Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ

The online questionnaire was developed by the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA) in consultation with the Vienna Provincial Government - Municipal Department 35 (MA35) to provide comprehensive orientation and support for filing a declaration in accordance with § 58c para. 1a of the Austrian Citizenship Act. Your entries will help to determine which documents need to be provided in your case and which documents might already be on file in Austria and thus do not have to be presented again. Furthermore, the information provided by you via the online questionnaire allows case-specific advice and support to be given by your local Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General).

The online questionnaire offers you individualized, preliminary orientation for preparing your citizenship declaration, enabling you to file your declaration in a timely manner and with all necessary documents.

After completing the questionnaire, you will receive an individualized information sheet containing your entries and a list of documents needed for a swift procedure after filing your declaration. The information sheet will give you a structured overview.

After completion of the questionnaire, your local Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General) will advise you on filing your declaration in time, and, in cooperation with the citizenship authorities in Austria, on providing the necessary documents. This should help to speed up the process and to avoid cumbersome searches for documents that might not be needed in your individual case.

The use of the online questionnaire is not mandatory. You will be able to file a declaration without completing it. All applications will be treated equally by the Austrian authorities. The benefits of the online questionnaire are individualized information, an overview of the documents needed, and a good preparation of your citizenship declaration right from the beginning. The goal is to ensure a swift and successful process. 

No. The online questionnaire only provides you with personalized information and helps you to complete your citizenship declaration with the least possible delay. After completing the questionnaire, you will receive an individualized information sheet and the declaration form, pre-filled with the information you provided. This document can then be used to file your citizenship declaration.

The individualized information sheet contains your entries and a list of documents necessary in the process, including proof of your relationship to the persecuted ancestor. The information sheet provides you with a structured overview of the documents needed in your specific case, to ensure a swift procedure after filing the declaration.

We recommend that you gather all known documents and records regarding yourself, your persecuted ancestor, and his or her parents and siblings before entering data into the online questionnaire.

For reasons of data protection, the questionnaire will remain accessible for 72 hours once you started working on it. If the questionnaire is not completed and confirmed within this timeframe, your entries will be deleted. However, you can re-start this process as often as needed.

You can see which data will be requested during the process in the “Preview”.

In general, every adult family member requesting citizenship should complete the online questionnaire as different documentation requirements might exist even within a family.

Please note that a separate declaration is necessary for each child that has already been born or will be born before the date of the award of citizenship. Only children born afterwards are Austrian citizens by descent.

The online questionnaire therefore contains a separate section for minors, so that not all entries have to be repeated. A separate declaration form for children is only necessary if the relevant parent does not also file a declaration himself, but only for the child. You can obtain the required declaration form from your local Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General).

To simplify processing of declarations by members of the same family, the online questionnaire contains a question regarding other family members who are also planning to file a declaration to acquire Austrian citizenship.  

You can choose between German, English, Hebrew, and Spanish versions of the questionnaire. For technical reasons, the entry of your data is limited to Western European characters and should be in German or English in the case of text fields. To help you with the completion of the questionnaire, specific text elements have been pre-formulated as an option.

No, not every question has to be answered. However, there are fields marked with (*) that have to be completed.

We recommend answering the questions to the best of your ability. In order to simplify the completion of the questionnaire, specific text elements have been pre-formulated as an option whenever possible.

We are aware that in many families the specific life circumstances of the persecuted ancestor are no longer known or can not be completely reconstructed. The Austrian authorities will make every effort to locate existing documents and archive materials regarding to your persecuted ancestor.

Before you begin with your entries, you should have all information and data known to you about your persecuted ancestor, his or her parents and siblings, and about yourself at hand.

For reasons of data protection, the questionnaire will remain accessible for 72 hours once you started working on it. If the questionnaire is not completed and confirmed within this timeframe, your entries will be deleted. However, you can re-start this process as often as needed.

You can see what data will be requested during the process in the “Preview.”

No. Documents will not be needed until you file the declaration.

After completing the questionnaire, you will receive an individualized information sheet that lists all documents needed in your case for a rapid procedure after filing the declaration.

All entries can be corrected until you have completed the online questionnaire. Afterwards, changes to your entries will no longer be possible, since your data will not be saved on our servers due to reasons of data protection.

