Vienna. Since last year, the demand for Austrian citizenship by Viennese foreign nationals has increased considerably. About 1,300 citizens a month want to receive information appointments at the Immigration and Naturalization Office (MA 35) of the City of Vienna, up from around 600 a year ago. In order to meet the rapidly increasing demand, the City of Vienna has developed a new format for the first information meetings in cooperation with the Immigration Information Centre. It was announced that in new group appointments, up to 170 people per appointment will be informed about obtaining Austrian citizenship.
Stating that he is pleased with the increase in citizenship demands, Deputy Mayor and Municipal Councilor for Integration Christoph Wiederkehr, “Unfortunately we cannot change federal laws in Vienna, but we can strengthen our informational offer to prepare people well for the often long application process. As of April, 93 new staff will be employed at MA 35. Our goal is to make procedures more efficient with these measures and increase the capacity of the institution by 50% by autumn.” said.
From April: eight appointments per month for up to 170 participants
Starting in April, this program will be expanded and eight group meetings will be held each month with up to 170 participants. The meetings will discuss the legal requirements for citizenship, as well as the steps and documents required for the procedure at the competent state authority MA 35. Registration for appointments will be made through the Immigration and Naturalization Office of the City of Vienna (MA 35).
Maryam Singh of the Immigration Counseling Centre, “During our initial debriefing sessions, participants learn what documents are required, what the next steps are and how to prepare for them. We are delighted that the first round of initial briefings was extremely successful.” He expressed their hope for the new system.
Interested persons can also find out online whether they meet the requirements for Austrian citizenship with the help of the new online assistant. It is possible to make an appointment at the end of the survey.
For online assistant and more information, you can click the link below:
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