Dual Citizenship Slovakia – Austria

Dear Sir/Madam,

Despite the fact that the Slovak Republic recognizes dual citizenship for its citizens, the legal system of Austria does not allow holding two or more citizenships simultaneously. In principle, if an Austrian citizen acquires the citizenship of another state, they automatically lose Austrian citizenship.

However, there are exceptions to this rule; an Austrian citizen will not lose Austrian citizenship if, before acquiring foreign citizenship, they submit a written request to the Austrian authorities to retain Austrian citizenship. Permission to retain Austrian citizenship is granted:

• If it is in the interest of the Republic of Austria, due to services provided or expected from the citizen, or for reasons worthy of special consideration.
• If there are serious reasons related to the personal or family life of the applicant.
• In the case of minors, if it is in the best interest of the child to retain Austrian citizenship.

The same applies in the opposite case: individuals applying for Austrian citizenship must renounce their previous citizenship unless they prove that doing so would not be “possible and reasonable.”

Austrian citizenship is also not lost by a newborn, who acquires another citizenship at birth—either through the principle of ius sanguinis (by descent from one parent) or ius soli (by birth in a specific country).

The information in this post is freely available on the official websites of Austrian authorities.

In our online legal advisory section, you can find several other posts on the topic of dual citizenship, such as Slovakia – Hungary, Slovakia – Czech Republic, or Slovakia – Russia.