Austria will fully replace the Handy-Signatur with ID Austria starting in December 2023

Starting in December of 2023, Austria is going to completely switch to ID Austria, which aims to facilitate identity verification and make signing in to government services more secure.

Austria has made the decision to fully switch cell phone signature authorization from Handy-Signatur to ID Austria. The approximately 2.8 million individuals who currently use Handy-Signatur will have to make a digital ID before the 5th of December. ID Austria, meanwhile, is already being utilized by 1.5 million people.

In order to switch to ID Austria, you will need the Digitales Amt app, where you will sign in through your existing cell phone signature. If you don't already have Handy-Signatur, then you can sign up and replace it with ID Austria, or register your new digital ID right away. To register on Handy-Signatur, you will need just a phone that receives texts.

You can register for a digital ID either via Digitales Amt or online. Once you have done that, you must book an appointment at your local registration office. You will need to bring a passport and a residence permit with you to the appointment, in addition to a passport photo and your phone. You will get a TAN code on your phone, which will need to be shown during the appointment. An appointment is required for personal identity verification.

ID Austria enables users to not only securely sign in to government services, but also provides easy identity verification in a variety of situations. These range from signing a rental contract to being valid proof of your driver's license if you forget the physical one at home.

The Austrian government plans to have ID Austria accepted not only within the country, but also across the EU.