Incorrect entries in the online questionnaire will generally not have any negative consequences. However, unclear or incorrect answers might complicate the process or prohibit the Austrian authorities from conducting research on your persecuted ancestor.

Should you become aware of an incorrect answer after completing the questionnaire, please inform your local Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General). They will discuss further action with you.

No. Nevertheless, you are asked to provide your contact details, e.g. E-mail address, to enable your local Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General) to contact you as soon as possible and discuss the further procedures with you.

The authority has to check whether the current performance of a military service that goes beyond the mandatory military service may damage the interests of the Republic of Austria. In addition, citizenship would have to be withdrawn if the person remains in the military service of a foreign state beyond the compulsory military service after acquiring citizenship.

This does not apply to the compulsory military service (conscription) as it is not based on a voluntary decision. 

Since the implementation of the provision of § 58c of the Austrian citizenship law revealed cases that were outside the scope of the original format of the law, Parliament made the necessary legal amendments in April 2022 in order to expand the acquisition of citizenship to a broader group of people in accordance with the fundamental principles of Austrian citizenship law. Accordingly, not only persons who had to leave Austria are now deemed to be persecuted persons, but also persons who died due to persecution or were deported abroad and those who were already abroad but could not return to Austria due to feared persecution. The authority has therefore to check what type of persecution has occurred.

As a descendant, it is not possible to file a declaration if you had already possessed Austrian citizenship and lost it after 1 May 2022 through the acquisition of a foreign citizenship, unless the possession of your Austrian citizenship was not known to you. Also, in cases of renunciation or revocation of your Austrian citizenship, a subsequent declaration is not possible.

Once you have all documents ready and, if required, also authenticated with a diplomatic authentication or an apostille (please see point V. for further information), please contact the Austrian diplomatic representation of your main residence to discuss the further procedure.

Only descendants of Austrian citizens who were subject to persecution during National Socialism or Austrofascist rule, or had to fear such persecution are eligible to file a declaration. Descendants of persons, who left Austria before the foundation of the First Republic (November 12, 1918) are not eligible to file a declaration.

You are eligible to file a declaration if your ancestor left Austria before the Anschluss due to actual or feared persecution by National Socialism or because they were persecuted or had to fear persecution because of defending the democratic Republic of Austria. Descendants of ancestors who had been Austrian citizens and did not have their main place of residence in Austria between January 30, 1933 and May 9, 1945 because they would have feared persecution if they returned to or entered Austria for the first time, are also eligible to file a declaration.

Yes, if your ancestors were persecuted or feared persecution because of defending a democratic Austria.

One of the criteria for eligibility is the principal residence (of your persecuted ancestor) in the federal territory of the Republic of Austria. It is to be understood that the federal territory of the Republic of Austria, in this case, refers to the current day borders of the Austrian Republic. All territories outside of the federal territory of the Republic of Austria, are considered to be “abroad”. If your ancestor did not have his/her principal residence in the Republic of Austria, you are not entitled to file a declaration.

Those states are deemed to be successor states of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy that took over responsibility for the international relations of territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the people entitled to reside there at the relevant dates (May 9, 1945 and May 15, 1955) for the interpretation of the section 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia (formerly the Serbian-Croatian-Slovenian State).

The descendants of persons who were citizens of one of these states at the time of leaving Austria and who fulfil the legal requirements are eligible to file.

Yes, you can also file a declaration if your (direct) ancestors have not acquired Austrian citizenship themselves and are not interested in acquiring it. It is not necessary that all persons in a family acquire the citizenship, not even your direct ancestors.

Yes, if the persecuted person is an ancestor (in direct relationship) of yours, you are eligible to file, regardless of sex. The following are eligible to file as descendants: children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren...

Adopted children who were adopted as minors are also considered descendants.

Yes, the law is also applicable to persons adopted as minors. According to the legal provisions, persons who were adopted as adults are not entitled to file a declaration.

If your spouse/partner is not herself/himself a descendant of a persecuted ancestor within the meaning of the law, a declaration in accordance with § 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act is not possible. Spouses and registered partners of Austrian citizens can acquire Austrian citizenship by naturalization after at least six years of legal and uninterrupted residence in Austria and five years of legal marriage or registered partnership with joint household management, provided that all other naturalization requirements are met.

