Austria

Dual Citizenship Austria

Restricted

Austrian citizenship is generally based on the principle of ius sanguinis, although there are some exceptions. Citizenship in Austria can be acquired by descent, through naturalisation, by entitlement or also through a Citizenship by Investment programme, which grants citizenship upon the fulfilment of certain conditions.

Article 10 (6) of the Austrian Citizenship Act states that citizenship is granted based on extraordinary services rendered by foreigners in the past and that is expected to be rendered also in the future. Extraordinary benefits are only those that are currently well above the average in the respective area. With regards to economic citizenship requirements, the Austrian Ministry for Interior Affairs explicitly lays down a list of points. These may include being an owner of a company or person with managing function with significant influence in the company; high economic efficiency of the company; the creation and safeguarding of jobs; already made investments or completed projects in Austria; an international reputation of the company; or promotion of the bilateral and multilateral external relations of Austria in the relevant economic sector.

In general, the Austrian Citizenship Act does not allow dual citizenship, and therefore, upon acquiring another citizenship, an Austrian citizen would have to renounce their original citizenship. The only exceptions where dual citizenship may be accepted are where:

• Persons obtain two citizenships at the time they were born;
• The retention of the second citizenship is in the interest of the Republic of Austria for extraordinary service;
• Personal reasons are worth considering, such as when a natural person is unable to renounce their original citizenship; or
• Persons seek permission to retain the Austrian citizenship from Austrian authorities before obtaining a second foreign citizenship. Failure to obtain prior permission would lead to a loss of Austrian citizenship.