Disability Identity Card
General information
The Disability Identity Card is a form of official photo ID. It serves as proof of disability across Austria (regardless of the nature of the disability concerned). The dokument is issued in the form of a card, with the text written in German. Older identity cards issued for an unlimited period of time, which have not been issued in form of a card, remain valid.
Having a Disability Identity Card does not entitle you to any financial benefit. However, presenting the card as proof of disability does entitle you to concessionary prices at various events. If the degree of your disability has been assessed at 70 per cent or above, you can also claim a 50 per cent discount on rail fares with Austrian Federal Railways [ÖBB]. However, the Disability Identity Card does not constitute proof of membership of the group of disabled beneficiaries.
Requirements
People are entitled to the Disability Identity Card,
- who are ordinary resident in Austria, or whose primary residence is in Austria and whose degree of their disability or reduction in their earning capacity has been assessed as being at least 50 per cent. This includes, for example
- Disabled beneficiaries (USP)
- Recipients of nursing care allowance or comparable benefits on the basis of federal regulations
- Recipients of increased family allowance
- People receiving a cash benefit due to disability, occupational incapacity, incapacity for work or permanent disability,
People with disabilities who are resident abroad but stay in Austria regularly for professional or private reasons can also apply for an Austrian Disability Identity Card.
Competent authority
Regional Office of the Sozialministeriumservice (SMS)German text
Procedure
If the degree of your disability has not already been determined and evidenced by an official assessment, notification or decision, a doctor from the relevant regional office of the SMS will assess the degree of your disability. As far as possible, the doctor will not carry out a personal physical examination; they will assess your disability on the basis of available medical findings/opinions in accordance with the Einschätzungsverordnung.
Required documents
- Application for a Disability Identity Card
- Passport photo (must meet the requirements for passport photographs, if a photo is not already available in the existing databases)
- Decisions, findings and judgments regarding your disability, or detailed medical reports such as medical records, clinical findings etc.
Additional information
Applicants have the right to appeal a decision by the SMS not to issue a Disability Identity Card to the Federal Administrative Court [Bundesverwaltungsgericht]. Appeals must be submitted within six weeks of the decision being delivered.
Further links
- Disability Identity Card (SMS)German text
Legal basis
- sections 40 to 47 of the Bundesbehindertengesetz (BBG)
- Verordnung des Bundesministers für Arbeit, Soziales und Konsumentenschutz über die Ausstellung von Behindertenpässen und von Parkausweisen
- Einschätzungsverordnung
