Austrian Citizenship by Descent

A child born to an Austrian mother, or to an Austrian father married to the mother, is Austrian at birth under §7 of the Citizenship Act, wherever the birth takes place. If the child also acquires another citizenship at birth — American by being born in the US, for example — both can be held. Austria's famous strictness applies to acquiring a second nationality later: an Austrian who voluntarily naturalises elsewhere generally loses Austrian citizenship unless a retention permit was granted first.

One date matters for mothers: before 1 September 1983, a child born in marriage took Austrian citizenship only from the father. Children of Austrian mothers born before then could claim it by declaration, but that window closed in 1988.

That is why most diaspora chains broke: an emigrant who naturalised abroad lost Austrian citizenship and could not pass it on. §58c exists to repair the cases where emigration was caused by persecution.

Since 1 September 2020, §58c lets people who were persecuted by the NSDAP or the authorities of the Third Reich, or who left Austria before 15 May 1955 for fear of such persecution, and all of their direct descendants, acquire Austrian citizenship by notification. There is no generational limit, no language test, no residence requirement and no need to give up any other citizenship. A further amendment in 2022 refined the provision.

The line must run through the persecuted person. A persecuted great-aunt does not create eligibility for her siblings' descendants.

You need proof that the ancestor was an Austrian citizen or lived in Austria, evidence of the persecution or of the flight and its circumstances, and civil records linking each generation to you. Useful sources include the Austrian State Archives, the Vienna City and Provincial Archives, the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW), emigration records and Holocaust-era archives.

Notifications are filed with the Vienna provincial government (MA 35) or through an Austrian embassy or consulate. Fees are low; the real costs are translations, archive research and, often, a genealogist.

Section 58c lets people persecuted by the Nazi regime — or for defending the democratic Republic — who left Austria before 15 May 1955, and all their direct descendants, acquire Austrian citizenship by a simple notification (Anzeige). There's no generation limit, no language test, no residence requirement, and you keep your current citizenship. The procedure is free of charge.

The ancestor must have been an Austrian citizen, or a citizen of a successor state of the Habsburg monarchy who lived in Austria. Typical evidence includes Austrian residence registrations (Meldezettel), emigration papers, and records from the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance or Jewish community archives. Applications go to the Vienna provincial government (MA 35), usually through an Austrian embassy.

Outside § 58c, Austria is strict: under § 27 an Austrian who acquires another citizenship by application loses Austrian citizenship unless they first obtained permission to retain it (Beibehaltung). That matters for family lines — a parent who naturalised abroad without permission before you were born wasn't Austrian at your birth, although children born before the loss keep their Austrian citizenship.