Austrian citizenship requirements

Everything Austrian citizenship asks for

Lawful uninterrupted residence

Ten years of lawful and uninterrupted residence under StbG section 10. Six years can suffice under section 11a, with B2 German, proven sustainable integration or as the spouse of an Austrian citizen.

Settled residence status

Of the ten years, at least five must be spent settled in Austria, holding a settlement permit or an equivalent long-term residence title.

German, level B1

Sufficient German at level B1 of the Common European Framework. B2 opens the six year route today, and the planned reform would make B2 the standard requirement.

Staatsbürgerschaftsprüfung

The citizenship test: basic knowledge of Austria's democratic order, its history and the history of your province, taken with your provincial authority.

Secure livelihood

Sufficient stable and regular resources from work, income, maintenance claims or insurance benefits, averaged over 36 months within the six years before your application, the last six months of which sit immediately before it.

Irreproachable record

No criminal convictions and no pending criminal proceedings at home or abroad. Unlike most countries, serious or frequent administrative offences, such as drink-driving or repeated speeding, can also block naturalisation. Assessed case by case by your provincial authority.

Three routes and the ones the app does not track

• Standard naturalisation10 years
• Six years with strong integration6 years
• Spouse of an Austrian citizen6 years

Standard naturalisation

The path under StbG section 10. It asks for ten years of lawful and uninterrupted residence, at least five of them settled, German at B1, a pass in the Staatsbürgerschaftsprüfung, a secure livelihood without social assistance and an irreproachable record, including administrative offences. You also affirm a positive attitude to the Republic. Austria generally requires you to give up your previous citizenship before the award. The decision is made by your provincial citizenship office, so this route reaches a real finish line, though waiting times differ widely by province.

Six years with strong integration

Under StbG section 11a paragraph 6, six years of lawful and uninterrupted residence suffice when you show German at B2, or B1 together with proof of sustainable personal integration, for example at least three years of voluntary work, or work in education, health or the social sector. The other conditions apply in full. Whether your evidence counts is decided by your provincial citizenship office, so build the file before you count on the shorter clock.

Spouse of an Austrian citizen

Under StbG section 11a, the spouse of an Austrian citizen can naturalise after six years of lawful and uninterrupted residence, provided the marriage has existed for at least five years in a common household. The other conditions still apply in full, the German proof, the citizenship test, the secure livelihood and the irreproachable record. The decision runs through the same provincial process as the standard route.

How days outside Austria count

Time abroad over 20 percent of your required period interrupts your residence, and the clock restarts from your last entry. Verify with your provincial citizenship office.

• The limit is 20 percent of the period your route requires: 730 days over ten years, 438 days over six.
• It is a total across the whole period, not a limit per trip, and the reason for the trip does not matter.
• Going over does not deduct the extra days. It interrupts your residence, and the period starts again from your last lawful entry.
• The period counted runs up to the date of the decision, not only to the day you apply.

The first line is the snapshot the app uses. The rest is § 15 StbG as oesterreich.gv.at and Vienna’s MA 35 explain it. Belong Austria adds up your days abroad against the budget for your route, and a planned trip shows what it would do to that budget before you take it.

6 months for the office to decide

The decision period

The law gives the office six months from the day your application arrived (AVG section 73) and a failed or retaken test does not pause it. If it has not decided by then, you can file a Säumnisbeschwerde with the office. It then has up to three months to decide before the complaint goes to the provincial administrative court. The complaint fails if the delay was not mainly the office's fault.

The wait

Your provincial citizenship office decides, in Vienna MA 35. No province publishes an online status check: ask by phone, e-mail or contact form. Offices differ and only Vorarlberg publishes a figure, about six months for the checks before the assurance. Keep your residence uninterrupted and your documents current, because the office can ask for updated ones during the wait.

The test date

There is no national calendar. Once you have applied, your province invites you to a sitting at least eight weeks ahead. You can agree a different date with the office.

After the decision

A positive decision usually comes first as an assurance (Zusicherung): you then have two years to prove you have given up your previous citizenship. The award follows at a ceremony where you take the pledge. Citizenship starts on the date written in the decision.

What to watch

Reform planned: B2 and a citizenship course

The ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS government announced in December 2025 that it plans to tighten the Citizenship Act: German at B2 instead of B1 for standard naturalisation, a compulsory citizenship course run by the Austrian Integration Fund and lower income requirements and fees. No draft had been published or passed by 23 September 2026, so today's rules apply, but they can shift under an application in progress.

Dual citizenship is generally not allowed

Austrian law generally requires you to leave your previous nationality before Austrian citizenship is granted. Exceptions exist only where renunciation is impossible or unreasonable, and for a few special categories, each assessed individually. If keeping your current passport matters to you, weigh this before you apply.

Processing times vary widely by province

Naturalisation is the provinces' business, from application to decision, and their queues differ. The law gives the office six months to decide, but checks with other authorities and the renunciation of your previous citizenship after the assurance can take longer. Vorarlberg publishes about six months for the checks before the assurance; Vienna and the other provinces publish no figure. Meeting every requirement does not set the decision date, the authority's own queue does.

Questions about Austrian citizenship

Preparing for the Staatsbürgerschaftsprüfung

The citizenship test is 18 questions in two hours: six on the democratic order, six on the history of Austria and six on the history of your province. You pass with half the points in each area or 12 of 18 overall.

Practice test and sample questions

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Rules as of 1 October 2026, snapshot 2026.1, decided by your provincial citizenship office. Read the official source. Belong Austria is not a government service and not affiliated with the Republic of Austria or any provincial citizenship office. It gives no legal advice.