As of September 2020: Significant facilitation of obtaining Austrian citizenship

A new section in Austrian law allows for a respectable line of relief for Jews with Austrian roots, for obtaining an Austrian passport. Adv. Nir Lanker, an expert in Austrian foreign law and a German-speaking speaker, explains to us what the relief means and promises: On September 1, our firm will begin filing applications with or without Corona

Adv. Nir Lankar (Photo: PR)

Adv. Nir Lankar (Photo: PR, PR)

In September 2019, a new section was enacted in Austrian law, regarding the acquisition of Austrian citizenship, in which it was decided that as of September 1, 2020, after the process of establishing the system, and the absorption of regulations is completed, it will be possible to apply for an Austrian passport. The bureaucratic requirements of Austrian law, certainly require from anyone who wants to prepare in advance, the Austrians expect a wave of tens of thousands of applications that will be submitted from Israel and from all over the world. On the easing of the law, their impact on many Israelis and the procedure for obtaining Austrian citizenship, in the article before you.

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First threshold conditions for submitting the application

The new section of Austrian law defines one threshold condition, which anyone who does not meet will not be able to apply: Anyone who is a descendant of Jews who fled Austria before 1955 from the Nazi terror, or as a result of Nazi persecution, will be able to apply for Austrian citizenship today. How can this be proved? We will explain later about the procedure.

Anyone born to an Austrian mother before 1983

One of the most significant reliefs in the new section of the law is that, unlike in the past, even those born to an Austrian mother before 1983 can apply for Austrian citizenship. It is important to understand that this is of course relevant to all the descendants even when it comes to a grandmother or great-grandmother, since the entitlement to citizenship passes from the parents to the children. That is, anyone born before 1983 to an Austrian mother or to his mother and so on, will be able to obtain Austrian citizenship, and probably also his children, grandchildren and descendants.

Even someone who was not an Austrian citizen in the past but only a resident

It is important to note that in the past, descendants of only Austrian citizens could apply for citizenship, and not descendants of Austrians. The innovation in the section added to the law states that even descendants of those who were not Austrian citizens, such as Jews who were citizens of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, citizens of Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and fled Austria from Nazi terror. Those who fled and registered as residents of Austria and not citizens, will now be able to confer citizenship rights on their descendants, and this is certainly a significant innovation.

It is important to emphasize in this innovation, whoever was born in one of the above countries and did not flee the Nazi terror from Austria within its borders today, his descendants cannot obtain Austrian citizenship. For example if your grandmother was born in Krakow and never stayed in Austria, you will not be eligible. From there until 1955, the chances of eligibility for citizenship are much higher.

Good news for permanent staff

In the past, Austrian law revoked the citizenship of a person who served in voluntary service (in Israel, it refers to permanent service) in a foreign army. That is, someone who served voluntary service in a foreign army was denied citizenship to the extent that he was an Austrian citizen. The new section now also allows permanent military personnel, ie the voluntary service, to apply for citizenship.

By the way, even for someone who was a civil servant in the past, in the public service of the State of Israel, and had difficulty submitting an application, will now be able to submit it again, without unnecessary delays and difficulties.

Do you have another foreign citizenship?

There are quite a few Israeli citizens with American citizenship and / or additional foreign citizenship, in the past Austrian law required waiver of additional citizenship as part of applying for Austrian citizenship, the good news is that now there is no need to waive additional foreign citizenship if you want to apply for Austrian citizenship.

We are probably eligible, how are we progressing?

You will receive a short questionnaire to fill out in Hebrew with guiding questions and it is possible and even desirable to attach relevant documents that may link the family to Austria and send back to our office. All this is done via e-mail, no obligation and no cost. All under attorney-client confidentiality. We go through all the materials and update you directly on whether you have a chance of obtaining Austrian citizenship or not. If there is a chance, you will receive a personal phone call that exhaustively explains the costs, duration, scheduled to our office In the Electra City Tower in Tel Aviv, a case was opened. From then on, our office takes care of all the paperwork and does not move the customer.

Are you offered an arsenal of citizenships? This is how you choose the right lawyer

It is important to note, if you turn to a law firm and they offer you an arsenal of citizenships that have no connection between language, culture and law, it should definitely require you to check the seriousness and reliability of the firm. Serious lawyers do not deal with 10 European countries. Although they are different, there is a similar culture and language, Austria, Portugal and the Czech Republic have no language and culture connection.I recommend not submitting applications through these offices.

Secondly, if a law firm offers you escorting for citizenship in a particular country, and no lawyer in the firm speaks that state language, that is also a red light. Also in this case I recommend choosing a lawyer who speaks the foreign language. The conduct will be more professional, more fluid, and more agile with the local authorities.

The last emphasis deals with expertise in the law of the Law Firm in the foreign law of the particular state to which citizenship is applied for. Our firm, for example, is an expert in Austrian foreign law, in all its levels, in all its fields, knowing Austrian law in its entirety saves time, money, and unnecessary mistakes.

Is Europe closed to Israelis? Not for foreign nationals

Recently I have received a lot of calls from clients who have been granted Austrian citizenship, businessmen who are active in Europe, or parents of students who study in Europe, the significant advantage for them is that even now that European skies are closed to Israeli visitors, EU passport holders can fly as usual. This is a huge advantage.

Adv. Nir Lankar is an expert in Austrian foreign law in all its fields, has been involved in arranging Austrian citizenship for many years, over 1,000 Israelis have received citizenship under the legal guidance of Adv. Lankar. The office is located in the Electra City Tower in Tel Aviv.

Adv. Nir Lankar

Phone - 03-5052141

Article courtesy of Zap Legal The

information presented in the article does not constitute legal advice or a substitute for it and does not constitute a recommendation for taking proceedings or avoiding proceedings. Anyone who relies on the information in the article does so at his own risk