Dual Citizenship in Austria: Rules, Exceptions, and Retention

Dual citizenship in Austria is generally not allowed. Austrian law follows a single-nationality principle: if you voluntarily acquire a foreign citizenship, you lose your Austrian citizenship automatically, and if you naturalize as Austrian, you are ordinarily required to give up your previous nationality first.¹ A small number of exceptions exist, and one advance permit lets you keep both passports if you plan carefully.

The Default Rule and How You Lose Austrian Citizenship

The principle underlying Austrian citizenship law is the avoidance of multiple citizenships.¹ It cuts both ways. An Austrian who takes another country’s citizenship loses Austrian citizenship the moment naturalization abroad is completed.² A foreign national who wants to become Austrian must ordinarily renounce their previous nationality as a condition of naturalization.³

The loss on the Austrian side is silent. No letter arrives, no hearing is held, and no official confirms it. Many people discover they are no longer Austrian only when they try to renew a passport or claim a right they assumed they still had.² That is why the timing of any application for a retention permit, discussed below, matters so much.

When Two Passports Are Legal

Austrian law recognizes a limited set of situations where holding two nationalities is permitted. The exceptions are narrow, and each has its own rules.

Dual Citizenship Acquired at Birth

The most common exception is children who acquire two nationalities automatically at birth. A child born to an Austrian parent in a country that grants citizenship by birthplace, such as the United States, holds both citizenships from day one. The same result follows when parents of different nationalities each pass their citizenship to the child by descent.⁴ Austrian law does not force these children to choose one nationality on reaching adulthood.³ The other country’s law may require a choice; Austria does not.

This covers only citizenships held from the moment of birth. Citizenships acquired later, through a parent’s own naturalization or through the child’s own application, are treated separately.

Descendants of Nazi Persecution Victims

Section 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act, added by amendment in 2020, lets descendants of people persecuted by the Nazi regime acquire Austrian citizenship by declaration. Eligible applicants include direct descendants (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and further generations) of people who were Austrian citizens or residents of Austrian territory and had to flee or suffered persecution before May 15, 1955, because of the Nazi regime.⁵ The pathway was written for people living abroad who already hold another passport, and acquiring Austrian citizenship this way does not require renouncing existing nationality.

Citizenship in the Special Interest of the Republic

Austria can grant citizenship to a foreign national whose extraordinary achievements in fields such as science, sports, business, or the arts are considered to serve the country’s interests. When the Austrian Federal Government confirms that granting citizenship is in the special interest of the Republic, several standard requirements fall away, including the obligation to give up existing nationality.⁶ This is the pathway occasionally used for high-profile individuals and is not available to ordinary applicants.

The Retention Permit: Keeping Austrian Citizenship While Naturalizing Elsewhere

If you are Austrian and plan to naturalize in another country, the retention permit (Beibehaltungsgenehmigung) is the tool that keeps both passports. Approval must be obtained before you acquire the foreign nationality. With the permit in hand, the subsequent naturalization abroad counts as an exception to the automatic-loss rule and you keep your Austrian citizenship.² Naturalize first and apply afterward, and it is already too late.

Approval turns on showing that keeping Austrian citizenship serves the interests of the Republic or that losing it would cause extreme hardship to your personal, family, or professional life. The hardship must be concrete and current. Emotional ties to Austria, a wish to vote where you live, or general difficulty securing residency abroad are not enough. You typically need to show severe professional disadvantages or family circumstances that make loss of the nationality unreasonable.

The application is filed in writing with the competent provincial government office (Landesregierung) in Austria, or through an Austrian consulate abroad. Submit it, and ideally receive the decision, before your foreign naturalization is completed. Processing can take months, so start early.

The Renunciation Requirement for New Austrian Citizens

Foreign nationals naturalizing as Austrian must ordinarily renounce their previous citizenship.³ The rule is waived in two situations.

The first is where renouncing the previous nationality is legally impossible or unreasonable. This covers cases where the other country’s system has no procedure for releasing a citizen, or where the process would impose unreasonable burdens. The provincial government office handling your application makes the determination.⁷

The second is a grant in the special interest of the Republic, where renunciation is among the requirements the government waives.⁶

Other Ways Austrian Citizenship Can Be Lost

Voluntary naturalization abroad is the most common trigger, but not the only one.

Voluntary service in a foreign country’s military leads to mandatory revocation of Austrian citizenship, even where that leaves you stateless. Completing mandatory service in a country where you also hold citizenship does not count as voluntary entry, but voluntarily extending that service beyond the legally required period, even by a day, does.⁸⁹
Causing substantial harm to the Republic’s interests or reputation while serving a foreign state also triggers revocation.⁸
When an Austrian parent loses citizenship by acquiring a foreign one, their unmarried minor children lose Austrian nationality with them, unless the other parent remains Austrian. A minor who acquires foreign citizenship in their own right loses Austrian citizenship only if their legal representative consented to the naturalization.²

Military Service for Male Dual Citizens

All male Austrian citizens over the age of 18 are subject to compulsory military service, and holding another nationality does not change that. A male dual citizen living permanently abroad must register with the Austrian embassy or consulate in his country of residence on turning 17.⁹

In practice, the burden is limited while you live outside Austria. You will not be summoned to an examination board abroad. The duty to actually serve activates only if you move your residence to Austria, at which point you must register with the military headquarters in your province within three weeks of arrival.⁹ Alternative civilian service is available in place of military service.

1
European Migration Network. Ad-Hoc Query on 2024.25 Conditions for Acquiring Citizenship by Naturalisation
2
Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. Loss, Revocation and Renunciation
3
Migration.gv.at. Citizenship
4
oesterreich.gv.at. Acquiring Austrian Citizenship by Descent
5
Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. Declaration Pursuant to 58c of the Austrian Citizenship Act
6
Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. Acquisition
7
oesterreich.gv.at. Dual Citizenship in Austria
8
Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. Loss, Revocation and Renunciation
9
Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. Military and Civilian Service