A separate declaration is required for each child already born or expected to be born before the date of acquisition of citizenship.

However, you can include (underage) children in the online questionnaire and on the notification form, so that not all details have to be entered again and not all documents have to be resubmitted. You will find detailed information on this question in the online questionnaire which the Austrian Foreign Ministry has made available for your information.

Children born after their parent acquired Austrian citizenship will be Austrian citizens by descent in accordance with the general legal provisions.

This specific way of acquisition of Austrian citizenship should not lead to the loss of your current citizenship or nationality in most countries. However, this does not apply to all countries. According to our knowledge, loss of your citizenship is currently not to be expected in Argentina, Australia, Great Britain, Israel, or the United States.

However, according to the information available to us, you could lose your current citizenship i.e. in the Netherlands, South Africa, Slovakia or Ukraine. Naturalized Mexican citizens might also lose their current citizenship.

To obtain official information regarding the legal situation in cases of doubt, you might want to contact the citizenship authority of your home country.

Yes, but please note that in some countries you might lose your citizenship if you acquire another citizenship. In case of doubt, please check with the citizenship authority of your home country.

As a descendant, it is not possible to file a declaration if you had already possessed Austrian citizenship and lost it after 1 May 2022 through the acquisition of a foreign citizenship, unless the possession of your Austrian citizenship was not known to you. Also, in cases of renunciation or revocation of your Austrian citizenship, a subsequent declaration is not possible. Should you have lost your citizenship prior to May 1, 2022, you can file a declaration.

Austrian citizenship is acquired retroactively on the date of receipt of the declaration. Any acquisition of a foreign citizenship after the date your declaration was filed (including regarding an application made before the filing of the notification) will therefore in principle lead to the retroactive automatic loss of Austrian citizenship, even if the proceedings in Austria may not have been completed. If you have already initiated such proceedings in another country or intend to do so, please only file the declaration for Austrian citizenship after acquiring the foreign citizenship. Austrians may only acquire a foreign citizenship by application, declaration or with express consent if they have previously applied for retention of their Austrian citizenship. Please note that after the loss of Austrian citizenship a new declaration is not possible (see section IV.13).

In case of doubt, please contact your competent Austrian professional representative authority (embassy or consulate general), which will be happy to advise you further.

The National Socialist regime persecuted persons on political grounds, on grounds of origin/parentage, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability or on the charges of so-called asocial behaviour, or forced them to leave the country as “victims of typical National Socialist injustice” in order to escape such persecution.

Due to the individual circumstances of each case, there is no general answer on the relevance of any documents submitted. Often, it will be sufficient to document the ancestor's affiliation to one of the persecuted victim groups, i.e. by means of a birth certificate stating the religion.

Any document or other evidence which appears relevant to establish the facts may be taken into account by the authorities in the proceedings.

As a matter of principle, no additional evidence needs to be submitted if the persecuted ancestor had already re-acquired Austrian citizenship in accordance with § 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act or has held a so-called Victim’s ID card (“Opferausweis”) issued by the Republic of Austria, as all evidence has already been provided.

The same applies if there was an inquiry (“Feststellungsverfahren”) to determine if your persecuted ancestor might not even have lost Austrian citizenship in the first place. In this case, not all the documentation will have to be presented again, but in some cases it may be necessary to submit additional documents.

If payments of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism (“Nationalfonds der Republik Österreich für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus”) or the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism (“Allgemeiner Entschädigungsfonds für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus”) were awarded to your family, further proof of persecution of your ancestor should generally not be required.

Since 1993, former Austrian citizens who left Austria before May 9, 1945 due to persecution by organs of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) or of the authorities of the German Reich or for defending the democratic Republic of Austria, or who had to fear such persecution, could reacquire Austrian citizenship pursuant to § 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Law.

If your persecuted ancestor reacquired Austrian citizenship under this regulation, please mark the respective field in the online questionnaire. In this case, it is not required to enclose further documentation on your persecuted ancestor.

