Austria · Visa guide
Austria · Visa guideAustria Family & Friends Visit Visa
A short-stay Schengen visa to visit family or friends living in Austria — up to 90 days.
- ProcessingUsually about 15 calendar days once all documents are submitted
- Visa categoryFamily & Friends Visit Visa
- Your guideOne consultant
Reading is not the hard part. Knowing if YOUR bank statements and ties will pass is. Call us and tell us your travel month. We tell you honestly if your Austria file is ready.
Monday–Saturday, 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM IST
Start here
Austria Family & Friends Visit Visa — overview
An Austrian family-and-friends visit visa is a short-stay Schengen visa (Type C): up to 90 days in any 180-day period, staying with someone who lives in Austria. Austria's checklist for sponsored visitors was last updated in March 2026 and asks for the documents in a fixed order.
The document that sets an Austrian family visit apart is the EVE — the Elektronische Verpflichtungserklärung, an electronic letter of guarantee. Your host obtains it from the aliens police authority of their own district in Austria — it is not a letter they can write themselves.
Earliest slot we saw
Checked by hand · 26 September
- Bengaluru
- 1 Oct
- Mumbai
- 5 Oct
- New Delhi
- 5 Oct
- Chandigarh
- 7 Oct
Tourist / short-stay appointments only. A snapshot from the portal on the date above, not a live feed. Slots move hour to hour and we never hold or sell them. All centres & jurisdictions
The EVE: Austria's guarantee is electronic, and only your host can obtain it
Most countries accept a sponsorship letter from the person you are visiting. Austria has a formal instrument for it: the EVE — Elektronische Verpflichtungserklärung, an electronic letter of guarantee.
How it works, as the checklist describes it:
- it is obtained by the sponsor, not by you;
- at the Fremdenpolizeibehörde — the aliens police authority — of the sponsor's own district in Austria;
- and it is electronic — issued through the Austrian authority, not a letter your host writes themselves.
So the first step of an Austrian family visit happens in an office in Vienna, Graz or Linz, not in Punjab. If your host is guaranteeing the trip, ask them to arrange the EVE before you book an appointment, and to tell you when it has been issued.
The checklist marks the EVE "if applicable". It applies when your host is the one standing behind the costs. If you are paying your own way, your own documents do that job — and the invitation and proof of your host's legal residence are still required either way.
What your host sends regardless
- an invitation with their address, contact details and the intended period of stay;
- evidence of their legal residence — passport or national ID card, or their residence permit.
Put the file in Austria's order
The checklist is headed "Documentation (to be arranged in same order)". Form, passport, photograph, permit to return, cover letter, invitation, EVE, travel documents, insurance, occupation. We assemble it that way, tabbed, because a file the officer can tick down without hunting is a file with fewer questions.
A clean data page
Austria adds a passport rule that catches people out: no alteration or handwritten amendment on the data page. If a name or date on yours was ever corrected by hand, renew the passport before applying rather than arguing the point.
Multiple-entry and insurance
For a multiple-entry visa you do not need a year of insurance up front. You show cover for the first intended visit, and sign a statement that you are aware you must be insured for each later stay.
Source: Austrian Embassy, New Delhi — Visa for Visitors (with sponsorship / EVE) checklist, updated March 2026, as issued through VFS Global. Requirements change; confirm against the current checklist before you submit.
12 items
Documents you need
Application form
Fully completed in English or German and signed by the applicant.
Passport
Valid at least three months after your intended departure from the Schengen states, at least two blank pages, issued within the previous 10 years, and with no alteration or handwritten amendment on the data page.
One photograph
Meeting ICAO international standards.
Cover letter
From you: purpose of travel, duration, names of anyone accompanying you, and transport and accommodation details.
Invitation from your host
From the family member or friend, with their address, contact details and the intended period of stay.
Your host's legal residence
A copy of their passport or national ID card, or their residence permit.
EVE — electronic letter of guarantee, if applicable
The Elektronische Verpflichtungserklärung, obtained by the sponsor at the aliens police authority (Fremdenpolizeibehörde) of their district in Austria.
Flight reservation and itinerary
Round-trip airline reservation, and proof of other travel within Austria or the EU if you are travelling onward.
Proof of accommodation
Hotel reservation, a tour organiser's letter, or other documents showing your travel plans within Austria and the EU.
