileges and immunities there on the basis of state or statutory provisions, as well as their spouses or registered partners and their children.

Proof:
Diplomat identity card etc. in copy

Accredited foreign journalists working in Austria as well as their spouses or registered partners and their children.

Proof:
Journalist identity card in copy and if applicable marriage certificate, birth certificate, certificate of a registered partnership

Persons who receive a scholarship for the envisaged study, either on the basis of state treaty provisions or in the same amount from the funds of an Austrian territorial authority, which are to be used explicitly for scholarships in accordance with the financial regulations of this territorial authority.

Proof:
Letter confirming the awarding of the scholarship

Holder of school-leaving certificates from Austrian schools abroad: St. Georg’s Austrian High School in Istanbul, Instituto Austriaco Guatemalteco in Guatemala City, Österreichische Schule Budapest, Österreichisches Gymnasium Prag, Obchodná akadémia in Bratislava, Gymnasium Dr. Karla Polsneho in Znojmo, Österreichische Schule “Peter Mahringer” Shkodra/Albania, formatio Bilinguale Privatschule Triesen/Liechtenstein;

Persons, entitled to reside in Austria on the basis of §§ 3, 8, 13 or 75 par. 5 and 6 of the Asylum Act 2005, BGBl. I No. 100/2005, as amended, or according to earlier asylum provisions

Proof:
Asylum card, asylum notice etc.

Holders of a school-leaving certificate of German or Ladin-speaking South Tyrolean secondary schools of the second degree;