Pursuant to the regulations of Austrian citizenship law, a person voluntarily acquiring another citizenship loses Austrian citizenship. The Austrian Supreme Administrative Court (“Verwaltungsgerichtshof”) decided in 2001 that victims of National Socialism were forced to leave Austria and therefore did not voluntarily acquire another citizenship and hence not lose Austrian citizenship. Upon application these persons (and their descendants) could, in a so-called inquiry (“Feststellungsverfahren”) reacquire Austrian citizenship through decision of the competent Austrian provincial government.

If your persecuted ancestor or another member of your family became an Austrian citizen through this procedure, please mark the respective field in the online questionnaire. In this case, it is not required to enclose further documentation on your persecuted ancestor.

A victim card pursuant to the Austrian Victims Welfare Act is issued under certain requirements for victims of National Socialism. Please note that common pension payments are not part of the Victims Welfare.

If your persecuted ancestor has or had such a victim card, please mark the respective field in the online questionnaire. In this case, it is not required to enclose further documentation on your persecuted ancestor.

The National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism was established in 1995 to express Austria's special responsibility towards the victims of National Socialism. It offers payments to victims of National Socialism, in particular to those who had previously received little or no compensation, to those in need of special assistance or those whose personal circumstances warrant relief. Please find further information on the National Fund here.

If your persecuted ancestor or you have made a successful request to the National Fund, please mark the respective field in the online questionnaire. In this case, it is not required to enclose further documentation on your persecuted ancestor.

The General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism was established in the wake of the Washington Agreement of 2001. The purpose of the General Settlement Fund is to bring about a comprehensive resolution to open questions of compensation and to acknowledge Austria’s moral responsibility for losses of assets suffered by the victims of the Nazi regime in Austria between 1938 and 1945 in the form of voluntary payments. Please find further information on the General Settlement Fund here.

If your persecuted ancestor or you have made a successful request to the General Settlement Fund, please mark the respective field in the online questionnaire. In this case, it is not required to enclose further documentation on your persecuted ancestor.

In this case, we ask you to provide any (piece of) information about your ancestor that you know of. The competent authorities in Austria will try to find relevant documents and information about your ancestor in archives and registers.

Yes. If you are no longer in possession of the original documents, please submit existing copies. However, documents referring to your own person must be presented in original, and must be authenticated, unless there is an authentication waiver in effect between your home country and Austria.

Yes, your original documents will be returned immediately after being verified. Copies of your documents will remain at the Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General) for further processing.

If you are no longer in possession of the original documents, we ask you to submit existing copies. If possible, original documents and copies of the original documents should be submitted.

If the documents concern your persecuted ancestor, the authorities in Austria are able to access them; for this purpose information about the person (name and date of birth) for whom the proceedings were conducted is required.

You must, however, prove your direct relationship to the persecuted ancestor, unless this is evident from the previous proceedings. Documents about your own person must also be submitted in original.

Yes, you can send documents for preliminary examination by your local Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General) or, in general, the documents concerning your persecuted ancestor and the proof of direct relationship to this person. Original documents regarding your own person require either a diplomatic authentication or an apostille (unless there is an authentication waiver in effect between your home country and Austria, in which case the foreign original documents do not have to be authenticated) – these documents can only be submitted by post, not by e-mail.

At the request of the competent authority, documents that are not in German or English must be submitted with a German translation by a sworn and judicially certified translator. An additional authentication of this translation is not required.

No, documents in English do not need to be translated, unless specifically required so by the Austrian authorities. An additional authentication of this translation is not required.

You do not need to translate documents in English, as long as you do not receive a request by the Austrian authorities.

No, this is not possible. We kindly ask you to contact a sworn and judicially certified translator.

A marriage/divorce certificate is a document concerning your own person and your civil status, and must therefore be presented at the time of filing if your last name has changed due to marriage or divorce, and the direct relationship to your persecuted ancestor is thus no longer evident. The certificate is also needed to properly enter your civil status in the Austrian central registries after you have acquired Austrian citizenship.

The municipal citizenship certificate (“Heimatschein”) served as proof of possession of the municipal citizenship until 1938. It was replaced by the certificate of citizenship (“Staatsbürgerschaftsnachweis”).

Today, municipal citizenship certificates are no longer issued. It is possible, however, that your ancestor's municipal citizenship is still recorded in documents/archives to which the competent authority has access.

