That line is from an official document. The immigration authority actually wrote that to me. That was their reason for rejecting my application for permanent residency.
I have been in Austria for ten years. I am a recognized refugee. The law is clear: I can apply for permanent residency. And the law also says that if health conditions prevent you from meeting the work requirement, exemptions exist. So I submitted everything they could possibly need. Rental contract. Bank statements. Study records. A medical report from the AKH, the hospital that has been treating me since 2015. The report says, in plain language, that my conditions cause "significant limitations in all areas of life."
They read all of it. Then they wrote this:
"70 ECTS... Weshalb Sie erfolgreich studieren können... ist für die Behörde nicht schlüssig.",70 ECTS, "successful studying," limitations "in all areas of life," and then: it's not coherent that you can't work.
Look at what they did. In the same document, they acknowledge that my conditions affect all areas of my life. Then they turn around and say: but you studied, so you should be able to work. They used my effort against me.
And when they said it was "not coherent"? Fine. If something doesn't make sense to you, ask. Pick up the phone. Request a clarification. Get a specialist opinion. That is what a normal person would do. They didn't ask. They didn't investigate anything. They just rejected it. "Not coherent" was not a question. It was a verdict.
"Successful studying"
Let me tell you what "successful studying" actually looked like.
I spent five years trying. I repeated the same courses over and over. The same material, year after year. Not because I couldn't understand it. Because the environment was impossible for me. The fluorescent lights. The noise. The group work. The exam formats. None of it was built for how my brain works.
They added up all my repeated courses and got 70 ECTS. Like that number meant progress. It didn't. It was the same 30 to 40 points taken multiple times. They turned years of failure into evidence of success.
And here is the part that really gets me. The same year they based their decision on? I got expelled.
"Wiederholtes Nichteinhalten von Prüfungsterminen",repeated failure to meet exam deadlines. "Studierender hat bereits mehrfach unterbrochen",student has already interrupted multiple times. This is what they called "successful studying."
Why can't you work?
I tried. Over 300 applications in eight years. I know what happened because the same thing happened every single time. Overqualified. Underqualified. We found someone else, but the listing stays up for months. Some interviews go well. They tell me I did great. Then nothing. No email. No call. No reason.
The jobs I could actually handle? I get rejected for those too. The jobs that are available, the ones they would give me? Physical work, open-plan offices, constant noise, nonstop social demands. I cannot sustain that. I have ASD. I am blind in one eye. These are not excuses. They are medical facts in a hospital report that the immigration authority already has.
Finding a job in Vienna is hard. Ask anyone. Everyone says this. Now try it as someone who is Syrian, neurodivergent, and visually impaired. I keep hearing the same story from others in similar situations. This is not just me complaining.
The law says exemptions exist for exactly this. I gave them the evidence. They acknowledged it in their own words. Then they rejected me anyway because I once tried to go to university. A university that eventually expelled me.
What it costs
A year later, I got a bill. 150 euros. Processing fees. For an application they rejected with reasoning that contradicts itself on the same page.
When you live on social assistance, 150 euros is a week and a half of food. It is the dental treatment you have been putting off for months. They charge you for saying no to you.
What this actually means
Without residency, I cannot leave Austria. Which means I cannot visit my family. It has been eleven years now.
My brother lives in Germany. Same family. Same starting point. He has a master's degree, a job, citizenship. He visits our parents. I watch him do it. I can't. Not because I didn't try. Because the system here found a way to say no.
My family is depressed about this. They have been watching this happen for years and there is nothing any of us can do.
I did everything the system asked me to do. I learned German. I passed the Matura. I enrolled in university. I went to treatment for years. I sent out hundreds of job applications. And when none of it was enough, because it literally cannot be enough when the conditions themselves prevent it, the system just said: that's your problem.
The law has provisions for people like me. They ignored them. The evidence was acknowledged and dismissed in the same paragraph. And I have nothing to fight it with. No lawyer. No money for one. No network.
I am not trying to write an essay about how unfair the system is. You can read the documents yourself. I am just telling you what it is like to be inside this. To do everything you can and watch every door close anyway.