No Investor Permit and No Threshold. The Nearest Thing Is a Start-up Founder Scored on Points
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Saint Kitts and Nevis on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
127 exceptions recorded across 48 countries · none match Saint Kitts and Nevis to Austria · Residency through investment
There is no investment-based residence title in Austrian law, and no sum of money that buys one. The closed list of titles in § 8(1) of the Niederlassungs- und Aufenthaltsgesetz contains nothing of the kind, and the settlement chapter states no investment figure anywhere. Two routes touch the territory without being investor routes. A "Niederlassungsbewilligung" under § 43(2) is open to a third-country national who has freedom of establishment under an act of the European Union and wants to work for themselves, and it asks only for the Part 1 conditions. And the Ausländerbeschäftigungsgesetz admits start-up founders under § 24(2) on a points table of its own, Annex D, which needs 50 points of a possible 85 - a table where capital of at least 50 000 euro is worth ten points and is not, by itself, enough to pass.
At a glance
- An investor title
- No such title in the list in NAG § 8 Abs. 1
The list of residence titles in § 8 Abs. 1 of the Act is closed and names none; the settlement chapter of the Act states no investment sum.
- Minimum investment stated anywhere in the NAG
- No figure in the settlement chapter of the Act
Sections 41 to 50a were read; the only money test in them is the income multiple in § 44 Abs. 1 Z 3.
- The nearest permit for self-employment
- Niederlassungsbewilligung under NAG § 43 Abs. 2
It is open to a third-country national who has freedom of establishment under an act of the European Union, which is a narrower gate than it sounds.
- Start-up founder: pass mark
- 50 points out of 85
Annex D to the AuslBG, read with § 24 Abs. 2.
- What capital is worth
- 10 points for at least 50 000 EUR of additional proven capital
Annex D to the AuslBG. It is one row of five in the table, and on its own it does not reach the pass mark.
Requirements
- For the self-employment permit: freedom of establishment under a Union act, plus the Part 1 conditions of the NAG
- For a start-up founder: 50 points on Annex D to the AuslBG, an innovative product or service, and a coherent business plan
- In either case the general conditions: accommodation, comprehensive insurance, means, no public-interest objection
Country-level policy
Austria rations settlement by number. Section 13 of the Niederlassungs- und Aufenthaltsgesetz obliges the federal government to make an ordinance for each calendar year setting how many of five kinds of residence title may be granted, broken down by Land and by category; section 12 then forbids granting one of those titles unless a place assigned from the year's register is free, and requires an application made once the places are gone to be rejected without further procedure. The five categories are family reunification with a third-country national, family of people under section 46a, change of purpose from a dependant's permit to a Rot-Weiss-Rot Karte plus, settlement without gainful activity, and holders of another Member State's long-term residence permit. The most recent such ordinance in the authentic Bundesgesetzblatt is the Niederlassungsverordnung 2025, promulgated on 18 December 2025, which sets the quota for the year 2025 and took effect at the end of the day it was published.
Section 21(1) of the Niederlassungs- und Aufenthaltsgesetz sets the default for every residence title in the Act: a first application is lodged at the Austrian representation with territorial competence, and the decision is awaited outside Austria. Section 21(2) then lists who may apply from inside instead. The list includes family members of Austrians, EEA nationals and Swiss nationals who live permanently in Austria; people within six months of losing Austrian, Swiss or EEA nationality; children within six months of birth; applicants for a researcher permit, a Blaue Karte EU or a student permit; and - the entry that touches most people in this corpus - anyone entitled to enter without a visa, who may apply during a lawful stay.
