Dual Austrian Citizen by New Law and moving there?

That’s an interesting background, it’s similar to mine. My mother was born 1924 in Bruck an der Mur , Austria. She had met Hitler as a child on one of those school trips, moved to Berlin when  a little older to work then moved to northern England and never went back to Austria.
She married my dad who was from Latvia then I came along as an only child. I ask the same question about dual nationality and would love to live in Austria as Austrian  was actually my first language as a child but over the years it’s  faded. I’m not sure if I have any relatives there as my mother never really spoke about the past and her family much but it’s a bit late now as both my parents are no more.........

Trust your children! They will take it up very quickly! You have permission to live in one of the prettiest countries in the world! Vienna is one of the highest ranked cities for standard of living, if that is where your family lives.
There is a huge tolerance in Austria in the larger towns or cities. Public transport is highly organised, in Vienna on 3-4 levels, underground, or metro, light railway, busses and trams.
Good luck with your decision!
Rod Moore

Hi, my mother is Austrian too, and she married my father who is a Pakistani. My siblings received their Austrian Nationalities because they were less than 18 years old when the law was passed that married Austrian women could avail of the Austrian Nationality. Unfortunately, despite consulting lawyers and advisers I was repeatedly told that there was no way for me to be an Austrian citizen, What actually bothers me that in case of emergencies, I would be separated from my family.

Reading your post, it seems that they are offering children of Austrians the Nationality once again... would you be so kind and share the information with me?

Thanks and best regards

Dr. Shireen Khanum

If anyone has a clear legal brief on this it would be good.

My children are Austrian citizens by benefit of being registered at birth by their Austrian mother, but also hold UK passports.

Although I am married to an Austrian and live there I cannot become a dual citizen because they do not recognise dual citizenship I am told. I would have to renounce my UK citizenship.

So not sure how this works for some and not others...?

Hi again.

It's not uncommon.  Your kids acquired their dual nationality from you and their mother, nothing can change that, but many countries have become wary of people who were collecting nationalities for no clear reason, so have introduced legislation to control it.

Most countries use the system of Jus sanguinis when establishing a persons nationality; Austria is one of them.  It basically means that you will inherit the nationality of your parents at the time of your birth.  Any changes are at the control of nationality involved, so in your case, if you wish to apply for Austrian citizenship, then they are happy to consider it, but only Austrian law will apply.  UK law is quite happy to accept dual nationality, but Austria require you to revoke your other nationality unless it is in the interest of the Austrian people that you retain it, that's the only exception allowed.

So, the question is if you can't think of a reason why you should retain it that is in the interest of the Austrian people, then "so what" - why do you want to retain your British passport?  There are many 3rd country nationals living in other countries without any problem at all, why not keep your British passport?

Cynic
Expat Team

Hi there, this law applies specifically to descendants of Holocaust victims or survivors. Because my mother was escaping Hitler in 1938, only now they are offering citizenship. Before, I was in the same limbo like you, unable to obtain citizenship because it was conferred on the paternal line. Here is all info about the latest law. Specifics are not fully known yet:
https://www.austria.org/the-latest/2019 … ersecution
Whether or not the government will be moved to go back and offer citizenship to children of all Austrian women is unknown, but you could perhaps make your interest known to them. I would recommend contacting your consulate. They may be able to make some arrangement, if you need citizenship. At some point in the past, I was refused citizenship, but I was told they had opened up a brief window, I think in 2014, to children born before 1983 of Austrian women, but then they closed that window.

They are offering it because my mother was an Austrian citizen who escaped Hitler. If she had been male, I would have been given citizenship, because they conferred citizenship on a patrilineal line. However, because my mother was married to an American man at the time of my birth, I was not offered citizenship that way. (The law changed in 1983, I believe, to include children of married Austrian women as citizens.) I would have renounced my American citizenship decades ago to go live in Austria as a classical musician, but citizenship was not offered to me then.  It is only now, as part of a new law (see link below), because they are offering dual citizenship to children, grandchildren; and great-grandchildren of Austrian Holocaust survivors, that I consider it again, because I have settled into adult life here in the United States. But it is good to have options in life, and to give my young children a broader life experience.

Please look at this website, and see if the new law applies to you. If she left Austria because of persecution, you are definitely eligible for dual citizenship. Otherwise, I would recommend talking to your consulate. Good luck! https://www.austria.org/the-latest/2019 … ersecution

Hi,

My grandfather, born and raised in Vienna, escaped persecution and came to America in 1938. My family will be moving to Austria under this new victims of national socialism law in 2021 should Trump win re-election, or otherwise remain in office.

Moving is costly and challenging, but we see no future for our son in the US under these circumstances.

Many thanks to Austria! We look forward to starting our new lives in a land of hope and tolerance.