Travel medical insurance
Valid across all Schengen states for the whole stay, minimum EUR 30,000. For a multiple-entry visa, cover for the first visit plus a signed statement that you know you need insurance for later stays.
Proof of occupation
Employed: salary certificates for the last three months of your present job and your employment contract.
Permit to return to India, if applicable
For non-Indian nationals resident in India: a valid Indian residence permit or return visa. Tibetans on an Indian Identity Certificate need a return visa valid at least three months past the intended return, as well as the NORI stamp.
5 steps
How the process works
Typical processing: Usually about 15 calendar days once all documents are submitted — may extend up to 45 calendar days.
Step 1
Free eligibility review
We confirm the visit-visa route and build a checklist for you and your host in Austria.
Step 2
Coordinate the host documents
We guide your host through the invitation, residence proof and optional EVE letter of guarantee.
Step 3
Build and verify the file
Your finances, bookings and the cover letter are prepared and cross-checked.
Step 4
Submit at VFS & give biometrics
You attend the VFS centre to submit the file and provide biometrics.
Step 5
Decision & passport return
The Austrian mission decides the application and your passport is returned through VFS.
Transparent
Costs & fees
Item
Amount
Schengen visa fee
Payable in INR.
EUR 90
VFS Global service fee
Plus optional add-ons.
INR 2,479
Government and third-party fees change often — we confirm the exact current amounts for your case before you pay anything.
5 answers
Frequently asked questions
The Elektronische Verpflichtungserklärung — an electronic letter of guarantee. Your sponsor obtains it at the aliens police authority (Fremdenpolizeibehörde) of their own district in Austria. It is the formal way a host in Austria guarantees a visitor's costs.
Austria's checklist lists it as 'if applicable' — it is what your host provides when they are guaranteeing your stay. Where you are funding the trip yourself, your own financial documents carry that part of the file.
Austria's checklist asks for the documentation to be arranged in the same order as the list. It is a small thing, but a file assembled in the embassy's order is quicker to check and less likely to be queried.
No. The checklist states there must be no alteration or handwritten amendment concerning the data page, in addition to the usual rules on validity, blank pages and issue date.
You show valid travel medical insurance for your first intended visit, and sign a statement declaring that you know you must hold insurance for the later stays as well.
Why it matters
Going it alone vs filing with us
On your own
- Guessing the document list — one missing or wrongly formatted paper triggers a refusal.
- Generic cover letters copied from the internet that officers recognise and flag.
- No read on peak rejection windows or what this visa post is strict about.
- Government and VFS fees are non-refundable — money lost if you are refused.
- A refusal stamp follows you and weakens every future visa application.
With Lifeset Overseas
- An honest case assessment before you spend a rupee on government fees.
- A file built to the embassy's exact checklist and in the exact order.
- Weak finances, ties or purpose identified and fixed before submission.
- Previously refused? We can rescue and rebuild the file.
- Every case handled by one consultant, end to end.
Refused before?
A refusal isn't the end
A refusal is not a permanent bar — but it only improves if the actual reason is found and answered, and nobody can tell you a second application will succeed. If a Austria visa has been refused, we:
- Read the actual refusal letter and pinpoint the real gaps.
- Advise whether to pull the officer's notes (CAIPS / GCMS) for the true reason.
- Identify which part was weak — funds, employment, purpose or ties.
- Tell you honestly whether to reapply now or strengthen the file first.
- Refused? Your fee back, or a rebuilt application free — your choice.
Other Austria visas
Austria Tourist Visa
A short-stay Schengen visa for tourism and holidays in Austria — up to 90 days in any 180-day period.
Austria Business Visa
A short-stay Schengen visa for business meetings and establishing contacts in Austria.
Austria Student, Research & Internship Visa
A visa for studies, research or an internship in Austria — short stays up to 90 days; longer study needs a residence permit.
Austria Cultural, Sports & Religious Visa
A short-stay Schengen visa for cultural, sporting and religious events and activities in Austria.
Start here · One message away
Austria visitor visa: get a straight answer before you pay the fee.
- Honest assessment
- Fixed all-in fees
- No handovers between staff
- Licensed in Patiala
Let’s discuss your case
Message us your travel month and who is paying. A consultant from our Punjab-licensed consultancy checks your ties and funds and tells you what to fix.