If you do not have the birth certificate of your persecuted ancestor, the Austrian authorities can attempt to obtain relevant information in Austrian archives within its research capabilities. In this case, no birth certificate is required.

Diplomatic authentications or “apostilles” are issued by the authorities of the country that issued the documents. More information can be found in the authentication - section of the website of the Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General) in the country that issued the document.

For further questions, we kindly refer you to the competent authorities of the issuing state.

The “apostille” is a simplified form of authentication of documents. A prerequisite for the recognition of a state's apostille is that both countries are members of the 1961 Hague Convention Treaty and no objection has been raised. You can find further information on the website of the Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General) in the country that issued the document.

All original foreign documents relating to you as a filing party require either a diplomatic authentication or an apostille (except for documents from countries with an authentication waiver in effect).

You can find further information on the website of the competent Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General) in the country that issued the document.

Documents about your persecuted ancestor do neither require a diplomatic authentication nor an apostille.

According to the provisions of the Austrian Citizenship Act, only persons without previous criminal convictions may acquire citizenship.

The current criminal record certificate needs diplomatic authentication or an apostille (exception: current criminal record certificates from Israel, which are being directly sent to the Austrian Embassy by the Israeli authorities, as well as certificates from countries with an authentication waiver in effect).

You can file your declaration at the Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General) in whose consular jurisdiction you have your principal residence. The specific jurisdiction of the Austrian diplomatic representations (Austrian Embassy or Consulates General) can be accessed here.

You can submit your declaration and documents at any time and without any time limit; there is no deadline for the submission of the declaration.

No. You can submit your declaration on or at any date after September 1, 2020, without any deadline.

You do not have to file your declaration in person. Nevertheless, all documents regarding yourself must be provided in original.

No. However, both parents (legal guardians) must give their consent to the declaration of the child, either by signing the form or by written declaration of consent and providing a copy of their passport.

In cases of doubt, proof of parental authority must be provided. 

Yes. If this is not possible, the consent of the second parent/guardian might also be expressed by means of a written declaration of consent accompanied by a copy of the declarant’s passport.

You do not have to file all statements at the same time, although, this would be advisable to speed up the procedure.

If you submit the declarations for more than one member of your family, not all persons must appear at the Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General) in person. 

If the members of your family file their declarations separately, each person must submit all necessary documents about the persecuted ancestor during the proceedings.

In case you file the declarations collectively, it is sufficient to present these documents only once for all applicants.

The Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General) will immediately forward your declaration to the competent provincial government in Austria for processing.

The processing time of your declaration in Austria depends on several factors, including which documents you have submitted and whether extensive research by the Austrian authorities is necessary. To make the procedure as efficient and fast as possible, the Austrian Foreign Ministry provides an online questionnaire, which provides you with valuable information regarding your procedure. You can simplify and accelerate the procedure by filling out the online questionnaire on the homepage of the Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General) in whose jurisdiction you reside and by presenting all available documents. The Austrian Embassies and Consulates General will provide you with the best possible support for filing your declaration.

It is at your discretion whether you file the declaration through a lawyer. This has no influence on the procedure, or its duration or outcome.

In any case, the Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulates General) will give you the best possible support and advice for filing your application. For this purpose, an online questionnaire has been developed to provide you with valuable information for your proceedings and to enable the Austrian authorities to provide you with the best possible support in filing your declaration.

Filing a declaration in accordance to § 58c para. 1a of the Austrian Citizenship Act has been exempted from all federal fees by law.

However, since citizenship matters in Austria are within the jurisdiction of the federal provinces, some fees may be charged depending on the federal province in question. If you were not born in Austria and/or do not live in Austria, the Province of Vienna is responsible for you and will not charge any fees.

Please Note: Costs for services of the authorities of your home country or for translations or authentications are not covered by this fee exemption. If you engage a lawyer in order to file your declaration or to provide assistance in the further procedure, please keep in mind that lawyer’s fees have to be paid by yourself.

The decision of your declaration is made by the competent state government in Austria after receiving your declaration through the Austrian diplomatic mission.

The duration of the process depends on a number of factors, like the specific circumstances of your personal situation or the completeness of the documents you submitted. The Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General) has no influence over the length of the procedure.

In specific cases the competent provincial government might contact you directly with further questions; the Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General) will continue to assist you also in this case.

