Danger to safety

Turkish man wanted to move to Salzburg: rejected!

The man was a trained welder and wanted to come to Austria as a skilled worker.(Bild: Wolfgang Spitzbart)

A Turkish man wanted to move in with his wife, who lives in Flachgau and whom he had met online in 2021. As a welder, he applied for a red-white-red card. But the authorities refused: The man was a danger to public safety.

Some claim that Austria lets criminals into the country. However, a recent case shows that the authorities do pay attention to the background of migrants: A Turkish man wanted to move to Flachgau to be with his wife, whom he had met online in 2021 and married shortly afterwards. He planned to work here as a skilled worker in the metal industry - more precisely as a welder - in accordance with his training and applied for a Red-White-Red Card in July 2023.

32 previous convictions, including escape from prison
However, the Salzburg-Umgebung district authority rejected the application in January 2024. The reason: the man's stay was "a threat to public order and security". Because he already has no fewer than 32 entries in his Turkish criminal record: these are mainly violent crimes with a knife that the Turk committed between 2010 and 2021. And he served several prison sentences for this in his home country - he received one sentence in 2021 for escaping from prison.

The man lodged an appeal against this with the Salzburg Provincial Administrative Court, expressed remorse and said that he had now got his life together. However, the court dismissed the appeal and confirmed the decision of the authorities.