Austrian Social Insurance explains that your employer registers you when you start insured employment. Once insured, you can use your Austrian social-insurance number for a doctor visit even if the physical e-card has not arrived yet.
What is the e-card?
The e-card is the personal card used at contracted doctors, many hospitals and other social-insurance healthcare providers. It connects you to the electronic healthcare system; it is not itself your health-insurance policy.
How do you get an e-card?
For many employees, insurance registration happens through the employer. The card is then sent by the health insurer once the necessary identity/photo requirements are satisfied.
Do foreigners need to provide a photo?
If an accepted photo is already available from certain Austrian identity or foreigner-register documents, Social Insurance says you generally do not need to provide a separate photo. Otherwise, you may need to register a photo at the responsible office before the card can be issued.
What if the card has not arrived?
If you are already insured, the official e-card information says you can go to a doctor using your social-insurance number. If photo registration cannot be completed quickly, your insurer can provide a time-limited e-card replacement document.
Lost, stolen or damaged card
Social Insurance provides an online replacement service. A replacement request requires an insurance number, and the old card is blocked after the new-card process is initiated.
Is there an e-card fee?
There is an annual service fee for many insured employees, collected under statutory rules and adjusted over time. Check the current Social Insurance page rather than relying on an old amount.