With $ 5 million to the Green Card-with VIP ticket to the Austrian Pass

Paragraph 10, paragraph 6 of the Citizenship Act For these people, provides for the “awarding of the citizenship in the special interest of the republic”. However, the legal provisions are so vague and the naturalization processes are so opaque that abuse of the paragraph cannot be excluded.

“In Malta, a prices are sticking to citizenship. You can criticize that and I would criticize that too. On the other hand, it can be argued that at least this is a relatively clear regulation, while the award in Austria is very non -transparent, ”says Gerd Valchars, Political scientist with specialization in citizenship policy.

Who decides who can be Austrians?

In 2012, a scandal in Carinthia ensured the resignation of the deputy governor, Uwe Scheuch. Scheuch, who was also the party leader of the Carinthian FPÖ, promised a Russian investor in 2010 in return for a huge party donation.

Citizenships are usually a national matter. In the case of a citizenship in the special interest of the republic, however, the responsible ministries and ultimately the Council of Ministers must decide whether there is a particular interest. The Ministry of Culture puts artists and the Ministry of Education puts scientists on a list of which the Council of Ministers Periodically coordinated.

The Ministry of the Interior is also always involved and also the Foreign Ministry if the applicant lives abroad. The federal states only carry out the order. Even if the federal government is formally responsible, other actors can still have their hand in the game.

Uwe Scheuch, who was not a minister, had offered to thread citizenship over party channels and contacts into the ministries.

Who is suitable to become an Austrian?

The Scheuch case resulted in the awarding of the citizenship in the special interest of the Republic for two years. Then became a Criteria catalog introduced that candidates should meet. At an awarding for artistic achievements, they should make a significant contribution to the art events of Austria “. People from the economy should contribute to the “creation and securing of jobs on the Austrian labor market to relevant extent”.

However, the criteria catalog has no legal force, is only Guideline And therefore does not necessarily have to be observed. In addition, many points are very vague and have no numerical scale. “It has been proven that the non -transparency of this form of citizenship ceremony corruption opens the door. This has not changed due to the introduction of the vague critic catalog, ”says political scientist Valchars.

In total, 2023 were almost 20,000 people naturalized in Austria. Citizenship in the special interest of the republic is received in the long -term average 39 people a year.

The names of the potential Neo-Austrians are currently published in the Ministerial Protocols-plus the professional activity or function, e.g. “mountain runners” or “Managing Director at Deichmann GmbH”. However, the protocols do not clarify which of the criteria the applicants have met. There is no transparency with regard to the decision -making of the ministries.

Austrian citizenship in a quick run

Many provisions that make it difficult to regulate regular foreign citizens to gain Austrian citizenship are eliminated for more prominent foreigners. Citizenship in the special interest of the republic can be granted if the candidates cannot do a word German and have never lived in Austria. They can keep foreign citizenship, although Austria usually acts strictly against double citizenships.

Safety measures are also eliminated: the innocence test is handled much more loosely, the income does not have to be announced. “I see it problematic that Austrian citizenship is awarded extremely restrictively on the one hand – and on the other hand, it is very easy for some selected people to get citizenship,” says Valchars.