Part 1 of the Niederlassungs- und Aufenthaltsgesetz carries a set of conditions that nearly every title in the Act imports by reference. Section 11(2) requires that the stay does not conflict with the public interest, that the applicant has a legal claim to accommodation regarded as usual for a comparable family, that they hold health insurance covering all risks under a policy liable to pay in Austria, and that the stay could not lead to a financial burden on a public body. Section 11(5) then defines that last condition in money: fixed and regular income of one's own, enough to live without social assistance and at the level of the reference rates in section 293 of the ASVG - reduced by rent, loan repayments, attachments and maintenance paid to people outside the household. Some titles disapply parts of this. The Rot-Weiss-Rot Karte drops the accommodation and public-funds conditions; the student permit drops accommodation.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«„Niederlassungsbewilligung“, die zur befristeten Niederlassung und zur Ausübung einer selbständigen Erwerbstätigkeit berechtigt; - 5. Ziffer 5 „Niederlassungsbewilligung – ausgenommen Erwerbstätigkeit“, die zur befristeten Niederlassung ohne Ausübung einer Erwerbstätigkeit berechtigt;»Two entries from the closed list of titles. The fourth is the permit for self-employment; there is no fifth category for capital, and no entry anywhere on the list turns on an amount invested.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Austria's consolidated federal law, served from ris.bka.gv.at at two stable address forms. A whole law is GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=<n>, and a single provision is NormDokument.wxe with the same Gesetzesnummer plus &Paragraf=<n>. The whole-law page prints its own date on its face as "Fassung vom <dd.mm.yyyy>", generated on request, so the consolidation date is whatever day you read it; the single-provision page says "tagesaktuelle Fassung" instead and adds the list of every earlier version of that provision with the amending BGBl number. Each law's front matter lists every amending act in order. There is a companion OGD search interface at data.bka.gv.at/ris/api/v2.6/Bundesrecht which returns the Gesetzesnummer for a title and is how an instrument is located rather than guessed at.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are unofficial: the authentic text is the one published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, and for that the BgblAuth collection is the source, not this one. Every provision is rendered twice on the same page - once with its abbreviations ("§ 53 Abs. 2 Z 5") and once with them spelled out ("Paragraph 53, Absatz 2, Ziffer 5,") - which is an accessibility rendering and not a drafting feature, so a quotation that spans the join will contain the same sentence twice and a quotation must be taken from one rendering. Numbered list items carry the same doubling ("- 1. Ziffer eins"), so a quotation crossing an item boundary carries that furniture with it. It may not be cited for Land law at all: the nine Laender publish separately, and naturalisation fees and much of what a resident actually meets are Land matters. It carries no case law; that is a different RIS application (Judikatur) not read here. A Verordnung is only here if it is in force today - a Gesetzesnummer whose ordinance has expired answers GeltendeFassung with a 404, which looks exactly like an address that never existed.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Drittstaatsangehörigen, denen auf Grund eines Rechtsaktes der Europäischen Union Niederlassungsfreiheit zukommt, kann für die Ausübung einer selbständigen Erwerbstätigkeit eine „Niederlassungsbewilligung“ erteilt werden, wenn sie die Voraussetzungen des 1. Teiles erfüllen.»The self-employment permit. Its gate is freedom of establishment under a Union act, not a sum of money, and it imports the Part 1 conditions whole.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Austria's consolidated federal law, served from ris.bka.gv.at at two stable address forms. A whole law is GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=<n>, and a single provision is NormDokument.wxe with the same Gesetzesnummer plus &Paragraf=<n>. The whole-law page prints its own date on its face as "Fassung vom <dd.mm.yyyy>", generated on request, so the consolidation date is whatever day you read it; the single-provision page says "tagesaktuelle Fassung" instead and adds the list of every earlier version of that provision with the amending BGBl number. Each law's front matter lists every amending act in order. There is a companion OGD search interface at data.bka.gv.at/ris/api/v2.6/Bundesrecht which returns the Gesetzesnummer for a title and is how an instrument is located rather than guessed at.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are unofficial: the authentic text is the one published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, and for that the BgblAuth collection is the source, not this one. Every provision is rendered twice on the same page - once with its abbreviations ("§ 53 Abs. 2 Z 5") and once with them spelled out ("Paragraph 53, Absatz 2, Ziffer 5,") - which is an accessibility rendering and not a drafting feature, so a quotation that spans the join will contain the same sentence twice and a quotation must be taken from one rendering. Numbered list items carry the same doubling ("- 1. Ziffer eins"), so a quotation crossing an item boundary carries that furniture with it. It may not be cited for Land law at all: the nine Laender publish separately, and naturalisation fees and much of what a resident actually meets are Land matters. It carries no case law; that is a different RIS application (Judikatur) not read here. A Verordnung is only here if it is in force today - a Gesetzesnummer whose ordinance has expired answers GeltendeFassung with a 404, which looks exactly like an address that never existed.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«im Rahmen eines neu zu gründenden Unternehmens innovative Produkte, Dienstleistungen, Verfahren oder Technologien entwickeln und in den Markt einführen,»What a start-up founder has to be doing: developing innovative products, services, processes or technologies and bringing them to market.