"Illegal" by mistake

Happy ending for mother after tricky mistake by authorities

The woman will soon be granted citizenship.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

"Confusion with the authorities: in the country illegally by mistake" - this "Krone" article caused a stir and a shake of the head in spring. The battle for citizenship for a well-integrated woman from Syria has finally come to an end. The court ruled in her favor.

Tired and exhausted, the woman entered the courtroom a few days ago. This is not only due to her months-long battle for Austrian citizenship and the uncertainty that came with it, but also due to her pregnancy. 

As reported, the Syrian-born woman did not know whether she had inadvertently been in Austria illegally for several months. The reason was a mistake made by the authorities, which came to light when she applied for citizenship.

The family made a life for themselves in Innsbruck.

(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

As a reminder: the wife and mother of a small child had built a life for herself in Innsbruck, learned the language, worked and studied - even in minimum study time. It was clear to her that she definitely wanted to stay here, work here, raise her young daughter and soon her second child here. Austria is now her home. And Tyrol has also become her husband's adopted home; he has already been granted citizenship, as has their young daughter.

Requirements must be met
A number of conditions must be met to obtain Austrian citizenship. It not only costs money, but also requires sufficient knowledge of German and knowledge of Austrian democracy as well as an understanding of the culture. In addition, a six-year stay in the country is mandatory, legally of course. The mother fulfilled all these requirements - or so she thought.

But that was not the case. When she applied for citizenship, her application was rejected. "The applicant does not fulfill the requirement of at least six years of legal residence," was the reason given. However, this was an error on the part of the authorities: When the woman wanted to extend her Convention passport, she was advised by the authority to withdraw this application. The authority was of the opinion that she was already legally resident in Tyrol, which was not the case.

Her application for citizenship was therefore rejected. The employee responsible said that the mistake had "unfortunately just happened" and that "nothing could be done now".

Woman did not want to accept the mistake
If the mother had not put up a fight, it would have remained "there's nothing that can be done". But the woman lodged an appeal and was ultimately proved right. As a result, she will soon be granted citizenship and, like her young daughter, will be Austrian.

The question that remains is how many people do not defend themselves and how often misunderstandings occur with the authorities. Because nobody in this courtroom was really surprised by the mistake.