Dual nationals

Austrians abroad exert pressure with initiative

(Bild: Elmar Gubisch - stock.adobe.com)

An alliance of Austrians living abroad wants to change the Citizenship Act. With the help of a parliamentary citizens' initiative, they want to make dual citizenship possible in principle.

Currently, dual citizenship is only permitted in Austria in exceptional cases. If you take on another citizenship, you automatically lose your Austrian citizenship. "This leads to the loss of valuable citizens who represent our country worldwide," lamented Martin Wallner, co-initiator of the www.doppelstaatsbuerger.at campaign. 

Retention of Austrian citizenship is only possible if there are important reasons, such as a reason worthy of special consideration in private and family life, the best interests of the child or because retention is in the interests of the Republic for a "reason worthy of special consideration". The decision is made by the responsible office of the state government. In practice, however, the chance of retention is minimal due to outdated and restrictive criteria that have not been updated for three decades, criticized the alliance.

Austrians living abroad

According to the Foreign Ministry in Vienna, there are currently more than 613,000 Austrian citizens living abroad. Most of them live in:

• Germany (255,500)
• Switzerland (67,000)
• Great Britain (39,600)
• USA (39,000)
• Australia (22,500)
• Israel (18,200)
• Spain (13,000)
• Brazil (12,500)
• Argentina (10,500)

"Must not depend on fame or connections"
The group is now proposing concrete criteria to enable a fair assessment - including family ties in Austria or professional disadvantages without citizenship of the host country. A clearly defined list of criteria is long overdue, emphasized co-initiator Andreas Eisl: "It should not depend on fame or connections whether you are allowed to remain an Austrian."