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AUSTRIAN CITIZENSHIP

‘Citizenship is problem child’: How Vienna’s immigration office MA35 is changing

The Viennese Immigration and Citizenship Department (MA35) is one stopping point for any immigrant moving to the Austrian capital. But it has many problems, here is how the department has changed.

Published: 12 January 2023 16:13 CET
Updated: 20 May 2023 11:20 CEST
'Citizenship is problem child': How Vienna's immigration office MA35 is changing
An Austrian and a European flag flutter in the wind. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

Any immigrant looking to move to Vienna will eventually have to deal with the MA35, the city’s immigration and citizenship office, whether to get their residence permit, apply for the Anmeldebescheinigung or even years later, apply for Austrian citizenship. 

The department processes an average of around 150,000 applications per year, according to the City of Vienna, and it has difficulties dealing with the amount, leading to many complaints.

One reader, Nicole, who comes from the United States, said her experience dealing with MA35 was “madness” in a recent The Local poll. Besides long waiting times (it takes more than a year to get a first appointment for naturalisation), people complain about rudeness, lost documents and contradicting requests.

Another reader, Juliana, who brought a native friend to help her with German, shared a curious situation: “They even asked for documents that didn’t exist, but in the end, it all worked out.”

READ MORE: ‘Insensitive and inefficient’: Your verdict on Vienna’s immigration office MA 35

MA35 reform

After several complaints and media reports, the office began a large-scale reform process in 2021.

“The goal was to develop MA35 into a service-oriented authority with good accessibility and shorter procedures”, the City of Vienna said. 

So far, several measures have been taken, according to the authorities. For example, there is currently a telephone service centre with a ticketing system, the number of staff has been increased and an external consulting firm is supporting the structural reform concerning customer-friendliness and increased efficiency.    

“With the telephone service centre, we have reached the first milestone in improving and professionalising customer service. In addition, we have taken a major step toward digitisation, which means that all new cases are now fully digitalised”, said Vienna’s Deputy Mayor Christoph Wiederkehr. 

He added that the numbers show better services. “The length of proceedings in immigration has been reduced by more than 25 percent,” he said. “In addition, 15 percent more procedures were completed.”

The telephone service centre has been fully operational since December 2021, and 400,000 customer calls have been made so far. 

The average waiting time for answering a call has been reduced from 3.6 minutes initially to 28 seconds, according to Stadt Wien. More than two-thirds of calls can be resolved immediately over the phone, but 145,000 tickets were created for more complex concerns. The average processing time for the tickets is 2.2 days.

READ ALSO: ‘Bring everything you have’: Key tips for dealing with Vienna’s immigration office MA 35

Additionally, all internal procedural steps for new applications are now entirely digitised. 

In the area of immigration, for example, the duration of procedures has already been reduced by over 25 percent since the end of 2021. On average, a process now takes around 52 days. In addition, approximately 15 percent more procedures have been completed. The average waiting time for a personal appointment here is currently about 24 days, MA35 said.

‘Citizenship remains the problem child’

However, citizenship processes are still taking too long and the authorities say it is due to an increase in applications. Vienna processes more than half of the naturalisation requests in Austria, and the number of applications increased by 30 percent from the first quarter to the third quarter of 2022. 

Because of that, the current waiting time for a personal appointment concerning citizenship is currently around 350 days, according to the authorities. 

“Citizenship remains the problem child, but here, too, we are taking immediate measures to deal with the high number of applications.”, said Wiederkehr.

READ ALSO: ANALYSIS: Could Austria ever change the rules to allow dual citizenship?

One of the measures to shorten the waiting times for appointments is scheduling group appointments for initial information sessions – which will start already in January 2023. 

MA35 is also working on more efficient workflows, with a pilot team already processing procedures faster since November 2022. The new workflow increases productivity in processing by 20 percent and should be rolled out to all teams in citizenship by the end of 2023.

Other measures include hiring more people, and 93 new staff will be added by April 2023, especially in Citizenship, and simplifying processes by implementing dozens of measures proposed in conjunction with NGOs”, Stadt Wien said.

The reform process should be completed by the end of 2024.

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EU

How would a ‘youth mobility scheme’ between the UK and EU really work?

The EU and the UK could enter into a 'youth mobility' scheme allowing young people to move countries to work, study and live. Here's what we know about the proposal.

Published: 18 April 2024 17:09 CEST
How would a 'youth mobility scheme' between the UK and EU really work?

Across the 27 countries of the EU, people of all ages can move countries to work, study, spend a long visit or chase the possibility of love – and all this is possible thanks to EU freedom of movement.

That freedom no longer extends to the UK. As a result of Brexit, a UK national who wants to move to an EU country, or an EU citizen who wants to move to the UK, will need a visa in order to do so.

However, a new ‘mobility scheme’ could re-create some elements of freedom of movement – if the EU and UK can come to an agreement. The signs of that are not good, with the current UK government rejecting the proposal before it had even been formally offered, but here’s what we know about the proposal.

Who would benefit?

First things first, it’s only for the youngsters, older people will have to continue with the time-consuming and often expensive process of getting a visa for study, work or visiting.

The Commission’s proposal is for a scheme that covers people aged 18 to 30. 

Their reasoning is: “The withdrawal of the UK from the EU has resulted in decreased mobility between the EU and the UK. This situation has particularly affected the opportunities for young people to experience life on the other side of the Channel and to benefit from youth, cultural, educational, research and training exchanges.

“The proposal seeks to address in an innovative way the main barriers to mobility for young people experienced today and create a right for young people to travel from the EU to the UK and vice-versa more easily and for a longer period of time.”

How would it work?

The proposal is to allow extended stays – for young people to be able to spend up to four years in the EU or UK – under a special type of visa or residency permit. It does not, therefore, replicate the paperwork-free travel of the pre-Brexit era.

The Commission states that travel should not be ‘purpose bound’ to allow young people to undertake a variety of activities while they are abroad.

Under the visa system, people must travel to a country for a specific purpose which has been arranged before they leave – ie in order to study they need a student visa which requires proof of enrolment on a course, or if they intend to work they need a working visa which often requires sponsorship from an employer.

The proposal would allow young people to spend their time in a variety of ways – perhaps some time working, a period of study and then some time travelling or just relaxing.

It would also not be subject to national or Bloc-wide quotas.

It seems that some kind of visa or residency permit would still be required – but it would be issued for up to four years and could be used for a variety of activities.

Fees for this should not be “excessive” – and the UK’s health surcharge would not apply to people travelling under this scheme.

Are there conditions?

Other than the age qualification, the proposal is that young people would have to meet other criteria, including having comprehensive health insurance, plus financial criteria to ensure that they will be able to support themselves while abroad.

The visa/residency permit could be rejected on the ground of threats to public policy, public security or public health.

Will this happen soon?

Slow down – all that has happened so far is that the European Commission has made a recommendation to open negotiations.

This now needs to be discussed in the Council of Europe.

If the Council agrees then, and only then, will the EU open negotiations with the UK on the subject.

The scheme could then only become a reality if the EU and UK come to an agreement on the terms of the scheme, and then refine the fine details – reacting the news reports of the proposal, the UK government appears to have already dismissed the idea out of hand, so agreement at present seems unlikely. However, governments can change and so can the political climate.

But basically we’re talking years if it happens at all – and that would require not only a new government in the UK (which seems likely) but a major change in the whole British political atmosphere.

Don’t start packing just yet.

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