Austria
Borders, customs and immigration in Austria
Austria has no border body either: its Border Control Act makes border control a task of the Land police directorates and the officers of the public-security service, including surveillance between crossing points. Customs belong to the Customs Office Austria under the finance ministry; residence titles to the Landeshauptmann; asylum and return to a federal office.
Facts verified:
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Austria answers the border question with its police. The Border Control Act names the authority — "Behörde im Sinne dieses Bundesgesetzes ist, sofern nicht anderes bestimmt ist, die Landespolizeidirektion": unless otherwise provided, the Land police directorate — and reserves border control, where it requires direct coercive power, to "Organen des öffentlichen Sicherheitsdienstes und der Landespolizeidirektion (§ 12b)", the officers of the public-security service. The Federal Minister of the Interior may additionally supervise compliance with one part of the Act. No separate border agency appears in any text read.
The same Act covers the ground between crossings in so many words: "Die Grenzkontrolle umfasst auch die Überwachung der Grenzen zwischen den Grenzübergangsstellen" — border control also includes surveillance of the border between crossing points. Its definition of a crossing point covers an internal border in the case of a "Wiedereinführung von Grenzkontrollen" — a reintroduction of border controls — under the Schengen Borders Code.
And controls are reintroduced now. The Interior Ministry’s page states that "Österreich führt derzeit bis einschließlich 15. März 2027 Kontrollen an den Landgrenzen zu Tschechien, Ungarn und Slowenien sowie an den Land- und Flussgrenzen zur Slowakei durch" — Austria is currently carrying out checks until 15 March 2027 at its land borders with Czechia, Hungary and Slovenia and at its land and river borders with Slovakia.
Goods belong to a finance authority. The Federal Fiscal Code makes the Customs Office Austria competent for enforcing customs law across the whole federal territory, in place of the customs offices that existed until the end of 2020; the Finance Ministry’s own page describes it as a nationwide tax and fiscal-penalty authority. The two administrations meet at the border by statute: under the Customs Law Implementation Act, officers of the public-security service guarding a border that is also a customs border may take general customs-supervision measures, and "sie gelten dabei als Organe des Zollamtes Österreich" — in doing so they count as organs of the Customs Office.
Who may stay is divided three ways. The Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum exists "als eine dem Bundesminister für Inneres unmittelbar nachgeordnete Behörde mit bundesweiter Zuständigkeit" — directly subordinate to the Interior Minister, with nationwide competence — and enforces the Asylum Act 2005 and three chapters of the Aliens Police Act, including the chapter on removal. Its own page says that border control and the removal process itself are not its responsibility. Settlement and residence titles are decided by "der örtlich zuständige Landeshauptmann", with some titles decided by the federal office instead.
The police keep the border end of it. The Aliens Police Act gives the Land police directorates "die Besorgung der Fremdenpolizei", empowers the officers of the public-security service to prevent people attempting to enter unlawfully, and has those officers carry out a removal "im Auftrag des Bundesamtes zur Ausreise zu verhalten (Abschiebung)" — on the federal office’s instruction.
Animal and plant health at the border sit with federal offices. The Veterinary Import Ordinance 2022 makes the Federal Office for Consumer Health responsible for veterinary border control through the border veterinarians it appoints, and has it run Austria’s border control posts; the Plant Protection Act 2018 makes the Federal Forest Office and the Federal Office for Food Safety responsible for the provisions on imports from outside the Union.
Austria has no sea border, and nothing here supplies one. The borders the Interior Ministry names are land borders and, with Slovakia, river borders; no text read treats a river crossing differently from a land one.
Sources
Sources
Grenzkontrollgesetz (GrekoG) — consolidated text (Border Control Act)
Republik Österreich — Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS) · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: which authority carries out border control and what border control includes — nothing about how any check is carried out against a person. The consolidated federal text on RIS, read in the current version (RIS displays the date of reading, 10 October 2026, not the date of the last amendment). Supports s 8(1), "Behörde im Sinne dieses Bundesgesetzes ist, sofern nicht anderes bestimmt ist, die Landespolizeidirektion", with "Der Bundesminister für Inneres ist ermächtigt, die Einhaltung der Bestimmungen des 4. Abschnittes zusätzlich zu überwachen"; s 12(1), that border control is reserved, where it requires direct coercive power, to "Organen des öffentlichen Sicherheitsdienstes und der Landespolizeidirektion (§ 12b)"; s 1(2), "Die Grenzkontrolle umfasst auch die Überwachung der Grenzen zwischen den Grenzübergangsstellen"; and s 1(3), whose definition of a crossing point ("Grenzübergangsstelle ist eine an der Außengrenze oder an der Binnengrenze") covers an internal border in the case of a "Wiedereinführung von Grenzkontrollen" under the Schengen Borders Code ("(Schengener Grenzkodex)").
