Acquiring Austrian citizenship by descent

• General Information
• Requirements
• Additional information

General Information

Whether a child has Austrian citizenship does not depend on the place of birth.

Austrian citizenship is based on the principle of descent, i.e. descent from an Austrian parent (see requirements).

Requirements

The question of whether someone has acquired Austrian citizenship at birth by descent is to be assessed according to the citizenship law applicable at the time of birth.

The parents were married at the time of birth and the child was born on or after September 1, 1983:

• At least one parent had Austrian citizenship at the time of birth.

The parents were married at the time of birth and the child was born before September 1, 1983:

• The father had Austrian citizenship at the time of birth.

The parents were not married at the time of birth:

• The mother had Austrian citizenship at the time of birth.

The parents were not married at the time of birth, the mother was not an Austrian citizen at the time of birth and the child was born on or after August 1, 2013:

• The father had Austrian citizenship at the time of the birth and acknowledged paternity before the birth or within eight weeks of the birth. The same applies if paternity was established by a court within eight weeks of the birth.
• In cases where paternity is acknowledged later than eight weeks after birth or paternity is established by a court, the children can acquire Austrian citizenship by conferral under simplified conditions.

The parents were not married at the time of birth, but married when the child was a minor:

• The father had or has Austrian citizenship at the time of the marriage. This is called acquisition of Austrian citizenship by legitimation.
• If the child was already 14 years old at the time of the marriage, the child and the persons with custody must consent to the acquisition within three years of the marriage.

If the child acquires automatically (by operation of law) another citizenship at birth in addition to Austrian citizenship – e.g. by descent from the other parent ("ius sanguinis") or by birth in a state (e.g. USA) where the territoriality principle ("ius soli") applies – then there is no loss of Austrian citizenship, but the child has two citizenships (dual citizenship). Under Austrian law, the child does not have to decide on one nationality when he or she reaches the age of majority; however, it may be that the other state requires a decision.

Legal basis

sections 7 and 7a of the Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz