Israelis who left Austria before May 1955 will be eligible for citizenship as early as next month, Austrian Embassy announced this week, following in the footsteps of other European countries.
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The Austrian Embassy said that starting Sept. 1 it will begin accepting digital applications. The measure extends to the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren as well.
"All direct descendants of victims of Nazi-persecution in Austria will be eligible to claim Austrian citizenship while keeping their present nationality," the embassy announced. "The process is free of fees," it stressed.
After a digital application is filed, the applicant will be asked to arrive at the embassy.
The law that extends Austrian citizenship was enacted last year, and the relevant procedures for naturalization were completed several months ago. However, the formal application process could not be launched until now because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"There are some 8,000 Israelis who have Austrian citizenship and we are expecting thousands more to apply," the Austrian Ambassador to Israel Hannah Liko said, "we have no way of telling how many will eventually get citizenship."
She stressed that this new law was part of the "ongoing effort to reconcile with those who have suffered under the totalitarian Nazi regime."
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