Fremdenpolizei und Grenzkontrollwesen — Bundesministerium für Inneres
Bundesministerium für Inneres (Federal Ministry of the Interior, Austria) · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: the Interior Ministry’s statement of the internal-border checks currently in force. Supports "Österreich führt derzeit bis einschließlich 15. März 2027 Kontrollen an den Landgrenzen zu Tschechien, Ungarn und Slowenien sowie an den Land- und Flussgrenzen zur Slowakei durch", and that persons may be checked "bei vorübergehend wiedereingeführten Grenzkontrollen auch an einer Schengen-Binnengrenze". A dated statement of that kind changes when the period ends or is extended.
Bundesabgabenordnung (BAO), §§ 62, 63 and 323b — the Customs Office Austria
Republik Österreich — Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS) · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: what the Customs Office Austria is competent for and where — nothing about any customs procedure. The consolidated Federal Fiscal Code on RIS, in its current version. Supports s 62(1), "Der Wirkungsbereich des Zollamtes Österreich erstreckt sich auf das gesamte Bundesgebiet"; s 63(1), "Das Zollamt Österreich ist – unbeschadet der Zuständigkeit anderer Behörden" – competent for enforcing customs law; and s 323b(1), "Das Zollamt Österreich tritt am 1. Jänner 2021 an die Stelle der am 31. Dezember 2020 zuständig gewesenen Zollämter".
Zollamt Österreich — Bundesministerium für Finanzen
Bundesministerium für Finanzen (Federal Ministry of Finance, Austria) · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: the Finance Ministry’s own description of the Customs Office Austria. The page states "Letzte Aktualisierung: 1. Jänner 2021". Supports "Das Zollamt Österreich ist als bundesweite Abgaben- und Finanzstrafbehörde, Dienstbehörde und haushaltsführende Stelle eingerichtet", that it "hat seinen Sitz in Graz", and "In den Bereich Kontrolle und Strafsachen fällt Reiseverkehr und mobile Kontrollen". Its staffing figure and its head are not reproduced.
Zollrechts-Durchführungsgesetz (ZollR-DG), § 15 — police officers acting for the Customs Office
Republik Österreich — Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS) · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: the statutory link between border policing and customs. The consolidated Customs Law Implementation Act on RIS, in its current version. Supports s 15, headed "Mitwirkung von Organen des öffentlichen Sicherheitsdienstes an Geschäften der Zollverwaltung", under which officers of the public-security service guarding a federal border that is also a customs border may take general customs-supervision measures — "sie gelten dabei als Organe des Zollamtes Österreich" — and may be designated to act at crossings as "Organe des öffentlichen Sicherheitsdienstes als Organe des Zollamtes Österreich allgemeine Maßnahmen der Zollaufsicht nach § 22".
BFA-Einrichtungsgesetz (BFA-G) — the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum
Republik Österreich — Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS) · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: what the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum is and which laws it enforces. The consolidated Act on RIS, in its current version. Supports s 1, that the office exists "als eine dem Bundesminister für Inneres unmittelbar nachgeordnete Behörde mit bundesweiter Zuständigkeit", and s 3(1), that it enforces "die Vollziehung des BFA-VG", the Asylum Act 2005 ("Asylgesetzes 2005"), and "die Vollziehung des 7., 8. und 11. Hauptstückes des Fremdenpolizeigesetzes 2005".
Aufgaben — Bundesamt für Fremdenwesen und Asyl
Bundesamt für Fremdenwesen und Asyl (Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum) · Government publication · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: the federal office’s own statement of what is NOT its responsibility. LIMIT, stated by the page itself: "Die Informationen auf dieser Webseite beziehen sich auf die Rechtslage vor dem 12. Juni 2026" — the page reflects the law before 12 June 2026 and is being revised. Relied on only for its statement that "der unmittelbare Abschiebeprozess fallen nicht in die Zuständigkeit des BFA", alongside the employment of foreigners, border control ("Grenzkontrollwesen"), criminal and security policing and police detention centres.
