{
  "id": "banking/blocked-account-not-mandatory",
  "signature": "AI tells an Austria student-visa applicant they must open a German-style Sperrkonto blocked account",
  "signature_zh": "",
  "regex": "(austria.*sperrkonto|austria.*blocked.account|vienna.*blocked.account|austria.*student.*visa.*bank|aufenthaltsbewilligung.*sperrkonto)",
  "domain": "banking",
  "category": "administrative_barrier",
  "subcategory": null,
  "root_cause": "Austria has no legal requirement to open a blocked account (Sperrkonto) for the Aufenthaltsbewilligung - Studierende residence permit, unlike Germany. Applicants must show proof of Unterhaltsmittel (means of subsistence) of EUR 722.58/month (under 24) or EUR 1,308.39/month (24+) as of January 2026, but migration.gv.at, oesterreich.gv.at, and OeAD accept salary slips, employment confirmations, pension/insurance statements, proof of investment capital or personal assets, 6 months of bank statements, or a Haftungserklarung (third-party liability declaration) - a Sperrkonto is one option among several, not mandatory.",
  "root_cause_type": "generic",
  "root_cause_zh": "",
  "versions": [
    {
      "version": "any",
      "introduced": null,
      "deprecated": null,
      "removed": null,
      "behavior_change": null,
      "status": "active"
    }
  ],
  "os_specific": {},
  "dead_ends": [
    {
      "action": "Delay or abandon the Aufenthaltsbewilligung - Studierende application because you can't afford to lock 12 months of funds into a blocked account, believing a Sperrkonto is the only accepted proof of Unterhaltsmittel",
      "why_fails": "migration.gv.at and oesterreich.gv.at do not list a blocked account among accepted proof of means; wage slips, employment confirmations, pension/insurance statements, proof of investment capital, or a Haftungserklarung are explicitly accepted instead, so the monthly threshold can be met without locking funds away in a blocked account.",
      "fail_rate": 0.5,
      "condition": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.migration.gv.at/de/formen-der-zuwanderung/temporaerer-aufenthalt/",
        "https://www.oesterreich.gv.at/de/themen/menschen_aus_anderen_staaten/aufenthalt/3/2/1/1/Seite.120121"
      ]
    },
    {
      "action": "Reuse Germany-focused blocked-account guides (Fintiba/Expatrio marketing pages) for Austria, including Germany's separate annual deposit figure",
      "why_fails": "Austria's own monthly Unterhaltsmittel thresholds (EUR 722.58 under 24 / EUR 1,308.39 24+, as of Jan 2026) are set by migration.gv.at and differ from Germany's blocked-account benchmark, and Austria has no Sperrkonto mandate at all - commercial guides conflate the two countries because the same private providers market blocked-account products in both markets.",
      "fail_rate": 0.4,
      "condition": "Researching via a commercial blocked-account provider's website rather than migration.gv.at or oead.at",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.migration.gv.at/de/formen-der-zuwanderung/temporaerer-aufenthalt/",
        "https://oead.at/de/nach-oesterreich/einreise-und-aufenthalt/aufenthaltsbewilligung-student-kein-mobilitaetsprogramm"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "workarounds": [
    {
      "action": "Submit a Haftungserklarung from a qualifying sponsor, or provide 6-12 months of personal bank statements plus an employer/pension confirmation, instead of opening a blocked account",
      "success_rate": 0.8,
      "how": "OeAD's guidance lists accepted evidence of Unterhaltsmittel origin: savings, loan, scholarship, sale of property, inheritance, 6 months of account statements with deposit records, or an employment contract with the last 6 payslips; gather whichever applies and submit it with the Aufenthaltsbewilligung application.",
      "condition": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://oead.at/de/nach-oesterreich/einreise-und-aufenthalt/aufenthaltsbewilligung-student-kein-mobilitaetsprogramm"
      ]
    },
    {
      "action": "Check the current monthly Unterhaltsmittel rate on migration.gv.at before relying on any cached figure, since the threshold is revised every January and does not match Germany's separate blocked-account benchmark",
      "success_rate": 0.75,
      "how": "migration.gv.at publishes the updated monthly amounts (tied to the Ausgleichszulage reference rate) each January; confirm the current figure rather than reusing a number from an older blog post.",
      "condition": "",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.migration.gv.at/de/formen-der-zuwanderung/temporaerer-aufenthalt/"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "workarounds_zh": [],
  "transition_graph": {
    "leads_to": [],
    "preceded_by": [],
    "frequently_confused_with": []
  },
  "official_doc_url": null,
  "official_doc_section": null,
  "error_code": null,
  "verification_tier": "ai_generated",
  "confidence": 0.8,
  "fix_success_rate": 0.85,
  "resolvable": "true",
  "first_seen": "2026-08-19",
  "last_confirmed": "2026-08-19",
  "last_updated": "2026-08-19",
  "evidence_count": 3,
  "tags": [],
  "locale": "en",
  "aliases": [
    "banking/blocked-account-not-mandatory/at"
  ]
}