Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna
Part of UK in Austria
14th January 2020 Vienna, Austria
New video: an update for UK nationals in Austria
Video Script:
Where are we with Brexit? The Withdrawal Agreement Bill is working its way through Parliament in London. Once confirmed in the UK, it has to be agreed by the European Parliament. The UK will then leave the European Union, with a deal, on 31st January at 11pm UK time.
At this point, we will enter a “transition period” or “implementation period” until 31st December 2020, during which the UK and EU will negotiate our future relationship. You may still hear talk about a possible “no deal” during this time, but this refers mainly to our future relationship in areas such as trade, and not your right to live in Austria.
So, what does this mean for UK nationals living in Austria now, and what action do you have to take?
The Withdrawal Agreement provides certainty to UK nationals resident in the EU that you will be able to continue to live your lives broadly as you have done so far after the end of the Implementation Period – whether you are studying here, working, or retired. During the Implementation Period, you will also be free to move to live in another EU country, should you wish. But you will, after 31st January, need to do some form of registration with the Austrian authorities to exercise your right to continue to live in Austria.
We are waiting for confirmation from the Austrian authorities on the exact registration process you will need to follow, but the Withdrawal Agreement states that they will be “transparent, smooth and streamlined”. In the meantime, do ensure that you are correctly registered in Austria. Like before, this will usually mean having your Meldezettel and Anmeldebescheinigung in order.
So, to be clear, you do not need to do anything before the 31st of January, other than ensure you are correctly registered according to the current rules.
We are in regular contact with the Austrian authorities and will keep you up to date, so do follow the embassy on social media, and sign up for email updates on our living in Austria guide, which is at gov.uk/livinginaustria.
If you haven’t checked out the Living in Austria pages at that website, do have a look.
Thanks very much.