As soon as the competent provincial government has processed your declaration and approved it, it will issue an official decision (“Bescheid”) stating that you have acquired Austrian citizenship through your declaration being received by the provincial government. The official decision will be delivered to you via the Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General). Upon delivery of the decision, you are an Austrian citizen.

As an Austrian citizen, you have the right to an Austrian passport, which you can apply for at the competent Austrian representation if you live abroad (or at any passport authority in Austria, if you happen to be in Austria). 

It should be noted that the citizenship procedure (e.g. according to § 58c StbG) and the procedure for issuing a passport are two completely separate procedures and you can only apply for a passport after receiving a positive citizenship certificate.

To apply for a passport, you have to come personally to the Austrian representation (embassy, ​​consulate general but also many honorary consulates, provided they are authorized to act as a passport issuing authority). Please bring a photo ID to prove your identity. After your fingerprints have been taken, the passport will be produced in Austria and sent to the Austrian representation abroad within a few weeks. You can pick up your passport there or have it sent to you on request.

The cost of a regular adult passport is currently € 76.-

No. This will not be necessary. The presentation of the decision (“Bescheid”) or the certificate of citizenship (“Staatsbürgerschaftsnachweis”) is usually sufficient.

A certificate of citizenship is a document confirming that you are holding Austrian citizenship. As soon as the acquisition of citizenship as a descendant of a persecuted ancestor has been completed, you can apply for a certificate of citizenship with your Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General). You are, however, not required to hold a certificate of citizenship nor is it a mandatory requirement, if you want to apply for an Austrian passport.

Austrian citizens automatically lose their Austrian citizenship if they apply for another citizenship, unless they would have been granted a so-called retention before.

As an Austrian citizen, you must therefore apply for approval to retain your Austrian citizenship before accepting another citizenship. You can also submit this application to the professional representation authority responsible for your main place of residence (embassy or consulate general).

In this context, please note that the acquisition of Austrian citizenship is retroactive to the date of the filing of the notification. Therefore, if your procedure for Austrian citizenship has not yet been completed and you wish to apply or have already applied for another citizenship, please contact your competent professional representation authority (embassy or consulate general) or the domestic authority to arrange the further procedure. Otherwise, you may face the retroactive loss of Austrian citizenship and cannot file a new declaration.

As a male Austrian citizen between the ages of 17 and 50 you are required to do military service. If you permanently reside abroad, you only have to register with the Austrian diplomatic representation (Austrian Embassy or Consulate General), but are not required to do actual military service. However, if you are moving to Austria, you are required to register with the Military authorities within three weeks after taking residence. You can then be called up for basic military service (six months) between the ages of 18 and 35.

The citizenship of persons, who voluntarily enter military service of a foreign country or who remain in the non-compulsory/voluntary military service of a foreign country beyond the scope of its compulsory service, is to be revoked. Persons, who had their Austrian citizenship revoked after May 1, 2022 cannot file a new declaration.

The citizenship law in Austria does not, in principle, allow the subsequent acquisition of a foreign citizenship. Austrians may only acquire a foreign citizenship by application, declaration or with express consent if they have previously applied for retention of their Austrian citizenship. Moreover, the approval of this retention must be in your possession and legally binding before the date of acquisition of the foreign citizenship. Otherwise, in principle, the loss of Austrian citizenship occurs automatically with the acquisition of the foreign citizenship. In the procedure pursuant to section 58c StbG, this also occurs if the procedure for the acquisition of Austrian citizenship has not yet been completed, as the date of receipt of the declaration by the authorities will also retroactively be the date of acquisition of citizenship.

The procedures for acquiring a foreign citizenship should only be started (or continued) if the retention procedures for your Austrian citizenship have been completed beforehand and you have received a positive decision. Otherwise, there is a risk of losing Austrian citizenship. For further questions or, if necessary, assistance with the application for retention, the Embassy/Consulate General is ready to assist you at any time.

With the acquisition of a foreign citizenship through application, declaration or express consent, in principle, the loss of Austrian citizenship occurs automatically. Persons who lose their citizenship after May 1, 2022 by acquiring a foreign citizenship may not file a new declaration for the acquisition of Austrian citizenship (unless their possession of Austrian citizenship was not known to them).