I was born in Austria to a German father (in 1942).  I had Austrian
citizenship until 1976, when I obtained US citizenship and was forced
to relinquish my Austrian citizenship.  I would like to regain
Austrian citizenship, without giving up US citizenship (my children
are here).  Under what circumstances is this possible?

Thank you,

Linde Rachel

Linde...

Thanks for your question.  The group in Austria that makes the
determination for dual citizenships is Amter der Landesregierungen, or
the provincial government where you last had residence in Austria
prior to renouncing your Austrian citizenship.  The only issue there
is that the request to maintain a dual citizenship must be submitted
PRIOR to becoming a citizen of another country and the requirements
are very stiff and, from what I can gather, it is very rarely granted.
 However, there are a couple of ways to re-acquire Austrian
citizenship:

A female (Austrian) citizen who lost Austrian citizenship prior to
09/01/1983 because of getting married to an alien may re-obtain her
Austrian citizenship if she applies for it within two (2) years after
her husband's death or her being divorced from him.

or

An Austrian national who had lost Austrian citizenship may regain it
if at this time he/she has lived in Austria (permanent residence) for
at least one year and was an Austrian national for at least ten (10)
years before losing Austrian citizenship.

So, if you move back (assuming you are not there now) to Austria and
live there for one year, it is possible to regain your Austrian
citizenship, however, by living outside of the United States to seek
citizenship (naturalization) you would be required to renounce your US
citizenship.  According to Title 8, chapter 12, subchapter III, part
III, paragraph 1481 of the US code:

"A person who is a national of the United States whether by birth or
naturalization, shall lose his nationality by voluntarily performing
any of the following acts with the intention of relinquishing United
States nationality?
 
(1) obtaining naturalization in a foreign state upon his own
application or upon an application filed by a duly authorized agent,
after having attained the age of eighteen years;"
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode08/usc_sec_08_00001481----000-.html

Notice the key words being "voluntarily" and "intention of
relinquishing". By definition, seeking another citizenship you have
the intention of renouncing US citizenship.

I would recommend contacting one of the two facilities below to get
detailed information as well as an immigration attorney either here or
in Austria:

Austrian Consulate General
31 East 69th St.
New York, NY 10021
Tel.: (212) 737-6400
Fax: (212) 772-8926

Austrian Embassy Washington
3524 International Court NW
Washington, DC 20008-3035
Tel.: (202) 895-6700
Fax: (202) 895-6750

Thanks for your question.  If you need any additional clarification,
please let me know.

Regards,

-THV

Search Strategy:
regain austrian citizenship

Austrian Citizenship
http://www.aussenministerium.at/view.php3?r_id=1697&LNG=en&version=

Citizenship and Political Participation of Migrants in Europe
http://www.publiek-politiek.nl/europa/polpart.html

Questions and answers on dual US/other citizenship
http://www.richw.org/dualcit/faq.html#natrnc

---

Request for Answer Clarification by lorelei12-ga on 23 Oct 2004 03:03 PDT

The one-year residency option requires that I renounce Austrian
citizenship.  There is another possibility for being allowed to keep
it.  It involves making the case that one can contribute to the
Austrian state.  It is difficult getting any information on this other
option from the Austrian consulate or emabassy.

Linde

---

Clarification of Answer by tar_heel_v-ga on 23 Oct 2004 11:34 PDT

I am assuming you mean the one year residency clause would require you
renounce US citizenship, not Austrian.  Might I recommend contacting
an immigration attorney in Austria for details on "contributing to the
Austrian cause"

Good Luck!

-THV

---

Request for Answer Clarification by lorelei12-ga on 23 Oct 2004 13:03 PDT

Sorry, I meant US citizenship, of course (in previous comment).

I asked for an immigration attorney and was advised against taking
one.  For the first case (1-year residence), the conditions are fairly
clear.  For the second, it's a case by case affair and there are no
clear-cut guidelines.  I thought that you could dig up previous cases
where such a dual citizenship had been granted.

---

Clarification of Answer by tar_heel_v-ga on 25 Oct 2004 06:37 PDT

Linde...

Give http://europa.eu.int/europedirect/web_assistance_en.htm a shot. 
This EU focused, but may be able to help.  I will continue looking for
specific cases for reference.

