Austria · Citizenship by naturalisation
Citizenship for Extraordinary Achievements in the Interest of the Republic (§10(6) StbG)
Open, but this is not a programme, and Austria does not run a citizenship-by-investment scheme. §10(6) is a constitutional provision that lets the Federal Cabinet waive the usual requirements when a foreign national has performed, and is expected to keep performing, extraordinary achievements in the Republic's special interest. The Interior Ministry is direct about this: money alone does not qualify.
Here are the honest numbers, which almost no advisory site publishes. An official parliamentary answer dated 21 May 2024 confirms that 21 people received citizenship under §10(6) in 2022, and 40 in 2023. That compares with 25,095 total Austrian naturalisations in 2025. The industry's claim of 30–60 per year matches the 2005–2009 era, when the number peaked at 60 in 2008. It does not match the present. Crucially, §10(6) grantees do not have to renounce their existing citizenship. That inverts Austria's usual rule, and it is the single most valuable feature of this route.
Qualifying routes
No statutory monetary threshold exists. Practitioners commonly report active direct business investment from roughly EUR 10m, paired with genuine job creation. Passive investment in real estate or government bonds does not qualify.
Charitable, scientific or cultural contribution is commonly reported from roughly EUR 4m, but the achievement, not the sum, is the legal test. Athletes and researchers of international standing have qualified with no investment at all.
The facts
- Minimum
- €10M
- Total landed cost
- No official figure exists. Market reporting suggests EUR 4–10m+ in qualifying contribution, plus roughly EUR 400,000–600,000 in structuring and professional fees. Treat every euro figure here as unofficial. The statute sets no price, and paying one guarantees nothing.
- Route type
- By residence
- Timeline
- 1–3 years (The Council of Ministers decides in a non-public session roughly twice a year. The file is submitted through one of the nine Länder governments.)
- Physical presence
- There is no physical presence requirement, since that is exactly what §10(6) waives. This is the only EU citizenship obtainable without living there.
- Family
- Spouse and minor children may generally be included, but each case is assessed individually, and inclusion is not automatic
- Permanent residency
- Not applicable. This route grants citizenship directly.
- Citizenship
- Not applicable
- Language test
- None under §10(6). The ordinary German-language requirement is among the conditions waived.
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- extraordinary achievements already made, and expected to continue, in science, the economy, sport or the artsconfirmation from the Federal Government (Ministerrat) that granting citizenship serves the Republic's special interestconferral by the relevant Land government under §39 StbGclean criminal record and no threat to public orderno residence, language or renunciation requirement, the conditions waived for this route
- This route is discretionary, not something you can simply buy. The Administrative Court has ruled that confirmation should be granted only in very rare cases, and there is no appeal against the Cabinet's decision.
- Passive investment is explicitly not enough. Real estate, bonds and bank deposits do not qualify. The BMI says so directly.
- It is not secret. Contrary to some industry marketing, the names and professions of §10(6) grantees are published in the Council of Ministers' resolution protocols.
- Austria does not publish the annual §10(6) count. The only official figures come from parliamentary questions, and no answer covering 2024 or 2025 exists yet. The newest official data, from 2023, is now over two years old.
- For everyone who is not using §10(6), Austria's §27 StbG is unforgiving. Voluntarily acquiring any foreign citizenship causes automatic loss of Austrian citizenship ex lege, unless a Beibehaltungsbewilligung was issued before acquisition. Ordinary naturalisation requires renouncing your existing citizenship within 2 years.
- The confirmation comes from the Federal Cabinet, but conferral remains with a Land government. Two political bodies must align.
- Agents who quote a fixed price and a success rate are selling a certainty that does not exist in the statute.