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Austria's consolidated federal law, served from ris.bka.gv.at at two stable address forms. A whole law is GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=<n>, and a single provision is NormDokument.wxe with the same Gesetzesnummer plus &Paragraf=<n>. The whole-law page prints its own date on its face as "Fassung vom <dd.mm.yyyy>", generated on request, so the consolidation date is whatever day you read it; the single-provision page says "tagesaktuelle Fassung" instead and adds the list of every earlier version of that provision with the amending BGBl number. Each law's front matter lists every amending act in order. There is a companion OGD search interface at data.bka.gv.at/ris/api/v2.6/Bundesrecht which returns the Gesetzesnummer for a title and is how an instrument is located rather than guessed at.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are unofficial: the authentic text is the one published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, and for that the BgblAuth collection is the source, not this one. Every provision is rendered twice on the same page - once with its abbreviations ("§ 53 Abs. 2 Z 5") and once with them spelled out ("Paragraph 53, Absatz 2, Ziffer 5,") - which is an accessibility rendering and not a drafting feature, so a quotation that spans the join will contain the same sentence twice and a quotation must be taken from one rendering. Numbered list items carry the same doubling ("- 1. Ziffer eins"), so a quotation crossing an item boundary carries that furniture with it. It may not be cited for Land law at all: the nine Laender publish separately, and naturalisation fees and much of what a resident actually meets are Land matters. It carries no case law; that is a different RIS application (Judikatur) not read here. A Verordnung is only here if it is in force today - a Gesetzesnummer whose ordinance has expired answers GeltendeFassung with a 404, which looks exactly like an address that never existed.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Zusätzliches nachgewiesenes Kapital in der Höhe von mindestens € 50.000 10»The capital row of the founder table. Fifty thousand euro of additional proven capital scores ten of the fifty points needed.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Austria's consolidated federal law, served from ris.bka.gv.at at two stable address forms. A whole law is GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=<n>, and a single provision is NormDokument.wxe with the same Gesetzesnummer plus &Paragraf=<n>. The whole-law page prints its own date on its face as "Fassung vom <dd.mm.yyyy>", generated on request, so the consolidation date is whatever day you read it; the single-provision page says "tagesaktuelle Fassung" instead and adds the list of every earlier version of that provision with the amending BGBl number. Each law's front matter lists every amending act in order. There is a companion OGD search interface at data.bka.gv.at/ris/api/v2.6/Bundesrecht which returns the Gesetzesnummer for a title and is how an instrument is located rather than guessed at.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are unofficial: the authentic text is the one published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, and for that the BgblAuth collection is the source, not this one. Every provision is rendered twice on the same page - once with its abbreviations ("§ 53 Abs. 2 Z 5") and once with them spelled out ("Paragraph 53, Absatz 2, Ziffer 5,") - which is an accessibility rendering and not a drafting feature, so a quotation that spans the join will contain the same sentence twice and a quotation must be taken from one rendering. Numbered list items carry the same doubling ("- 1. Ziffer eins"), so a quotation crossing an item boundary carries that furniture with it. It may not be cited for Land law at all: the nine Laender publish separately, and naturalisation fees and much of what a resident actually meets are Land matters. It carries no case law; that is a different RIS application (Judikatur) not read here. A Verordnung is only here if it is in force today - a Gesetzesnummer whose ordinance has expired answers GeltendeFassung with a 404, which looks exactly like an address that never existed.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Summe der maximal anrechenbaren Punkte 85 erforderliche Mindestpunkteanzahl 50»The sum and the pass mark for a start-up founder.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Austria's consolidated federal law, served from ris.bka.gv.at at two stable address forms. A whole law is GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=<n>, and a single provision is NormDokument.wxe with the same Gesetzesnummer plus &Paragraf=<n>. The whole-law page prints its own date on its face as "Fassung vom <dd.mm.yyyy>", generated on request, so the consolidation date is whatever day you read it; the single-provision page says "tagesaktuelle Fassung" instead and adds the list of every earlier version of that provision with the amending BGBl number. Each law's front matter lists every amending act in order. There is a companion OGD search interface at data.bka.gv.at/ris/api/v2.6/Bundesrecht which returns the Gesetzesnummer for a title and is how an instrument is located rather than guessed at.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are unofficial: the authentic text is the one published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, and for that the BgblAuth collection is the source, not this one. Every provision is rendered twice on the same page - once with its abbreviations ("§ 53 Abs. 2 Z 5") and once with them spelled out ("Paragraph 53, Absatz 2, Ziffer 5,") - which is an accessibility rendering and not a drafting feature, so a quotation that spans the join will contain the same sentence twice and a quotation must be taken from one rendering. Numbered list items carry the same doubling ("- 1. Ziffer eins"), so a quotation crossing an item boundary carries that furniture with it. It may not be cited for Land law at all: the nine Laender publish separately, and naturalisation fees and much of what a resident actually meets are Land matters. It carries no case law; that is a different RIS application (Judikatur) not read here. A Verordnung is only here if it is in force today - a Gesetzesnummer whose ordinance has expired answers GeltendeFassung with a 404, which looks exactly like an address that never existed.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The absence recorded here is bounded by two readings: the list of residence titles in § 8 Abs. 1 of the Niederlassungs- und Aufenthaltsgesetz and the settlement chapter §§ 41 to 50a, both as consolidated at 10 October 2026. We make no claim about Länder incentives or about company law.
