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Austrian citizenship by descent and section 58c
Say which ancestor was Austrian and whether they left because of Nazi persecution: the tool tells you whether section 58c is open to you.
Can you declare Austrian citizenship under section 58c?
Under the rules in force on October 25, 2026
Likely eligible
| Route | Declaration under s. 58c |
| Federal fee | None |
| Published time | Not published |
| Keep US citizenship | Yes, if acquired before you file |
Take any other citizenship before filing: one acquired afterwards costs the Austrian one.
Austrian citizenship by descent works in two very different ways for Americans. The ordinary rule is narrow: you are Austrian only if a parent was Austrian on the day you were born, and Austria withdraws citizenship from people who voluntarily take another one, so an emigrant who became a US citizen usually stopped passing it on. The second route is broad. Under section 58c of the Nationality Act, any direct descendant of a person persecuted by the Nazi regime can become Austrian by a written declaration, whatever the generation. The ancestor must have left Austria before May 15, 1955 out of fear of persecution, or been unable to return between 1933 and 1945, or been deported or killed. There is no deadline, no language test, no residence condition and no federal fee (Foreign Ministry FAQ). Citizenship starts on the day the declaration is received. You keep US citizenship, but any other citizenship acquired after that day costs you the Austrian one. No processing time is published.
What will the file cost?
US side of the file
$251
| 5 certified records (2 births, 2 marriages, 1 deaths) | $126 |
| Apostilles (5 records) | $100 |
| Naturalization proof | $25 |
| Translations (English accepted) | $0 |
| Austria fee | free |
Records from the old country are not counted: they are ordered there.
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Who counts as a persecuted ancestor
Section 58c names three kinds of ancestors. The Foreign Ministry sets them out in plain terms, and the federal portal repeats them on its page for descendants.
| The ancestor | Condition | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Left Austria | Austrian citizen, national of a successor state of Austria-Hungary, or stateless with main residence in Austria; left out of fear of persecution or because of it | Before May 15, 1955 |
| Could not return | Austrian citizen living abroad for whom returning would have meant persecution | January 30, 1933 to May 9, 1945 |
| Deported or killed | Austrian citizen, successor-state national or stateless resident | Before May 9, 1945 |
Persecution covers the Nazi regime and its supporters, and also persecution for defending the democratic Republic of Austria. A woman who lost Austrian citizenship by marrying a foreigner shortly before she fled is included. The ancestor does not have to have been Jewish, and does not have to have held Austrian citizenship in the narrow sense: a resident of Vienna who held Czechoslovak, Hungarian or Polish citizenship, or none, can qualify.
Every generation, mothers and fathers alike
All direct descendants qualify: children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and beyond, through women and men equally. Children adopted as minors count; adults adopted as adults do not. There is no deadline. The first version of the rule, in force since September 1, 2020, covered descendants; an amendment in force since May 1, 2022 widened the list of ancestors and removed the limits that remained.
One group is shut out. If you already held Austrian citizenship and lost it after May 1, 2022 by acquiring another citizenship, you cannot file, unless you did not know you were Austrian at the time. A loss before that date does not bar you.
How the declaration works
The process starts online. The Foreign Ministry's declaration page links to a questionnaire, reached through the website of the Austrian embassy or consulate general for your US address, which produces a personal declaration form and a list of documents. You then submit the signed declaration and the documents to that mission. The mission forwards the file to the Vienna provincial government, department MA 35, which issues a written decision confirming that you became Austrian on the day the declaration was received.
MA 35 is the authority because applicants live abroad and were not born in Austria. Its annual report for 2025 gives the volume (MA 35 closed 10,420 s. 58c files in 2025) but not the wait. No processing time is published, by the ministry or by MA 35.
Documents, apostilles and translations
You need a valid passport and a photo, your birth certificate, marriage or name-change records if your surname changed, and a criminal record certificate from your country of residence no older than eight months. For an American, that last item comes from the FBI. Your own US public documents need an apostille from the issuing authority; documents in English need no translation unless the authority asks for one. Then you prove the line: birth and marriage records for each generation, paternity acknowledgments or adoption decrees where relevant. Finally, the ancestor: proof of citizenship or statelessness, of residence in Austria and of persecution. Records about the ancestor need no apostille, and if the ancestor was deported or killed, proof of persecution is generally not needed. The US documents guide covers apostilles state by state, and the cost calculator adds up the US records.
Before you start
Gather what you know about the ancestor first: where they lived in Austria, which citizenship they held, when and why they left. Family letters, ship manifests and US naturalization files often record the last address in Vienna or another town, and the US naturalization record usually gives the date of arrival. Then check that you have not acquired, and do not plan to acquire, any other citizenship after filing. Only then fill in the questionnaire, since its answers shape the declaration form and the list of documents the mission will expect from you.
Fee
Filing a section 58c declaration is exempt from all federal fees by law. Because citizenship matters belong to the provinces, a provincial fee could in principle apply, but the Foreign Ministry FAQ states that Vienna charges none for these files. In practice the declaration costs nothing; your costs are the US records, apostilles and mailing.
Keeping US citizenship, and the trap
Austria normally forbids dual citizenship acquired by choice, but section 58c is an exception: you do not give up US citizenship to file (Foreign Ministry, dual citizenship). The trap is timing. Austrian citizenship counts from the day of filing, and any other citizenship acquired after that day, through marriage, residence or another descent claim, ends it automatically. If you are also pursuing, say, the German route for persecuted families, finish that first. Male citizens aged 17 to 50 living abroad must register with the mission for military purposes, but no service is due unless they move to Austria. The US rules on dual nationality and the tax page cover the American side.
When there was no persecution
Without section 58c, Austrian descent is limited to one step: a parent who was Austrian when you were born. An unmarried Austrian father passes citizenship on only if paternity was acknowledged or established within eight weeks of the birth. A child born in the United States to an Austrian parent holds both citizenships from birth and keeps them. A grandparent alone gives no right. The country table compares Austria with countries that go further back, and the second passport guide looks at what an EU passport changes in practice.