-THV

Your answer has been quite good, but didn't answer the most critical
point.  In another previous discussion on dual citizenship, Austria
was one country where it was possible under certain conditions.  I'm
still not sure what specifically is involved with regard to those
conditions.

Above answer says:
" (1) obtaining naturalization in a foreign state upon his own
application or  upon an application filed by a duly authorized agent,
after having attained the age of eighteen years;"
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode08/usc_sec_08_00001481----000-.html

Notice the key words being "voluntarily" and "intention of
relinquishing". By definition, seeking another citizenship you have
the intention of renouncing US citizenship. "


I wouldn't agree with the above statement, based on my understanding
of the information given on the following website: 
http://www.richw.org/dualcit
- which was also given at the end of the answer -
(Dual Citizenship FAQ: Dual Nationality and United States Law by Rich Wales)


This is an excerpt from that website:

" Loss of citizenship (INA § 349, 8 USC § 1481)
Section 349 of the INA [8 USC § 1481] specifies several conditions
under which US citizenship  M A Y  be lost. These include:

becoming a naturalized citizen of another country, or declaring
allegiance to another country, after reaching age 18;

serving as an officer in a foreign country's military service, or
serving in the armed forces of a country which is engaged in
hostilities against the US;

working for a foreign government (e.g., in political office or as a
civil servant);

formally renouncing one's US citizenship before duly authorized US officials; or 

committing treason against, or attempting or conspiring to overthrow
the government of, the US.
The primary effect of recent developments in the US regarding dual
citizenship has been to add the requirement that loss of citizenship
can only result when the person in question intended to give up his
citizenship. AT ONE TIME, THE MERE PERFORMANCE OF THE ABOVE (OR
CERTAIN OTHER) ACTS WAS ENOUGH TO CAUSE LOSS OF US CITIZENSHIP;
HOWEVER, THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURNED THIS CONCEPT IN THE Afroyim and
Terrazas cases, and Congress amended the law in 1986 to require that
LOSS OF CITIZENSHIP WOULD RESULT ONLY WHEN a potentially
"expatriating" (citizenship-losing) ACTION WAS PERFORMED voluntarily
and "WITH THE INTENTION OF RELINQUISHING UNITED STATES NATIONALITY".

On 16 April 1990, the State Department adopted a new policy on dual
citizenship, under which US citizens who perform one of the
potentially expatriating acts listed above are normally presumed not
to have done so with intent to give up US citizenship. Thus, the
overwhelming majority of loss-of-citizenship cases nowadays will
involve people who have explicitly indicated to US consular officials
that they want to give up their US citizenship. "


I am not an expert, and I have no US (or Austrian) connections. 
Tar Heel V-ga, considering the above excerpt, would you agree with me
on this particular point ? Great answer btw.

ga1970...

Thanks for your well researched comment.  I read the same passage as
you and had the same initial concerns.  However, my interpretation is
while a person moving to another country for the sole purpose of
becoming a naturalized citizen is considered a voluntary act by the
person knowing that becoming a naturalized citizen of another country
NORMALLY requires renouncing citizenship in the United States.  The
other issue that rears its head is that Austria normally does not
allow citizens to hold a passport of another country
(http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=41&sid=5268880),
so there are other circumstances here outside of US regulations.

Thanks again, ga1970.  I went back and looked at some of your other
comments and it is commentors like you that help make Google Answers a
great service.  Thanks!

-THV

:-)

Few months ago I read a lot on this topic. Here are my few cents.

The requirement for a proof that one will contribute to the Austrian state 
is of course strong if you want to get the Austrian citizenship.

The way to go around this is to become Austrian first and then apply for the 
permission for acquiring a second citisenship. In this case, it is
sufficient to prove that the second citizenship is important for your
familly.

Well, then the issue is is it worth to guive up the US citizenship
first and apply for it few years months later?

More over, I was said by the Austrian Authorities that becomming a
dual citizenship has been made practically impossible by the FPÖ.

Finally, I would like to point out that the decision about dual citizenship is 
made in Austria by the "Bundesministerieum für Innere" instead of "Amt
der Landesregierung", which partly justifies the difficulties.

I hope this will be helpful.

cheers,

Klaus.

I want to thank Klaus for his answer.  I felt it was extremely useful to  me.
At this point, relinquishing US citizenship is apparently not too
terrible when you have family in the US.  But these things can change,
of course.

Thanks. 

Linde