The amendment made by the Austrian Parliament concerning entitlement to Austrian citizenship enables tens of thousands of Israeli citizens and their descendants to apply for Austrian citizenship.
Additionally, new regulations are due to come into effect on May 1, 2022, which further expand the circle of those entitled to Austrian citizenship.
At the start of September 2020, an historic amendment enacted by the Austrian Parliament regarding entitlement to Austrian citizenship came into effect.
tens of thousands of Israeli citizens and their offspring are eligible to apply for Austrian citizenship.
Initial data shows that as a result of this amendment, tens of thousands of Israeli citizens and their offspring are eligible to apply for Austrian citizenship.
For those familiar with the process, the submission is (ostensibly) straightforward and beyond proving a connection to a persecuted person who left Austria, involves no concomitant requirements of the kind typically found in applications for other citizenships, such as:
Knowledge of the German language and/or a period of residence within the borders of Austria.
Under the amendment, any Jew or Jewess with or without Austrian citizenship or a citizen of one of the countries that formerly belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who between the years 1933 and 1945 permanently resided within the territory of the present-day State of Austria and who was compelled to leave that territory between the years 1933 and 1955, is entitled to Austrian citizenship for himself and for all his offspring and descendants, including adoptees.
The applicants must prove that the persecuted ancestors meet the (ostensibly) simple requirements as described above.
The circle of those eligible for Austrian citizenship is set to grow soon.
Advocate Eran Wagner a genealogist whose firm and team have specialized in obtaining European citizenship for over 20 years, explains that the Austrian authorities are now striving to broaden the ambit of the aforementioned historical amendment.
The new regulations are scheduled to come into force on May 1, 2022.
The circle of eligible individuals shall expand to include the following descendants:
- Descendants of citizens or residents of Austria, persecuted by the Nazis, who were sent from Austria to the extermination camps and who did not survive the horrors of the times.
- Descendants of citizens or residents of Austria who held citizenship of one of the states of the Austro-German Empire and who ended their lives in Austria starting from January 30, 1933.
- Descendants of Austrian citizens or residents with citizenship of one of the states of the Austro-German Empire who were murdered on Austrian soil by the Nazis starting on January 30, 1933.
- Descendants of an Austrian citizen who left Austria before January 1, 1933 and did not return to Austria due to persecution (for example, because of being Jewish) – in this case too, the descendants are entitled to Austrian citizenship.
- Descendants of someone who was previously an Austrian citizen or resident with citizenship of one of the countries of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but lost his citizenship, provided that he left the country after January 1, 1933. For example, descendants of a woman of Polish origin who, before her marriage, was an Austrian citizen or resident of Austria, but married a man of Turkish origin and as a result of the marriage became a Turkish citizen and lost her Polish citizenship. In this case too, her descendants will be entitled to receive Austrian citizenship.
With regard to the said amendment, Advocate Wagner explains that in contrast to the situation which existed before the law was amended, the range of eligibility has now been broadened so that applications may also be submitted by those who hold additional foreign citizenships, in addition to Israeli citizenship, who have served in a foreign standing army (such as: the IDF), or have worked in civil service.
He further adds that the eligibility criteria has been significantly expanded, so that the descendants of women of Austrian extraction or women holding Austrian residency are also now entitled to submit applications, which was precluded in most cases prior to the amendment of the law.
However, under the new regulations, which are due to come into force on May 1, 2022, anyone who obtains Austrian citizenship and subsequently acts to obtain (and actually obtains) another foreign citizenship, or serves in a standing army, shall lose their Austrian citizenship.
In his remarks, Adv. Wagner emphasizes that although the Austrian amendment is indeed very favorable to applicants, the Austrian officials who examine, approve and/or reject the applications strictly adhere to the letter of the law- verbatim!
Austrian authorities make no concessions to citizenship applicants regarding establishing intergenerational ties
It can be understood from the foregoing, that Adv. Wagner stresses that the intergenerational connection must be carefully established and proved in a solid and legal fashion.
Although approximately 89 years have passed since 1933 and the documents required to prove propinquity are not always to hand or have been lost, the Austrian authorities do not make any concessions in this regard.
In many cases, Wagner explains, the firm’s knowledge and many years of experience in genealogy enable the discovery of a pivotal document and/or documents in various archives around the world.
For example, Wagner continues, most of the immigration to Israel from Austria began in 1933, following Hitler’s rise to power.
During those years, prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, a large segment of the immigrants voluntarily changed their official given name or surname, without it being registered or recorded in any organized official document.
In such cases, a prima facie contradiction and/or discrepancy arises between the names appearing in the official Austrian documentation and those appearing in the official Israeli records.
While this problem is as common feature of many application cases, it is usually resolved through various legal techniques and submissions.
Law amendment is friendly to applicants for Austrian citizenship whose ancestors were persecuted by the Austrian government
In summary, an historic legislative amendment in Austria and the new regulations which shall shortly come into force enable tens of thousands of Israelis, whose forefathers were persecuted by the Austrian regime, to apply for Austrian citizenship.
This law and its regulations are applicant-friendly but require well-founded proof of the relationship and connection between the various generations and their persecuted forefathers.
*Please note, the information on this page does not constitute advice of any kind or a recommendation to take or refrain from taking proceedings.
Anyone relying on this information does so solely at his own risk.
The accuracy of the information may change from time to time.
