Questions to ask

Hello there,

well you should ask whether they will help you with looking for an appartment and if there will be any allowance for that(not that it is usual to get that, but just to know it). The housing prices here are at least cheaper than in many other EU countries(Germany is cheaper)and their capitals. How much you pay depends a lot on where you live and how much space you need. To live with wour familiy with kids I would count 800 EUR minimum..
As for the health care system, do you need any special treatment? The health care system in Austria is very good, folks are mainly satisfied(especially americans)

Hope that I could help you a bit?

Many greets, Vedrana

Thanks, Vedrana. That's helpful. No, I don't have any special health concerns -- but I just like to understand how the system works. In Canada, for instance, health care is nationalized, and provided to all residents automatically; but dental care is not, so you have to pay for that on your own unless your employer provides a dental plan. I wasn't sure whether Austria works the same way.
Thanks!

Normally in Austria, if you are employed you have a health insurance, also covering dental. If you need to get something special done, you might need to pay some of it yourself (like me, I don't like amalgam fillings - they are free - I want "white" fillings so I have to pay it myself. But the work made by the dentist is payed by the insurance) Especially if you are moving here from abroad there should be no problems for you asking the employer what kind of health insurance that in included.

Social security and taxes are auomatically drawn from your pay but that is what payes your health insurance among many other things in the end. But I would ask the american consulate for information about that, they will know how it affects an non EU-citizen.

Good luck!

Thanks, Mimie -- I am talking to the company, of course; but I'm also doing this research on my own. The U.S. has a bilateral treaty with Austria exempting certain types of jobs from social insurance payments, which then of course reduces the coverages that are automatically included.
But your comments are helpful. Thank you.

Always good to do research! and now I am learning something too! Reading things like this makes you apprieciate being a EU citizen at times.

In Austria the whole family can be insured "on" a parent. Meaning that if you move here with your family they get insured over you. Sometimes companies help out with that too, in order to get a good insurance for family members too. Then every person gets a so called E-card with a social security number. This card is needed every time you go to a doctor or dentist. You probably knew this too, but just adding it in case..

If you tell me a little bit about what you expect from your living standards (and where in Vienna, which district you would be working for example) I can try to tell you what that would cost. But 800-1000 Euro for an appartment for 3 would be realistic like Vedrana already said.

Things to think about working in Austria is that you can paied 14 times a year (double salary in july and november). You get the double salary aliquote to the time you have been working (if you start in june, you don't get a double one in july). The same thing goes for the vacation. You normally get 25 days, which are "given" in the month you started the year before. There are a lot of catholic holidays, which are bank holiday, but if they are on a sunday the monday is a normal workday (difference to England for example)


Good luck!

Thanks again, Mimie.
I'd be working downtown, near the Stephansplatz metro stop. But I don't know yet what neighborhoods I would look at for an apartment. Maybe this is a subject for a separate post, but I've been told that the quality of the schools in Vienna varies greatly according to the economic level of the neighborhood. If this is the case then I'd want to plan accordingly. Finding the best school for my son would be my top priority.
I'm looking into the public school system there, as the private international schools are VERY expensive. But I haven't found out much yet about whether the schools offer any accommodation for a foreign student who isn't fluent in German.(My son, who just turned 11, speaks several other languages, but not German.)
So that's another major area of research.
If any expats have experience with intergrating your child into the Austrian school system, I'd love to hear about it.
Thanks.

Hi again,
Yes, there are big differences between different schools. In some areas where there are many immigrants there are very mixed classes BUT I don't think that that is necesserely bad. In Austria some times people think that immigrant children (born here, immigrant parents is more correct) always speek less good german. That isn't always the case but there is a problem with children not learning german because they don't go to Kindergarden and the parents only speak their mother tongue with them.

Vienna has 23 districts. The first one is the one with Stephansplatz (city center) and the most expensive one. If you like to live central and in the city but not toooo expensive (of course depends on the area and the appartment) you can try the district 2-9. In the second district there are areas with prostitution (legal here) so you might wanna stay clear of them. 15,16 district are nice too, many immigrants live here (turkish people for example). 18-19 are more expensive and a bit far off if you ask me. 20-23 are so called working class districts and quite far away. you can tell by the zipcode whicht district an adress is in 1160 = 16th, 1230 = 23rd, 1010 = 1st

I never went to school here (only a rudolf steiner highschool for 6 months) but what I know about the school system is that it a lot about the grades at an early age. Many children have a "Nachhhilfelehrerin", meaning that the parents pay someone to study with the child, in order to get them through the tests.

Here is a link with schools who are involved in a project with bilingual lessons (english-german).
http://www.stadtschulrat.at/bilingualit … d18/detid4

I think your son would be in Sekundarstufe 1 (second column at the end) Maybe a start?

Information here: http://www.schulen.wien.at/schulen/9223 … glisch.htm

Good luck!

Mimie -- This is fantastically helpful; I had been digging around but hadn't found anything about this on my own. I really appreciate the help. Thanks!

Glad to help

Hi Roberto, IŽm Austrian , teaching german language and literature and would really like to give you as much information as you need . IŽm living part time in Vienna and part time in Upper Austria.I offer private lessons but furthermoreI could also help / translate  / fill in forms  - - help to find a nice place to live in - giving information on kindergardens- schools- job offers.
I charge 30 Euro per hour - or a kind of "all-inclusive -price" which  is cheaper  and depends on the hours  we have to meet and and the work you ask me to do for you -
But if you have any questions  that i can answer on the internet IŽm glad to help
regards eva moser