|Published on: 11th June 2026|Categories: News|
The updated AIDA Country Report on Austria provides a detailed overview of legislative and practice-related developments in asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum applicants and content of international protection in 2025. It is accompanied by an annex providing an overview of temporary protection.
A number of key developments drawn from the overview of the main changes that have taken place since the publication of the update on 2024 are set out below.
(A) International protection
Asylum procedure
- Statistics: 16,668 asylum applications were lodged in Austria in 2025. This represented a 33% decrease from the previous year (25,000). The main countries of origin of applicants were Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia. 13,171 international and humanitarian status protections were granted (65% in-merit protection rate).
- Access to the territory: Austria and Hungary’s border co-operation in the framework of ‘Operation Fox was extended until the end of 2025. In February 2025, an internal Ministry of the Interior protocol noted possible unlawful rejections by the German police at the Germany-Austria border.
- Legal assistance: The 2025 report by the Federal Agency for Care and Support Services’ Quality Advisory Board raised concerns about the impacts of the reforms to the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) on access to independent, high-quality legal assistance. It also highlighted persistent gaps in guardianship for unaccompanied children and warned that potential status revocations, particularly for Syrians, could create legal uncertainty and place additional strain the asylum system.
- Transfers to Greece: In 2025, Austrian courts increasingly upheld transfers to Greece both under the Dublin system and for beneficiaries of international protection (BIPs). They found that conditions had improved albeit without providing clear evidence and despite earlier case law identifying risks of violations of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). This approach was reaffirmed in 2026. NGOs and legal aid providers have criticised these decisions due to evidence of risks of severe deprivation for returnees.
- Resumption of deportations to Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia: In 2025, Austria resumed deportations to Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia. By the end of 2025, three people had been deported to Afghanistan and three others to Syria. The first person who was deported to Syria was later reported missing and a complaint was submitted to the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
Reception conditions
- Reception facilities: In 2025, the speed with which asylum applicants were transferred to provincial reception facilities increased due to the overall decrease in their numbers. However, the closure of several provincial facilities continued to limit reception capacity and complicate accommodation arrangements.
- Benefits-in-kind card: The ‘Benefits-in-kind’ card, which had been introduced in 2024, was expanded in 2025, notably to all beneficiaries of basic care in Upper Austria. Plans for similar schemes were also announced in Salzburg and Styria. Although some technical issues were resolved, the system continued to create difficulties for people with limited digital access as key payments (e.g. rent, electricity, etc) require online processing. In Lower Austria, displaced Ukrainians and people in private housing were not included in the card system.
- Reception of unaccompanied children: A 2025 report by the NGO Asylkoordination Österreich highlighted concerns about the situation of both unaccompanied and accompanied refugee children in Austria. It noted inadequate living and hygiene conditions in private accommodation and the negative impacts on children of unmet needs and the psychological stress experienced by asylum-seeking parents.
Detention of asylum applicants
- Detention in view of Dublin transfers to Italy: No Dublin transfers from Austria to Italy took place between late 2022 and 2025. In April 2026, authorities reportedly began detaining potential returnees in response to indications that Italy might resume transfers following the reform of the CEAS.
Content of international protection
- Change in situation in Syria: Following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, there was a significant increase in both long-term residence applications by BIPs and protection status reviews by authorities. In 2025, almost 6,000 BIPs obtained long-term resident status, while the authorities initiated over 12,000 cessation and withdrawal procedures, more than 8,200 of which concerned Syrians. Although almost 2,000 asylum statuses were withdrawn or ceased, some people were subsequently granted subsidiary protection or humanitarian status.
- Family reunification: In 2025, Austria significantly restricted family reunification by formally suspending most procedures (except when impossible under Article 8 ECHR) based on public security grounds. The government defended the decision by invoking overburdened schools. The measure was widely criticised by NGOs who challenged its compatibility with EU law. In parallel, the authorities initiated numerous protection status review proceedings against sponsors. Constitutional Court rulings in late 2025 and early 2026 reaffirmed that family reunification decisions had to be assessed on an individual basis in light of Article 8 ECHR and could not be automatically denied on the grounds of pending revocation proceedings against sponsors or statutory waiting periods for subsidiary protection beneficiaries.
- Mandatory integration programme: In 2025, Austria announced a mandatory integration programme for displaced people, BIPs and asylum applicants with a high likelihood of recognition. The programme combined language, employment and civic orientation measures with possible sanctions for non-participation (i.e. reductions in benefits and administrative penalties).
(B) Temporary protection
- Key statistics: 141,007 people were registered as displaced people from Ukraine between March 2022 and 31 December 2025. As of 31 December 2025, 92,453 people had a valid displaced person status.
- Limitation of rights to basic care: In 2025, access to basic care for displaced people from Ukraine was further restricted, notably through the inclusion of cars in means-testing. As a result, it became generally impossible to receive basic care while owning a car. In Vienna, the value of Ukrainian pension payments was also deducted from benefits.
- Limitation of rights to family allowance: Since November 2025, displaced people from Ukraine have had to prove employment or registration with the Public Employment Service in order to access family and childcare allowances. This has resulted in significant administrative burdens and delays in payments.
- Right to health care: In May 2025, automatic health insurance coverage for displaced people from Ukraine who were not receiving basic care was stopped. Since then, access to healthcare has been dependent on self-insurance, family co-insurance or eligibility for basic care (which includes health insurance). Displaced people from Ukraine remain exempt from prescription fees for medication and co-payments for medical aids or hospitalisation.
The full report is available here and the annex on temporary protection is available here.
For more information about the AIDA database or to read other AIDA reports, please visit the AIDA website.
