Austrian e-card – online administration, how to apply?

The e-card works similarly to the Hungarian social security, or TAJ card. The e-card is an important tool for medical, hospital, and pharmacy visits. Its purpose is to make identification easier and provide access to electronic healthcare. In Austria, doctors can access patient data through the e-card.

Using the card, the insurance relationship and eligibility for medication can be quickly and securely determined. In addition, other services are also accessible with the card. In hospitals, you can find card readers mounted on walls, which make navigation within the institution easier. By inserting the card into the reader, we can find out which specialist department and room are waiting for us. The different-colored lines running along the floor are also a great help, guiding patients to specific specialist clinics.

Another useful option: On the https://www.elga.gv.at/faq/elga-portal/ page, with our ID-Austria identification, we can view the medications prescribed by the doctor, their dosage, and our previous test results.

How to Apply?

Social security registration is handled by our employer after we start working at a given workplace. Our employer will also inform us about our social security number. However, the steps to obtain the e-card must be taken personally by us if we do not have an Austrian passport, Austrian ID card, Austrian driver’s license, or are not yet registered in the alien registration system (Fremdregister). Newly arrived Hungarians working in Austria also fall into this group. Since the e-card has been functioning as a photo ID since January 1, 2020, except for children under 14, those over 70, and some other care/nursing categories, the first step is to get our photo into the necessary registration system (Fremdenregister).

It is important to note that the social security number can be requested even before the e-card is issued. With this special identifier and a photo ID, we can already receive the necessary healthcare services without the e-card. However, the e-card must be requested within a short period of time. Our doctor may also draw our attention to this during a visit to the clinic.

If we are not yet in the registry, meaning there is no photo of us, the list of tasks step by step is as follows

1. Taking a photo: the photo must meet the ID photo criteria. It should be 35 mm wide, 45 mm high! Only color photos are accepted! The photo must not be older than six months!

2. Without Austrian citizenship, you can book an appointment online for photo e-card processing on the following page: https://www.chipkarte.at/cdscontent/?contentid=10007.853270&portal=ecardportal

3. Using the website is simple, but requires a basic knowledge of German. First, we need to click on the “Ich habe Keine österreiche Staatsbürgerschaft” or “I do not have Austrian citizenship” button. The arrow in the image indicates this button.

4. After clicking, a screen appears where we need to select the domain according to our place of residence. In our example, we booked an appointment with the competent authority in Styria. We can proceed by clicking on the name of the domain.

5. On the displayed page, we can view the municipalities where we can personally appear for e-card processing. For Styria, we can choose from three options: Graz, Leoben, Liezen. If we scroll down, we will also find the contact information for the authorities. To book an electronic appointment, we clicked on the “elektronische Terminvereinbarung” phrase marked with the arrow above in the image.

6. On the next page, we remained with the German language. If someone prefers English, they can choose that as well. “Weiter mit Deutsch” means “Continue with German”.

7. After clicking, a page appears where under the “Please select” dropdown menu, we must again specify the region according to our place of residence. We remained with Styria.

8. After specifying the domain, the Ecard-Fotoerfassung case was automatically added to the list. Below this, you can select which city’s authority you would like to appear at. Once this is done, you do not yet need to click the “Bereits gebuchten…” button, as the form continuation will automatically appear.

9. Here we need to provide our social security number (Sozialversicherungsnummer), a valid email address where the confirmation can be sent, the number of people who want to use the appointment, and some personal details.

10. Once we have provided these details, by clicking the “Show Available Dates” button, we can view the currently available appointment times at the given authority and choose a convenient date.

11. If the appointment is no longer suitable, we can cancel it using the Cancel Appointment button on the page.

All the information needed for the application can also be found in detail on the www.chipkarte.at website.