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Will Austria implement easier citizenship rules?

The opposition Social Democrats have called for a relaxation in Austria's strict citizenship rules. Could this happen?

Published: 9 June 2021 17:54 CEST
Will Austria implement easier citizenship rules?
An Austrian passport. Photo: Wikicommons

Austria’s opposition SPÖ party (Social Democrats of Austria) is calling for easier access to Austrian citizenship.

As The Local has previously reported, Austria has some of the strictest citizenship requirements in Europe.

The party argues there should be a legal right to citizenship after six years of legal residence, provided all other criteria are met. 

At ten years’ continuous residence, Austria has one of the longest naturalisation processes of any European country. 

COMPARE: Which European countries have the toughest rules for gaining citizenship?

The SPÖ also want children born in Austria to automatically receive citizenship if one parent has been legally resident in Austria for five years. 

Currently, only children born to an Austrian citizen mother automatically become Austrian citizens themselves at birth.

But if only the father is Austrian and the parents are not married, then an acknowledgement of paternity (Vaterschaftsanerkenntnis) can be made for the child to become Austrian.

In cases like this, children can also have dual citizenship.

The party also called for federal government fees of (currently €1,115 euros) for naturalisation to be canceled and individual state fees, to be standardised at a correspondingly low level.

Under the new plan, the rules would also be relaxed with regard to receipt of social benefits. 

Citizenship would then be open to all those who have not received social assistance benefits in at least 36 months in the past six years.

In addition, the SPÖ want to replace the existing citizenship exam with a course in which participants would help to “make our basic rights and democracy tangible in a participatory way”.

READ MORE: 

Could such a proposal pass? 

The reform efforts come from discussions which started at the SPÖ party conference in 2018 which later morphed into a Migration Working Group. 

The proposals as laid out above were passed unanimously by the SPÖ’s executive committee. 

However, while the centre-right SPÖ may be in favour, the proposals are also subject to significant opposition. 

Interior Minister Karl Nehammer and Integration Minister Susanne Raab (both from the centre-right ÖVP) rejected the plans. 

Herbert Kickl, the new leader of the far-right FPÖ, criticised the plans and said it would bring “new voters through naturalisations on the assembly line”.

Given the opposition, it is unlikely that the plans would become incorporated under the current government, but they may become a key plank in the Social Democrats policies in the lead up to the next Austrian election in 2024 – particularly considering the degree to which they are supported by the SPÖ. 

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MIGRANT CRISIS

How a change in the profile of asylum seekers is impacting Austria

The number of asylum applications has dropped in Austria, but changes in the profile of those arriving are creating new demands and new policies.

Published: 22 April 2024 16:05 CEST
How a change in the profile of asylum seekers is impacting Austria

Asylum policy is a controversial topic in Austria, especially in an election year. The far-right has been pushing its anti-immigration agenda to gather support ahead of federal elections later this year.

While the sheer number of refugees can shape an election, differences in who those refugees are and where they come from also create challenges and demands for government action.

The profile of those seeking asylum in Austria has changed compared to recent years.

In the first quarter of 2024, almost a third of asylum applications came from children between the ages of zero and seven, as Austrian media has reported.

Around 53 percent of applicants are minors, and the proportion of women seeking asylum has also risen significantly. However, the overall number of asylum applications during the period fell by 32 percent compared to the same period the year before. 

Whereas 2023 most asylum applications in Austria were from males (only around 24 percent of applications were submitted by women), the country is now experiencing the “family reunification” phenomenon. In other words the wifes and children are following to seek protection.

Asylum applicants are still mostly from Syria and Afghanistan – two nationalities with a high chance of obtaining protection in Austria. Only 30 percent of applications from Syrians were rejected, whereas for Afghans 39 percent were refused.

READ ALSO: Border centres and ‘safe’ states: The EU’s major asylum changes explained

What does the change in profile mean for Austria?

One immediate consequence of the influx of children has already been seen in Vienna, the destination of most refugees: the school system is overwhelmed with the new arrivals, as several Austrian newspapers have reported in the last few weeks.

“This is putting such a strain on the system that high-quality teaching is hardly possible any more,” Thomas Krebs, a union representative, told Kurier. According to the report, around 300 children will arrive in Vienna every month, resulting in a need for 140 classes by the end of the school year. 

The Austrian capital was already overwhelmed by a shortage of teachers and an overflow of schoolchildren—particularly since the war in Ukraine, when 4,000 children were integrated into Vienna’s schools from February 2022.

The kids coming from Syria also need more support than merely German classes: “The Syrian children who come to us from refugee camps are a particular challenge for the system. Many are traumatised and often not even literate in their own language,” Krebs said.

He added that children need to spend more time in kindergarten—to learn “the basics, not just the language.” The education expert also believes it’s necessary to invest more in extracurricular activities, where young people can learn German, acquire behavioural skills that are important for school, and learn how to spend their free time meaningfully.

READ ALSO: What’s the reason behind the drop in Austrian asylum seeker claims?

What is Vienna doing?

Vienna’s Department of Education points out that new teachers are being recruited. In the current academic year, 2,400 teachers have been hired, Kurier reported.

Director of Education Heinrich Himmer said: “We support pupils and face the challenges together so that learning and living together work well. I would like to thank everyone who works so hard in Vienna’s schools. However, the responsibility for integration is an all-Austrian one, where solutions exist at the federal level.”

How does family reunification work?

There is a special process for granting family reunification rights for family members of refugees in Austria. 

According to information from the Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum, if a foreigner has been granted asylum status in Austria, family members can apply for an entry permit at an Austrian representation authority abroad within three months of this status being granted.

If this is granted, they can travel to Austria to apply for asylum in the family procedure and receive the same protection status as the reference person. If the application is only submitted after three months, they must also provide proof of adequate accommodation, health insurance, and income.

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