How to choose a relocation agency in Austria

Relocation agent or moving company: which one do you need?

They sell different things, and search results mix them.

A relocation agent works for the person who moves. Typical tasks are finding a flat, registering at the authorities, finding a school and, for non-EU citizens, organising the permit paperwork. A moving company transports furniture and boxes. Some firms sell both. Santa Fe’s Vienna office lists relocation services and a local and international moving company side by side (Santa Fe, read 7 Oct 2026). A guide to relocation services in Vienna that our research read on 6 October 2026 named eight firms, and three of them were movers (All About Vienna).

So ask what the firm will do for you personally, in your city, and what is only a price on a moving quote. This guide is about agents. What they charge is in what a relocation agency costs in Austria.

Which kinds of provider exist in Austria?

Our research found 26 agencies with an office in Austria on 6 October 2026. Of these, 24 were qualified, 20 showed an e-mail on their own site, and 6 were one-person firms. Most are in Vienna, with others in Salzburg, Graz, Tyrol and Carinthia. The numbers come from the EuRA directory and agency sites, so they are our count and not an official figure (EuRA directory). ReloFinder’s Austria page lists the 18 agencies that were published on 7 October 2026: 16 with an office in Vienna, 3 in Graz and 2 in Salzburg (some have several offices).

• Local agencies. Specialists in one city, usually Vienna. Strohmayer states in its imprint that it is a Premium Member of EuRA and “Austria’s only relocation service provider certified with the EuRA Global Quality Seal Plus” (Strohmayer, read 7 Oct 2026). That is the firm’s own claim, so check the seal in the EuRA directory.
• Global networks with a local office. Santa Fe says it opened its first Austrian office in 1969. Dwellworks serves Austria with consultants in Vienna, Salzburg and Graz (Dwellworks, read 6 Oct 2026). Ask whether they take private clients.
• Regional centres. CIC in Villach, Carinthia, publishes a price list for relocation services (CIC, read 7 Oct 2026).
• Online platforms. Remoters describes its Vienna home search as a service for students, companies and professionals all over the world, with a free conversation and a quote (Remoters, read 7 Oct 2026).
• One-person firms. Six of the 26 were one person. A freelancer gives you one named consultant, and you should ask who covers illness and holidays.
• Estate agents that sell home search. Brokering flats for a fee is a regulated trade in Austria according to our research notes. We could not check the rule against the statute, because the legal database RIS was unavailable on 7 October 2026. Ask the firm for its trade licence.

What does membership show? Is there an Austrian association?

We found no national association of relocation agencies in Austria. EuRA, the European Relocation Association, is the only one we saw, and its directory lists 9 Austrian destination service providers. EuRA also runs a quality certification, and members may or may not hold it.

So a “member of EuRA” line on a website shows that a firm joined. A seal shows that someone checked something. Ask which certificate the firm holds, and look for the firm in the EuRA directory yourself.

What should you check before you choose?

1. Services and city. Does the agency do what you need in your city? The Austria page shows which services each agency lists.
2. Language. Ask for a consultant who speaks yours.
3. Who does the legal part of a permit. We found no official source on who may give immigration advice in Austria. Santa Fe’s Vienna office says legal services are provided only by Austrian Bar lawyers with whom it cooperates, and STEP Vienna says it works with partner solicitors (STEP Vienna, read 7 Oct 2026). A good answer names the lawyer. Remember that the Red-White-Red Card can be filed by the applicant or the employer (migration.gv.at), so you do not need an agency to apply.
4. The fee for a flat. A tenant pays a broker’s commission only if the tenant commissioned the broker, with a cap of two gross monthly rents for an indefinite lease, plus 20% VAT (oesterreich.gv.at, read 7 Oct 2026). Ask how the agency’s fee relates to it.
5. Price in writing. Few Austrian agencies publish one.
6. A named consultant.

Which questions should you ask?

• What exactly is included, and what costs extra?
• Is the price per person or per household, and is VAT included?
• Who is my consultant, and who covers when they are away?
• If I need a flat, what happens if none is found?
• Who is the lawyer for permit questions, and is the fee included?
• Which seal or membership do you hold, and since when?
• Can I have the price and the terms in writing?

What are the red flags?

• A promise of a flat, a permit or a date. No agency controls the housing market or the authority’s decision.
• Legal advice from someone who names no lawyer.
• A broker’s fee for a flat the landlord listed through the broker. The landlord gave the order, so the landlord pays.
• No written scope or price, or pressure to pay everything before anything is done.
• A seal or membership claim that you cannot find in the directory of the body that issued it.

Is there a free option?

For information, yes. The Vienna Business Agency offers cost-free, confidential and independent consultations on relocating, living and working in Vienna, and names no agencies (Vienna Business Agency, read 7 Oct 2026). It does not replace an agent who comes to viewings, but it can tell you what to ask. Do the steps you can do yourself with moving to Austria: your first 90 days, how to find an apartment in Vienna, Austria and settling-in services in Austria, and hand over the rest.

How does ReloFinder list agencies?

Agencies are ordered by one published rule, the Google rating of their own listing weighted by how many reviews stand behind it. Agencies with a paid profile sit in a separate band labelled “Recommended · paid placement”. No agency can pay for its position. The method is on the how we rank page. At the time of writing, 7 October 2026, no Google ratings have been collected, so every list is A to Z and no agency is ranked.

What we could not source

We found no register of Austrian relocation agencies and no national association, so we cannot tell you whether a given firm is licensed for what it sells. We could not check the broker trade rules against the statute. We found no official source on who may give immigration advice. The counts of 26, 24, 20 and 6 are ours, from public sources, and are not official numbers.

Want help choosing? Tell us what you need and we pass your request to one agency that fits your city and services.