If your parent, grandparent, great-grandparent or an earlier direct ancestor was persecuted by the Nazi regime and left Austria, was deported, or died because of that persecution, you can very likely become Austrian under § 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act (Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz, StbG). You file a written declaration (Anzeige), usually through the Austrian embassy or consulate where you live. There is no generation limit, no German test, no residence requirement, no Austrian fee, and you don’t have to give up your current citizenship.
Who counts as a persecuted ancestor?
“Persecution” in § 58c means persecution by organs of the NSDAP (the Nazi party) or the authorities of the German Reich, or persecution for supporting the democratic Republic of Austria. It covers persecution that your ancestor actually suffered and persecution they had good reason to fear. The current text recognises these groups:
- People who left Austria before 15 May 1955. Your ancestor had their main residence in Austria as an Austrian citizen, a citizen of one of the successor states of the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy, or a stateless person, and went abroad before 15 May 1955 because of that persecution. This is the group most families fall into.
- People who lost citizenship by marriage just before leaving. Someone who lost Austrian citizenship around the time of their departure because a marriage gave them a foreign nationality is treated the same way.
- Austrians who could not come back. An Austrian citizen who had no main residence in Austria between 30 January 1933 and 9 May 1945 because they would have faced persecution if they had returned or moved there.
- People deported abroad before 9 May 1945. Austrian citizens, and successor-state citizens or stateless people whose main residence was in Austria.
- People who died because of the persecution before 9 May 1945, in Austria or abroad. Here too the law covers Austrian citizens and successor-state citizens or stateless people who lived in Austria.
The 15 May 1955 date is the signing of the Austrian State Treaty, so the route also covers families who left in the years right after the war, as long as the departure was caused by the persecution.
Which descendants qualify?
Anyone who is a descendant “in direct descending line” of a person in one of those groups: children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on, with no limit. It does not matter whether the line runs through mothers or fathers. Children adopted while they were minors count as descendants too.
The line has to be direct. Your ancestor’s siblings, cousins or in-laws don’t help, however well documented their persecution is. Your ancestor also doesn’t need to have claimed anything: the law covers descendants of a person who acquired citizenship under § 58c or could have.
What changed in 2020 and 2022
Before 2020, § 58c helped only the persecuted people themselves. The amendment Parliament passed in 2019 opened it to their direct descendants from 1 September 2020. A second amendment (BGBl. I Nr. 48/2022) took effect on 1 May 2022. According to the Parliament’s own summary, it filled gaps found in practice, notably for descendants of people who were murdered by the Nazi regime or deported abroad. The groups listed above are the current, 2022 version of the law.
Who is excluded?
- People who lost Austrian citizenship by taking another one. If you were already Austrian and lost it by acquiring a foreign citizenship (under § 27 of the Act), the descendant route is closed to you, unless you didn’t know you were Austrian at the time. The Foreign Ministry applies this to losses after 1 May 2022.
- People who renounced Austrian citizenship or had it withdrawn.
- People who don’t meet the character conditions. The checks on the ancestor are waived, but you yourself must meet some of the general conditions in § 10 of the Act, which deal with matters such as criminal convictions and risks to public order and security. That is why every applicant submits a recent police certificate.
Dual citizenship, language and residence
Austria normally makes new citizens give up their old nationality, and Austrians who take another citizenship by application usually lose Austrian citizenship. Section 58c is the big exception: you keep your current citizenship. There is also no German test and no requirement to live in Austria. For Americans, Canadians, Britons and Australians, dual citizenship is generally not a problem at home either, but the Ministry of the Interior asks everyone to check, because some countries strip their own citizenship automatically. See dual citizenship by descent for how this works in other countries.
How to file the declaration (Anzeige)
- Do the online questionnaire. The Foreign Ministry runs one, built with the City of Vienna, at ias.bmeia.gv.at. It tells you which documents you need and which already exist in Austrian archives or with the National Fund or the General Settlement Fund, so you don’t have to supply them again. Use the link on the website of the embassy or consulate responsible for you.
- Find your embassy or consulate. You must file with the Austrian embassy or consulate general responsible for the area of your main residence. Others can’t accept your declaration.
- Gather your documents (list below) and fill in the declaration form.
- Submit it. The embassy or consulate advises you beforehand and forwards the form and attachments to the deciding authority. If you were neither born in Austria nor live there, that is the Vienna provincial government, Municipal Department 35 (MA 35). If you live in Austria, you file with your own state government (in Vienna, again MA 35).
- Wait for the decision (Bescheid). If the conditions are met, the authority issues a written decision stating that you became Austrian on the day your declaration reached it.
You don’t need a lawyer. Both ministries say so, and if you hire one anyway, you pay their fees yourself.
Documents you need
About you
- A valid passport and a current photo
- Your birth certificate
- Marriage certificate or other civil-status papers, especially if your name has changed
- A criminal record certificate from your country of residence, no more than 8 months old when you file
About the persecuted ancestor
- Proof that they were an Austrian citizen, a successor-state citizen or stateless
- Proof of their main residence in Austria, or of living abroad between 30 January 1933 and 9 May 1945
- Evidence of the persecution they suffered or feared
- Proof that they left before 15 May 1955, where that is the basis of the claim
- The marriage record, if the claim rests on loss of citizenship by marriage
According to the Foreign Ministry, you generally need no documents about the ancestor if they were deported or died as a result of the persecution.
