08/18/2022 20:45 (act 08/19/2022 06:40)
Desired: An Austrian passport. ©CanvaPro
According to Statistics Austria, the number of naturalizations in Austria increased by more than 60% in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period last year.
The sharp increase was mainly due to the naturalization of Nazi victims and their descendants, who accounted for nearly 30% of newly naturalized people in the first half of the year, according to a broadcast on Thursday.
8,158 new naturalizations
Austrian citizenship was granted to 8,158 people in the first six months, including 2,417 living abroad (29.6%). According to Statistics Austria, there were not only 61.3% more naturalizations than in the first half of 2021 (5,057 naturalizations), but also 52.5% more than in the same period before the start of the COVID pandemic. -19, the first half of 2019 (5,349 naturalizations).
Politically persecuted people from Israel, USA, Great Britain
Those who were politically persecuted by the Nazi regime and, since 2020, also their descendants, have the option of naturalization without having to give up their previous citizenship in exchange. In the first half of 2022, 2,421 people (2,396 of whom live abroad) were granted Austrian citizenship under this provision, which corresponds to 29.7 percent of all naturalizations this semester. People who have been naturalized under this title are most often nationals of the following three countries: Israel (939 or 11.5% of all naturalized in the first half of 2022), the United States (546 or 6.7%) and the United Kingdom (525 or 6.4 percent).
Former Turkish citizens ranked 1st for naturalizations
People naturalized for other reasons (a total of 5,737 people) were formerly most often citizens of Turkey (603 or 7.4%), Syria (531 or 6.5%) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (469 or 5.7%) . Half of the naturalizations in the first half of 2022 were women (50.3%), about a third were under 18 (31.9%). Almost a quarter of the newly naturalized were born in Austria (1,923 or 23.6%).
Vorarlberg is the leader
In all states of the federation, more people were naturalized in the first half of 2022 than in the same period of the previous year. Relative increases were highest in Vorarlberg (+59.7% to 313 naturalisations), followed by Vienna (+43.0% to 2,265) and Styria (+38.0% to 487).