Organisations helping foreigners in Austria: Diakonie, Caritas, Volkshilfe, Red Cross, BBU, ÖIF

Information checked on 2 November 2026.

You are a foreigner in Austria and need free help: an asylum application, an appeal, housing, healthcare without insurance, German courses. The leading organisations helping foreigners in Austria are the Diakonie (with its Flüchtlingsdienst, refugee service), Caritas, Volkshilfe, the Austrian Red Cross and, in Vienna, Integrationshaus. Two public bodies complete the picture: the BBU, which provides free legal advice and representation in the asylum procedure, and the ÖIF, which runs integration and German courses. This guide tells you who does what, for whom, where, and links to each contact page.

In an emergency: 112 (European emergency number, free), 144 (rescue service), 133 (police), 141 (on-call doctor). To talk to someone in a crisis, the Telefonseelsorge answers on 142. Victims of crime can call 116 006. These numbers are published on the official portal oesterreich.gv.at.

Organisations helping foreigners in Austria: the overview

None of these bodies decides on your right to stay: asylum is decided by the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA), and on appeal by the Federal Administrative Court (BVwG).

Who does what: associations and public bodies

In Austria, part of the help for asylum seekers is public. The BBU (Bundesagentur für Betreuungs- und Unterstützungsleistungen) is a federal agency set up by law. It accommodates people under federal Grundversorgung (basic care) and provides asylum legal advice, return counselling and interpreting. The ÖIF (Österreichischer Integrationsfonds) is, according to the Federal Chancellery, a fund of the Republic of Austria: it runs German courses and integration.

Alongside them, associations bring an independent view, long-term social support, healthcare, housing and advice the state does not cover. They are organised by state or diocese: always check that the service exists in your region. The asylkoordination österreich network, which brings together more than 40 organisations, does not give individual advice but publishes a directory of advice centres by state, for Vienna and every other state.

For the settling-in steps after a long-stay visa, our guide to the steps on arrival in Europe, country by country gives the general method.

Asylum application and appeal: legal advice

The BBU (public). According to the BBU, its legal advice and representation are free of charge, given in your native language, with an interpreter if needed. They are for people in the asylum procedure or facing a removal measure: before the BFA, and then for the appeal before the BVwG (drafting the appeal, preparing for and attending the hearing). The BBU describes itself as free from instructions. It has offices in Vienna, Sankt Pölten, Traiskirchen, Linz, Klagenfurt, Graz, Leoben, Eisenstadt, Bergheim (Salzburg), Innsbruck and Feldkirch. It does not answer legal questions by email: you phone an office for an appointment. Since 12 June 2026, asylum applicants with a pending BFA procedure are also entitled to "Rechtsauskunft", general legal information given mostly in group sessions; this is not individual advice.

The associations. If you want a second opinion or longer support:

• Caritas runs legal advice services for refugees in the dioceses of Vienna and Lower Austria East, Sankt Pölten, Styria, Upper Austria and Vorarlberg. For Burgenland, Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol, Caritas itself refers to the asylkoordination directory and to the Diakonie. Caritas also runs a network of asylum lawyers and a project for representation before the BVwG for particularly vulnerable asylum seekers.
• Diakonie Flüchtlingsdienst offers mobile and specialised social advice, as well as legal advice and representation.
• Integrationshaus (Vienna): its free, multilingual advice service is for asylum seekers and refugees in Vienna's Grundversorgung, whether they live at Integrationshaus, elsewhere or privately. Its independent legal advice in asylum and aliens law has existed since 2007 and, in some cases, provides representation.

Basic care, housing, social advice

Asylum seekers fall under Grundversorgung (basic care), first federal (BBU), then shared with the states. Associations play a big part in it.

• Volkshilfe exists in all nine states, each regional organisation with its own services. In Vienna, Volkshilfe Wien runs the free AKOMPANO advice centre, for people over 14 in Vienna's Grundversorgung: paperwork, housing, social benefits, basics of residence law, health, violence. It also runs accommodation and a day centre with a night shelter for homeless people.
• Caritas offers social counselling in its nine dioceses, and a "Caritas Wegweiser" to find the right help near you.
• Diakonie Flüchtlingsdienst offers suitable housing, including supported housing in scattered flats.

Healthcare without insurance: AmberMed in Vienna

If you have no health insurance, AmberMed in Vienna provides free, unbureaucratic medical care. It is a service of the Diakonie Flüchtlingsdienst, in cooperation with the Austrian Red Cross. It offers consultations, specialist examinations, pregnancy check-ups, diabetes and blood pressure care, help with medication and social advice that also helps people get insured again. The Diakonie Flüchtlingsdienst also offers psychotherapy and psychosocial support to refugees.

A separated family: the Austrian Red Cross

The Austrian Red Cross Suchdienst (tracing service) searches for relatives lost through war, disaster, flight or migration, delivers Red Cross messages and publishes the Trace the Face photo gallery. For people granted asylum or subsidiary protection in Austria who want to bring their family over, the Red Cross gathers information on family reunification and supports reunited families with volunteers.

Integration and German courses: the ÖIF

The ÖIF runs an integration centre in every state capital. It presents them as the contact point for refugees and displaced people: advice on integration and learning German, and registration for integration measures. The ÖIF organises German courses in about 250 locations, online courses, the German and integration exams, and the values and orientation courses. Each state has its contact page on the ÖIF website.

Beware of paid intermediaries

Watch out for scams. A serious organisation never promises you asylum or a residence permit: the decision belongs to the BFA and, on appeal, the BVwG. Be wary of anyone who asks for money to "speed up" a file, guarantees a result or calls themselves a lawyer without being registered with a bar (Rechtsanwaltskammer). BBU legal advice is free, as is that of the associations mentioned here. If in doubt, check the asylkoordination directory or a Caritas or Diakonie office.

Finding your compatriots in Austria

An organisation solves a problem. Your compatriots help you with daily life: which office, which part of Vienna, which doctor speaks your language. On Compatri, find your country's community in Vienna or on the Austria page, and browse the communities. The associations directory lists diaspora associations. Our article on mutual help between compatriots explains how to ask for and offer a hand.

Compatri is not linked to any of the organisations mentioned and does not carry out any procedure for you. To compare, read our guides to organisations helping foreigners in Germany, in Switzerland, and our overview for Europe and the Americas.

Sources

• BBU: what we do
• BBU: legal advice, locations
• Federal Chancellery: Österreichischer Integrationsfonds
• ÖIF: Austrian Integration Fund
• Diakonie Flüchtlingsdienst
• Diakonie: AmberMed
• Caritas Austria
• Caritas: help for refugees and migrants
• Volkshilfe: asylum and integration
• Volkshilfe Wien
• Volkshilfe Wien: AKOMPANO advice centre
• Austrian Red Cross: Restoring Family Links
• Integrationshaus
• Integrationshaus: advice service
• asylkoordination österreich
• asylkoordination: advice centres by state
• oesterreich.gv.at: emergency numbers