Of all EU citizenship by descent options, Austria’s is likely the easiest for eligible Jewish families.

Of all EU citizenship by descent options, Austria’s is likely the easiest for eligible Jewish families.

If your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents were Austrian citizens, or even just residents of Austria who fled before 1955 because of persecution, you and your descendants can usually restore Austrian citizenship directly.

Even if the ancestor never held Austrian citizenship formally but lived in Austria temporarily, including in a postwar DP (Displaced Persons) camp run by the Allies, descendants are still eligible.

Austria also extended eligibility to those who were only residents of these displaced persons camps, recognizing that they too were part of the Jewish community affected by Austria’s postwar indifference.

In fact, offering citizenship to people who were never Austrian citizens, only residents, is completely unprecedented in modern Europe.

The process is refreshingly simple:

 • No lawyers or agents required

 • No government fees (only a modest passport fee if you later want a passport)

 • Birth and marriage certificates tracing the family line

 • Apostilles and certified translations where needed

 • Submission directly through your local Austrian embassy or consulate

Applications are generally processed within about a year, sometimes faster.

It is efficient, respectful, and designed to make restoration accessible.

Behind this law lies something deeper.

After the war, surviving Jews who passed through Austria were not welcomed to stay. Almost all were forced to emigrate to the United States, Israel, or elsewhere rather than rebuild their lives in postwar Europe.

This law represents Austria’s effort to make amends, acknowledging that exclusion and offering a tangible way for descendants to reclaim what should have been theirs all along.

For Jewish families, this is more than a symbolic gesture. It is a practical way to restore European citizenship, expand travel and education options, and secure flexibility for future generations.

Sometimes the easiest second citizenship is the one already written in your family history.

Special thanks to former Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurtz, whose government championed and passed this law, allowing Jewish families to reclaim what history once took away.