Linking each generation
- Birth certificates and, where relevant, marriage certificates for every generation down to you
- For births outside marriage, the acknowledgment or court determination of paternity
- Adoption papers, and records of any name changes
Foreign documents need an apostille or diplomatic legalization unless an exemption applies (see our apostille guide). Documents in German or English are accepted as they are. Anything in another language needs a German translation by a sworn and court-certified translator. Our document chain guide shows how to organise a multi-generation file.
Where to find proof of persecution
Many families have no papers that say “persecuted”. Evidence is often indirect: a Vienna registration card (Meldezettel) showing deregistration in 1938 or 1939, a Jewish community birth or marriage record, emigration and ship records, or an ancestor’s later claim for compensation. Places worth checking include:
- The online questionnaire itself, which flags records already held in Austria, for example by the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism. The law lets the authority call on the National Fund as an expert to assess whether the conditions are plausibly met.
- The Austrian State Archives and the Vienna City and Provincial Archives, which hold many Nazi-era and residence records.
- The Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG), for community records of births, marriages and emigration.
- The Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW), which researches Nazi-era persecution and victims.
If the paper trail is thin, a researcher who knows Austrian archives can save months. See hiring a genealogist and our documents checklist.
Fees and processing time
Section 58c(9) says the declaration, the decision and the documents you have to supply, specifically including certificates, civil-status records and translations, are free of fees. That means no Austrian government fees. Your real costs are ordering records, apostilles, translations from languages other than German or English, and any professional help.
No official processing time is published by the Foreign Ministry or the Ministry of the Interior. Ask your embassy or consulate what it is currently seeing. Whatever the wait, an approved decision dates your citizenship back to the day the declaration reached the authority.
§ 58c versus Austria’s normal descent rule
Ordinary Austrian citizenship by descent only passes from a parent who was Austrian when you were born. Most emigrant lines broke because the emigrant naturalised abroad and lost Austrian citizenship before their children were born. Grandparents and earlier ancestors don’t count under the normal rule. The Austrian citizenship by descent guide covers that route.
Section 58c works differently. It doesn’t ask whether citizenship was passed down at each birth. It asks whether you descend directly from a person the Nazi regime persecuted. That is why it reaches any generation. An ancestor who emigrated for other reasons, for example in 1910, gives you no § 58c claim.
Germany has a parallel route for descendants of people stripped of German citizenship between 1933 and 1945. If your family’s story touches both countries, read German citizenship under Article 116 as well.
Frequently asked questions
Can descendants of Holocaust survivors get Austrian citizenship?
Yes, if the survivor is covered by § 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act. Typically that means they lived in Austria as an Austrian citizen, a citizen of a successor state of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, or a stateless person, and left before 15 May 1955 because of persecution by the Nazi regime. Their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and later generations can all file a declaration.
Is there a generation limit under § 58c?
No. The law covers descendants “in direct descending line”, and the Foreign Ministry gives children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as examples. There is no cut-off generation.
Do I have to give up my US, UK, Canadian or Israeli citizenship?
Austria does not require it. The Ministry of the Interior warns, though, that some countries automatically take away their own citizenship when a citizen acquires another one, so check your other country’s rules before you file.
Is there a language test or a residence requirement?
No. A § 58c declaration has no German test and no requirement to live in Austria. You file from abroad through the Austrian embassy or consulate for your place of residence.
How much does a § 58c declaration cost?
Nothing in Austrian fees. Section 58c(9) makes the declaration, the decision and the supporting papers, such as certificates, civil records and translations, free of fees. You still pay for obtaining your own records, apostilles, any translations from languages other than German or English, and a lawyer if you choose to hire one.
How long does a § 58c application take?
Neither the Foreign Ministry nor the Ministry of the Interior publishes a processing time. Ask your embassy or consulate for its current estimate. Once approved, the decision confirms that you became Austrian on the day your declaration reached the authority.
My ancestor was a great-aunt, not a direct ancestor. Do I qualify?
No. The line must run directly from the persecuted person to you. A persecuted great-aunt or great-uncle does not give their siblings’ descendants a claim.
Official sources
- Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz 1985, consolidated text (RIS, Federal Chancellery) (§ 58c as amended by BGBl. I Nr. 48/2022, and §§ 7, 10 and 27)
- oesterreich.gv.at (Federal Ministry of the Interior): Citizenship for persecuted persons and their direct descendants (groups, authorities, documents)
- Austrian Foreign Ministry: Declaration pursuant to § 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act (filing abroad, documents, translations)
- Austrian Foreign Ministry: Staatsbürgerschaft für Verfolgte des Nationalsozialismus und deren direkte Nachkommen (exclusions, no lawyer needed)
- Foreign Ministry § 58c online questionnaire
- Austrian Parliament press service no. 307, 23 March 2022 (the 2022 amendment)
Checked against these sources on 24 October 2026. Rules and procedures change; confirm with your Austrian embassy or consulate before you file.