Austria.
How Austria sells citizenship for investors: one programme, open today. Every number and rule below links to the document it comes from.
- 80
- numbers
- 4
- prices and rules
- 12
- events
- 16
- documents and articles
Citizenship for special interest
Sells citizenship, and with it a passport.
Official name: Austrian citizenship in the special interest of the Republic (Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz 1985, § 10 Abs. 6, 'außerordentliche Leistungen')
No price: discretionary naturalisation for 'extraordinary achievements', with no published investment amount.
Notes from the research
Not an advertised investment programme and no published price. A constitutional provision lets a Land grant citizenship without 10 years' residence, proof of income or renunciation of the old nationality when the federal government confirms that the person's past and expected 'extraordinary achievements' are in the special interest of the Republic. Used for scientists, artists, athletes and business people alike; official statistics do not split by field. Procedure regulated by BGBl. II 39/2014. Names and professions of confirmed persons are published (at least since 2016-2017). Statistik Austria counts 10 to 54 naturalisations a year in 2007-2023. The European Commission (COM(2019) 12, p. 4, fn. 10) lists Austria among states whose law equates national interest with economic interest. The provision has existed since the Citizenship Act 1965 (ministry statement 8483/AB); under METHODOLOGY decision 14 this general special-interest clause is the legal basis, not a launch, and no stored official text makes investing the route, so launched is empty.
Prices and rules
What is measured
- Applications received45
- People who became citizens18
- Special-interest applications put before the cabinet6
- Government confirmations of special interest5
- Applications turned down2
- Irregular payments alleged in connection with a grant2
- Investment stated for one application1
- Investors approved, not counting family members1
All the numbers we have for Austria
Pick what you want to see. Each dot is one number from one document; click anything to open its source.
What happened, and when
The 16 documents behind this page
- 2024-05 · GovernmentAnfragebeantwortung 17628/AB XXVII. GP: Verleihung von Staatsbürgerschaften nach § 10 Abs. 6 StbG (zu 18221/J) · Parlament Österreich (answer by Federal Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner)
- 2022-04 · GovernmentAnfragebeantwortung 9520/AB XXVII. GP: Ehrenstaatsbürgerschaft für Polizeiretter der Terrornacht am 2. November 2020 (zu 9689/J) · Parlament Österreich (answer by Federal Minister of the Interior Gerhard Karner)
- 2018-11 · GovernmentAnfragebeantwortung 1617/AB XXVI. GP: Geheimniskrämerei bei der Vergabe von Staatsbürgerschaften (zu 1634/J) · Parlament Österreich (answer by Federal Minister of the Interior Herbert Kickl)
- 2018-10 · Non-profitEuropean Getaway: Inside the Murky World of Golden Visas · Transparency International and Global Witness
- 2018-08 · Non-profitGeheimniskrämerei um Staatsbürgerschaften für Promis und Investoren · Forum Informationsfreiheit
- 2015-05 · IMFToo Much of a Good Thing? Prudent Management of Inflows under Economic Citizenship Programs (IMF Working Paper WP/15/93) · International Monetary Fund
- 2014-02 · Law or regulationVerordnung der Bundesregierung über das Verfahren zur Erlangung einer Bestätigung gemäß § 10 Abs. 6 des Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetzes 1985, BGBl. II Nr. 39/2014 · Bundesgesetzblatt für die Republik Österreich
- 2014-02 · GovernmentTier 1 (Investor) route: investment thresholds and economic benefits · Migration Advisory Committee
- 2013-01 · NewsKoloini-Prozess: Vier Freisprüche · ORF Wien
- 2012-12 · NewsScheuch: Sieben Monate und Geldstrafe · ORF Kärnten
- 2012-07 · NewsSchuldspruch für Uwe Scheuch · ORF Kärnten
- 2011-07 · NewsRussische Investoren zahlten für Einbürgerung zweimal an Haider · Der Standard
- 2011-07 · GovernmentAnfragebeantwortung 8483/AB XXIV. GP: Selbstbestimmungsrecht und doppelte Staatsbürgerschaft für Südtiroler und Südtirolerinnen (zu 8561/J) · Parlament Österreich (answer by the Federal Minister of the Interior)
- 2010-03 · GovernmentAnfragebeantwortung 4341/AB XXIV. GP: Verleihung der Staatsbürgerschaft gemäß § 10 Abs. 6 StbG (zu 4378/J) · Parlament Österreich (answer by the Federal Minister of the Interior)
- 2010-01 · NewsAffäre Scheuch: Einbürgerung von Investoren scheiterte · Die Presse
- · GovernmentORiip Annual Report 2016 · Office of the Regulator (Malta)
Who buys passports and golden visas, what they cost, and what happens when governments change the rules. Written from this data, in the newsletter.