anonymous
Traveller
2467 comments
Posted 14 years ago
Hi--
I will be studying in Austria from 1 October 2010 until about 30 June 2011. I was just wondering about the residency requirement for buying an Interrail pass. I see on the website that you need to live in your host country for 6 months to be able to purchase the pass, but I'm not entirely clear on what that means. Does it simply mean one's total stay must be longer than six months? Or is it that it cannot be purchased until 6 months after I set foot in Austria? Or for that matter, perhaps six months from the issue date on my visa?
Thanks for the help!
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
Hi!
[quote]
Or is it that it cannot be purchased until 6 months after I set foot in Austria?[/quote]
Yes, that's correct.
[quote]
Or for that matter, perhaps six months from the issue date on my visa?
[/quote]
No, you would need any proof that you have been living at least six months in a row in Austria. Issue date of you visa wont be enough IMO. But Peter, the specialist certainly can confirm on that. ;)
If you want to travel Europe by train but yet cant fulfil the requirements for InterRail, your option would be an EuRail pass - very similar to InterRail. :)
EDIT: And have a pleasant stay in Austria!
Flo 8)
anonymous
Traveller
2467 comments
Thanks for the quick response! Yeah I know all about Eurail, I've used their passes many times before. The reason I asked is because there just seem to be a lot more options with Interrail, and their passes are slightly cheaper, too :D Also, we get one month off from university, but by my count it will only be 5 months at that point :|
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
Yeah, Semesterferien in February... 8) If it doesn't work out then you could go with InterRail during the three week Osterferien in March/April (depending on the date of Easter, obviously). :)
anonymous
Traveller
2467 comments
The same!
Yeah I forgot about the Easter holiday too, that's a thought. Still, I hope that doesn't fall less than six months after arrival...
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
hi ...
concerning the 6 months residency... the stamp added to your visa in your passport is the important thing.
for example you visa can be valid from 1th April 2010 to the 1th January 2012 - but you enter the European-Union (EU) countries at the 4th of April.
then the first day you can start with an InterRail is the 5th October 2010 (of course you can buy your ticket already some days before, but the starting date printed on your ticket has the be the 5th October).
Peter :)
anonymous
Traveller
2467 comments
Interesting... what if I were to arrive earlier than 1 October? Can I be anywhere in the EU before then, or would it have to be my country of residency, Austria? If this is the case, I wouldn't mind arriving early, travelling a bit, and then having the 6 month thing worked out by the time of February holiday..
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
Mmmh... do you get a residency visa for Austria from the Austrian embassy? Or a general Schengen one ...?
The important thing is to show that you stayed in one country in Europe for 6 months or longer. That the staff in a train can understand it, if they check your ticket together with your Non-European passport (won't happen very often).
It is for example possible to get your Austrian visa starting on the 1st of August 2010, get your stamp then for example on the 4th August, landing in Vienna. Traveling a little bit in Europe. And start working in Austria on the 1st of October. So you are ready for InterRail on the 4th of February (6 months after arriving in Vienna on the 4th of August).
It is always a bit hard to explain it - and there are so many different cases .
But I hope it is clear. :)
anonymous
Traveller
2467 comments
That is a good question about which visa I get. Honestly, I'm not sure yet, other than that it will be a student visa as opposed to a work visa.