Capital on Annex D is additional capital, proven. The row is one of several marked "Zusatzpunkte" with a shared ceiling of thirty, so money cannot be stacked to make up for a missing qualification.
- consolidatesNiederlassungs- und Aufenthaltsgesetz, consolidated text as at 10 October 2026
Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes, Bundeskanzleramt · consolidated to 2026-10-10
Known to be out of date. A RIS consolidation is not authentic. The authentic text is the one published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, and RIS prints each provision twice on the same page - once with its abbreviations and once with them spelled out - so a quotation is taken from one of the two renderings.
About this source
Austria's consolidated federal law, served from ris.bka.gv.at at two stable address forms. A whole law is GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=<n>, and a single provision is NormDokument.wxe with the same Gesetzesnummer plus &Paragraf=<n>. The whole-law page prints its own date on its face as "Fassung vom <dd.mm.yyyy>", generated on request, so the consolidation date is whatever day you read it; the single-provision page says "tagesaktuelle Fassung" instead and adds the list of every earlier version of that provision with the amending BGBl number. Each law's front matter lists every amending act in order. There is a companion OGD search interface at data.bka.gv.at/ris/api/v2.6/Bundesrecht which returns the Gesetzesnummer for a title and is how an instrument is located rather than guessed at.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are unofficial: the authentic text is the one published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, and for that the BgblAuth collection is the source, not this one. Every provision is rendered twice on the same page - once with its abbreviations ("§ 53 Abs. 2 Z 5") and once with them spelled out ("Paragraph 53, Absatz 2, Ziffer 5,") - which is an accessibility rendering and not a drafting feature, so a quotation that spans the join will contain the same sentence twice and a quotation must be taken from one rendering. Numbered list items carry the same doubling ("- 1. Ziffer eins"), so a quotation crossing an item boundary carries that furniture with it. It may not be cited for Land law at all: the nine Laender publish separately, and naturalisation fees and much of what a resident actually meets are Land matters. It carries no case law; that is a different RIS application (Judikatur) not read here. A Verordnung is only here if it is in force today - a Gesetzesnummer whose ordinance has expired answers GeltendeFassung with a 404, which looks exactly like an address that never existed.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- consolidatesAusländerbeschäftigungsgesetz, consolidated text as at 10 October 2026
Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes, Bundeskanzleramt · consolidated to 2026-10-10
Known to be out of date. A RIS consolidation is not authentic. The authentic text is the one published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, and RIS prints each provision twice on the same page - once with its abbreviations and once with them spelled out - so a quotation is taken from one of the two renderings.
About this source
Austria's consolidated federal law, served from ris.bka.gv.at at two stable address forms. A whole law is GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=<n>, and a single provision is NormDokument.wxe with the same Gesetzesnummer plus &Paragraf=<n>. The whole-law page prints its own date on its face as "Fassung vom <dd.mm.yyyy>", generated on request, so the consolidation date is whatever day you read it; the single-provision page says "tagesaktuelle Fassung" instead and adds the list of every earlier version of that provision with the amending BGBl number. Each law's front matter lists every amending act in order. There is a companion OGD search interface at data.bka.gv.at/ris/api/v2.6/Bundesrecht which returns the Gesetzesnummer for a title and is how an instrument is located rather than guessed at.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are unofficial: the authentic text is the one published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, and for that the BgblAuth collection is the source, not this one. Every provision is rendered twice on the same page - once with its abbreviations ("§ 53 Abs. 2 Z 5") and once with them spelled out ("Paragraph 53, Absatz 2, Ziffer 5,") - which is an accessibility rendering and not a drafting feature, so a quotation that spans the join will contain the same sentence twice and a quotation must be taken from one rendering. Numbered list items carry the same doubling ("- 1. Ziffer eins"), so a quotation crossing an item boundary carries that furniture with it. It may not be cited for Land law at all: the nine Laender publish separately, and naturalisation fees and much of what a resident actually meets are Land matters. It carries no case law; that is a different RIS application (Judikatur) not read here. A Verordnung is only here if it is in force today - a Gesetzesnummer whose ordinance has expired answers GeltendeFassung with a 404, which looks exactly like an address that never existed.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source