Medical doctors – Declaration of temporary services

General information

Before the first provision of temporary medical service in Austria requiring temporary residence in the federal territory, the service provider must submit a written declaration to the Austrian Medical Chamber.

It is hereby expressively stated that regular medical activities in Austria are not classified as temporary provision of services. Medical practice on a regular basis in Austria requires registration with the Austrian Medical Chamber.

General practitioners, licensed physicians and medical specialists whose professional domicile or place of work is abroad may only exercise the medical profession in Austria

• in individual cases for medical consultations or for the treatment of individual cases of illness in connection with such consultations, but only in cooperation with a doctor authorized to practice independently in Austria,
• in accordance with intergovernmental agreements,
• temporarily for the purposes of further training of doctors working in Austria or for medical teaching and research,
• in the context of cross-border medical assignments of organized emergency medical services as well as emergency and on-call services.

Doctors who have the necessary authorization* may practice the medical profession in Austria for a limited period until 31 July 2024 in cooperation with doctors who are authorized to practice independently in Austria.

Requirements

Evidence of medical professional qualification and proof of nationality of an EU or EEA member state or Switzerland.

An additional requirement is proof of language level CEFR-B2 according to the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Competent authority

Austrian Medical Chamber [Österreichische Ärztekammer]
Weihburggasse 10–12
1010 Wien

email: ael-recht@aerztekammer.at

Procedure

Declaration: may be submitted in person, by post or by electronic means

Preliminary proceedings: If required, prior check of the medical qualification; if necessary, aptitude test before the authorization for the temporary provision of services can be granted

Length of proceedings: In the case of automatic recognition, the authorization can be granted directly after the written declaration. If there is a prior check of the qualification needed, the process may take up to two months.

Completion of Procedure: In case of a positive decision, the Austrian Medical Chamber confirms the registration as service provider.

If a substantial difference between the professional qualification of the service provider and the respective Austrian training to the extent that that difference is such as to be harmful to public safety, is detected, the service provider receives a written notification requiring him to undergo an aptitude test. If the service provider fails the aptitude test, the provision of services is prohibited by means of a decision.

Legal remedy: A complaint against a notification may be submitted to the Austrian Medical Chamber in writing within four weeks from the delivery of the notification.

Further information can be found within the Informationsheet: section 37 ÄrzteG, Dienstleistungserbringung (→ ÖÄK)^{German text}

Required documents

• Proof of the nationality of the service provider
• Attestation of the competent authority of the country of origin certifying that the holder is legally established in a Member State for the purpose of pursuing the activities of a general practitioner or a medical specialist and that she/he is not prohibited from practising the medical profession, even temporarily, at the moment of delivering the attestation
• Evidence of medical professional qualifications
• Declaration about the applicant’s knowledge of the German language necessary for practising the profession in Austria
• Evidence of professional indemnity insurance

All documents and certificates (except the proof of the nationality) must be submitted as an original or as a copy authenticated by a court or a notary public. If documents are not written in German or English, they have to be translated by a certified court translator.

Non authenticated copies or untranslated documents are not accepted as evidence. After processing, all original documents will be returned immediately.

Costs and fees

If a prior check of the service provider’s medical qualification is required, administrative fees between 281,82 Euro and 1.830,41 Euro apply (Fees 2024).

Further information

This application is for the profession of:

• General practitioner
• Specialised doctor

Legal bases

• sections 27, 36, 36b, 37 and 52d Ärztegesetz (ÄrzteG)
• Verordnung der Österreichischen Ärztekammer über die Einhebung einer Bearbeitungsgebühr im übertragenen Wirkungsbereich
• Verordnung der Österreichischen Ärztekammer über Organisation und Durchführung der Eignungsprüfung im Rahmen des Verfahrens zur Eintragung in die Ärzteliste gemäß § 27 iVm § 5a Abs 5 und § 37 Abs 11 ÄrzteG
• *according to section 36b Abs. 1 in the version of the Federal Act BGBl. I Nr. 16/2020