Citizens from EEA countries (EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) do not need a special employment permit to work in Austria. Since Austria's signing of the EEA treaty, those citizens have been recognised on an equal basis with Austrian citizens.
Concerning the new Member States which joined the European Union (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania) a so-called transition period for a maximum of seven years was agreed upon. A 3 phase model was developed: 2+3+2. During the first two years national and bilateral acts concerning the access to national labour markets, which were agreed before the new Member States joined the EU, persist. This will be followed by a three years phase in which the original Member States must inform the EU Commission whether they still want to use the transitional provisions. The provisional arrangements may be maintained for additional two years if discontinuation would constitute a "serious threat" to the respective national labour markets.
After a three days stay in Austria, all residents must register with the responsible authority. In order to do this EU citizens need to have a valid passport or a personal identity card [Personalausweis].