It is no secret that acquiring Austrian citizenship is subject to numerous requirements. In fact, Austria is often cited as one of the countries in the EU, and perhaps even in the entire world, with particularly “strict” citizenship laws. In all cases, the law imposes requirements on applicants for citizenship that are not always easy to fulfill.
These requirements for the granting of citizenship also apply to people who are entitled to asylum, i.e., who are refugees within the meaning of the Geneva Refugee Convention (GRC). After ten years of legal residence in Austria, this group of people has a legal right to be granted citizenship — provided, of course, that they meet the other requirements for citizenship. The basic requirement is therefore that their residence in Austria is legal — those who are residing in Austria illegally generally have no chance of obtaining citizenship. In addition to adequate knowledge of the German language (currently at CEFR level B1) and a secure livelihood (i.e., a sufficiently high income after deduction of fixed costs) without social welfare benefits, other requirements for granting citizenship include no convictions or frequent or serious administrative offenses. Even several traffic violations can mean that citizenship remains out of reach.
Even if someone meets all the requirements, the naturalization process is a complex and lengthy administrative procedure, especially since the authorities must carefully check all the requirements. It is not uncommon for such a process to take not only months but years. Finally, federal and state fees must be paid, because — contrary to false claims — citizenship is not “gifted” to anyone.
Mag. Balazs Esztegar, a lawyer specializing in citizenship law and author of several specialist publications, highlighted these and other aspects of the citizenship procedure in his guest commentary in the daily newspaper “Die Presse.”