Austria for Beginners is a new non-profit organisation based in Vienna supporting expats and migrants Austria-wide with their legal needs.

Their team of lawyers can assist with a wide ranging of integration issues that often affect newcomers to Austria. They offer legal consultations in English, German and Bulgarian in areas such as:

• Immigration law
• Administrative law
• Social insurance law
• Family law
• Contract Law

4 hours legal consultation is included with a membership (8 hrs for family memberships). For non-members a free 20 min consultation is available once a year.

They can also help with communication to third parties, filling out forms and accompanying and translating. A very useful service when dealing Austrian officials and their tedious bureaucracy!

Their hourly rate for this service is is €50 /hour for non-members and €40 /hour for members. Forms are subject to an individual tariff (members enjoy 20% discount from the price of all services).

There is also a series of informative seminars available to view on-line:

• Pregnancy and Maternity in Austria – legal aspects
• How to fill in your tax declaration
• The Austrian School System
• Consumer Protection
• Legal Stay in Austria for Non-EU Citizens
• Job Application Boot Camp

One seminar is free with membership and €35 (20% off) for the others . For non-members €42 per seminar.

Membership is €65 for individuals, €100 for families and €45 for students

There is also a monthly newsletter and a series of Living in Austria guides will be coming soon.

The Austria for Beginners team also plan to visit Graz every 4 – 6 months to hold in-person 20 min free legal consulations and seminars. Follow their facebook for updates on future visits, seminars and informational posts on subjects such as Kinderbetreuungsgeld.

They are a friendly team and are all foreigners themselves so very understanding of the issues newcomers in Austria have to deal with.

For more tips and updates on life in Graz, follow ‘IlovemyGraz‘ on facebook