Philip Raffling

Philip Raffling is Founding & Managing Partner of META LEGAL – Raffling Tenschert Lassl & Partner, an Austrian full-service law firm, and has been recognised at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026 as Immigration Law Expert of the Year in Austria. The award highlights practitioners who help private individuals and businesses navigate one of the most technical and fast-moving areas of Austrian and European law: the regulation of residence, work authorisation and citizenship.

About META LEGAL

META LEGAL, which practises under the banner “going beyond boundaries”, is organised as Raffling Tenschert & Lassl & Partner Rechtsanwälte GmbH. The firm advises from two Austrian offices — in Vienna at Universitätsring 12 in the 1010 district, and in Graz at Lendkai 43 — giving it a presence in both the capital and Styria’s principal city. According to the firm’s own materials, its work spans a broad range of practice areas, including immigration and citizenship law, real estate and property law, architectural and construction law, corporate and business law with M&A and start-up advice, civil and administrative law, media and competition law, intellectual property and copyright, data protection and IT law, criminal law, labour law, insurance law, and family and matrimonial law.

Within that structure, Philip Raffling is described as an attorney (Rechtsanwalt) who specialises in advising both domestic and foreign clients on all immigration matters, alongside data protection and business law. His practice centres on delivering tailored immigration solutions for private clients and companies alike — the kind of end-to-end advice that ranges from an individual relocation to the mobility needs of an entire workforce.

Immigration law in Austria

Recognition as Immigration Law Expert of the Year in Austria places Philip Raffling in a field where national rules interlock closely with the wider European framework. As a member state of the European Union and the Schengen Area, Austria applies a layered system of residence titles and permits, from the Red-White-Red Card designed to attract skilled third-country workers, to EU Blue Cards, family reunification routes, student and researcher permits, and pathways toward long-term residence and naturalisation. Employers recruiting internationally, investors establishing a presence in Austria, and families seeking to settle all rely on counsel who can match the right legal basis to their circumstances and steer applications through the competent authorities.

Immigration work is rarely purely procedural. It frequently sits alongside employment law, corporate structuring, tax residency questions and data protection — areas in which META LEGAL is also active, allowing an immigration matter to be handled with an awareness of its commercial and personal context. The discipline rewards precision, current knowledge of shifting quotas and eligibility criteria, and the ability to anticipate documentary and timing requirements before they become obstacles.

A cross-border, client-focused approach

META LEGAL’s stated ethos of “going beyond boundaries” is a natural fit for immigration practice, which is inherently cross-border and international in outlook. For clients moving to or investing in Austria, the value of a founding and managing partner who concentrates on immigration is the combination of strategic oversight and hands-on familiarity with the process — the same person who understands the firm’s direction also understands the detail of a residence application.

It is against this background that Philip Raffling’s Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026 recognition as Immigration Law Expert of the Year in Austria should be read: an endorsement of specialist, internationally minded immigration counsel delivered through a broad-based Austrian firm with offices in Vienna and Graz. Individuals and businesses seeking immigration guidance in Austria will find in Philip Raffling and META LEGAL a practice built around tailored solutions and a boundary-crossing perspective.

The Corporate INTL Global Awards recognise leading advisers across jurisdictions and disciplines, and an award naming an individual as expert of the year carries particular weight because it points to a named practitioner rather than an institution alone. For clients weighing a relocation, an international hire or an application for Austrian residence or citizenship, that distinction matters: it signals a specialist who can be relied upon to bring current knowledge, judgment and attention to a process in which timing and accuracy are decisive, and to keep the wider commercial and personal picture in view throughout.