On 23 March 2022, the Austrian parliament amended the Austrian Citizenship Act so that people born on Austrian territory who would otherwise be stateless may apply for nationality over a three year period.
The amendment had been recommended by ENS, Austrian civil society and several UN Treaty Bodies, and brings the provision in line with the minimum requirement of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Although a welcome step, Austria’s safeguards to prevent childhood statelessness are still behind most other European countries, as highlighted in our Statelessness Index. Leonhard Call, individual member of ENS, and the Austrian NGO ‘SOS Mitmensch’ have issued a joint press release commenting on this development.
