How the §58c declaration works, step by step

Since 1 September 2020, descendants of Austrians persecuted by the Nazi regime can obtain Austrian citizenship by a declaration (Anzeige) under §58c of the Citizenship Act. Not an application, no language test, no fee, and no giving up Israeli citizenship. Israelis are the largest group using it: 2,612 of them received citizenship this way in 2021 alone.

The persecuted person, if still alive, and their direct descendants: children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, including anyone adopted as a minor. The persecuted person must meet three conditions: they were an Austrian citizen, or a citizen of a successor state of the Austro-Hungarian empire, or stateless; their main residence was in Austria; and they left Austria before 15 May 1955 because of persecution by the Nazi party or the Reich authorities, or a well-founded fear of it, or because they supported the democratic republic.

Since the extension of 1 May 2022, these also qualify: an Austrian citizen who did not live in Austria between 30 January 1933 and 9 May 1945 because returning would have meant persecution; anyone deported abroad before 9 May 1945; and anyone murdered or who died from the persecution before 9 May 1945. So a grandchild of someone murdered in Auschwitz qualifies without proving flight.

Many families assume only those who left after the Anschluss in March 1938 qualify. Not so. The cut-off is 15 May 1955, the date the Austrian State Treaty was signed. Someone who left in 1934 because of the political climate, or in 1946 after returning and finding nothing to return to, can qualify if the departure is linked to persecution. Someone who left in 1925 for Zionist or economic reasons, with no persecution, probably does not.

Before anything else, fill in the Austrian foreign ministry's online questionnaire (ias.bmeia.gv.at/info58c). It asks about the persecuted person, the family link and the documents you have, and produces a personal list of what to submit. The embassy expects you to arrive at your appointment with that list.

• Yours: a valid passport, a current passport photo, a birth certificate (registry extract with the parents' details), a marriage certificate if the name changed, and a police certificate (criminal record extract) less than 8 months old on the day of filing.
• Every generation in the chain: a birth certificate naming the parents, and a marriage certificate or acknowledgement of paternity if the name changed.
• The persecuted person: proof of Austrian citizenship and main residence, and proof of flight or persecution before 15 May 1955. If they were deported or murdered, the persecution itself usually needs no proof.

The Meldezettel is the most useful document for the persecuted person: Vienna's historical residents' registration, which records citizenship, address and date of departure. Request it by email from the city archive (Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv, post@ma08.wien.gv.at) with the name, date of birth and last known address. The archive answers within weeks and usually free of charge. The birth registers of Vienna's Jews up to 1938 are held by the Jewish community (IKG) and indexed on GenTeam.

Every Israeli certificate needs an apostille from the Foreign Ministry (or a magistrates' court for notarial certifications). German and English documents are accepted as they are; a Hebrew document needs a translation by a sworn and court-certified translator. Most of the cost of the procedure is here, because the declaration itself has no fee.

The declaration is filed only at the Austrian embassy in Tel Aviv, by appointment. Another mission, however convenient, may not accept it. The embassy checks that the file is complete and forwards it to MA 35, the City of Vienna's immigration and citizenship department, which is competent for everyone not born in or living in Austria. The decision arrives in writing. Processing time is not published officially; reports range from six to eighteen months, depending on the backlog.

Once the declaration is confirmed you are an Austrian citizen and can apply for a passport at the embassy. Minor children are not included automatically: they file their own declaration through their parents, in the same file. Israeli citizenship stays.

Kav Yashar checks in the chat whether the family falls under §58c, builds the document list from your chain, reads every certificate you upload and writes the German cover letter to MA 35. You fill in the questionnaire, order, translate and file. We do not.