Niederlassungs- und Aufenthaltsgesetz (NAG), § 3 — the competent authority
Republik Österreich — Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS) · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: who decides settlement and residence titles. The consolidated Settlement and Residence Act on RIS, in its current version. Supports s 3(1), "Behörde nach diesem Bundesgesetz ist der örtlich zuständige Landeshauptmann", and "Abweichend von Satz 1 entscheidet über Aufenthaltstitel gemäß § 46a das Bundesamt für Fremdenwesen und Asyl".
Fremdenpolizeigesetz 2005 (FPG), §§ 5, 41 and 46
Republik Österreich — Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS) · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: the police’s part in aliens policing, refusal of entry and removal — nothing about any procedure or individual case. The consolidated Aliens Police Act 2005 on RIS, in its current version. Supports s 5(1), that the Land police directorates are responsible for "die Besorgung der Fremdenpolizei"; s 41(1), "Die Organe des öffentlichen Sicherheitsdienstes sind ermächtigt, Fremde, die versuchen, nicht rechtmäßig in das Bundesgebiet einzureisen, an der Einreise zu hindern"; and s 46(1), in the chapter headed "7. Hauptstück Abschiebung und Duldung", that a person under an enforceable return decision is made to leave by the officers of the public-security service "im Auftrag des Bundesamtes zur Ausreise zu verhalten (Abschiebung)".
Veterinärbehördliche Einfuhrverordnung 2022 (VEVO 2022), § 28 — veterinary border control
Republik Österreich — Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS) · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: which body performs veterinary checks at the border. The consolidated ordinance on RIS, in its current version. Supports s 28(1), "Die grenztierärztliche Kontrolle ist vom Bundesamt für Verbrauchergesundheit durch Grenztierärztinnen und Grenztierärzte" appointed by that office, and that the office "führt das Bundesamt für Verbrauchergesundheit die österreichischen Grenzkontrollstellen" — runs Austria’s border control posts.
Pflanzenschutzgesetz 2018 — third-country import controls
Republik Österreich — Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS) · Legislation · link verified 2026-10-10
SCOPE: which bodies enforce plant-health controls on imports from outside the Union. The consolidated Plant Protection Act 2018 on RIS, in its current version. Supports that "Das Bundesamt für Wald und das Bundesamt für Ernährungssicherheit sind zuständig für die Vollziehung folgender Bestimmungen, jeweils hinsichtlich der Einfuhr aus Drittländern", among them provisions of Regulation (EU) 2017/625.
Publications Office of the European Union (Cellar) — consolidated text · Legislation · link verified 2026-09-19
SCOPE: the current wording of the Schengen Borders Code, and only what it says at Union level. Read directly from the Publications Office. The publisher’s own metadata records the latest consolidation of the whole act — as distinct from its individually consolidated segments — as 2016R0399/20251012, dated 12 October 2025 and marked final. It consolidates the original act, Regulation (EU) 2017/2225, Regulation (EU) 2024/1717 and corrigenda, over the previous 10 July 2024 consolidation. LEGAL EFFECT, STATED BY THE DOCUMENT ITSELF: "This text is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. … The authentic versions of the relevant acts … are those published in the Official Journal of the European Union." It is cited for current wording, never as the authentic instrument. Supports Art. 1, that the Regulation "provides for the absence of border control of persons crossing the internal borders between the Member States of the Union" and "lays down rules governing border control of persons crossing the external borders". Supports Art. 2(1) and 2(2), defining internal borders (common land borders, airports for internal flights, ports for regular internal ferry connections) and external borders (land, sea, air and port borders "provided that they are not internal borders"). Supports Art. 22, that "Internal borders may be crossed at any point without a border check on persons, irrespective of their nationality, being carried out", and Art. 23, that this "shall not affect … the exercise of police or other public powers". Supports Art. 5(1), that external borders "may be crossed only at border crossing points and during the fixed opening hours", with Member States notifying their list to the Commission. Supports Art. 15, that "Member States shall deploy appropriate staff and resources in sufficient numbers to carry out border control at the external borders", and Art. 16(1), that border control "shall be carried out by border guards". Supports Art. 2(14), that a "border guard" is "any public official assigned, in accordance with national law, to a border crossing point … who carries out, in accordance with this Regulation and national law, border control tasks". THE AGENCY APPEARS EXACTLY ONCE in the whole consolidated text, and only as a recipient of Member State risk assessments and six-monthly reports: this record does NOT support any claim that the European Border and Coast Guard Agency carries out border checks or replaces a national authority. Establishes nothing about which states apply the Code, nothing about customs, and nothing about any national institution.