Gaining Austrian Citizenship simplified

This Tuesday (5th Feb) the Austrian government made changes to the naturalization requirements for wanna be Austrians. From now on, all you need to become Austrian are:

• Speak good German at least Abi level which would be about C1 or DSH2,
• Take part in Community service and volunteering
• Earn at least €1000 netto a month

If you have the above then you can get the Austrian passport within 6 years as opposed to the 10 years it takes if you don’t volunteer. And if you can’t speak German after the 10 years, then you lose the chance to ever become Austrian. If on the other hand you opt to apply for citizenship after the usual 10 years, you also have to show your income for the past 3 years before handing in your application.

For the children born out of wedlock by foreign mothers, the new law allows them to take up Austrian citizenship. Before only Austrian women could pass on Austrian citizenship to their children born out of wedlock, but now the men can pass it on as well but only if they accept the pregnancy in writing.

As for volunteering, that can be done in other fields other than the local fire brigade. But if on the other hand you volunteer at a community centre for a certain group, then that won’t be considered as it is considered segregative.

Despite the new reforms, Austria’s naturalization policy remains the toughest in Europe.