Austrian ancestry alone does not establish an entitlement. Section 58c of the Citizenship Act provides a declaration route for qualifying victims of National Socialist persecution and their direct descendants. Separate ordinary descent rules may apply where citizenship was transmitted through a parent. The authority decides which route fits the facts.
No genealogist can decide eligibility, and we don't try. We find the records that show who your ancestor was, where they lived and when they left. Whether your case qualifies is decided by the Vienna immigration office, MA 35.
Who the route covers
One category covers Austrian citizens, citizens of a successor state of the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and stateless persons with their main residence in Austria who left before 15 May 1955 because of persecution or fear of persecution. The law also covers further categories; this is not an exhaustive eligibility test. Persecution is understood broadly: Jewish families, political opponents, Roma, and others who left because staying was dangerous.
Direct descent must be documented and the statutory conditions met. Official information explains the procedure and exemptions; certificate, translation and research costs are separate from any authority fee exemption.
What has to be proven
Three things, mostly from archives:
- That your ancestor lived in Austria and was a citizen there, or a citizen of a successor state with residence in Austria.
- That they left, or were persecuted, in the relevant period.
- That you descend from them, generation by generation.
The second point is often easier than families expect. A Viennese registration card that says abgemeldet nach Palästina or nach unbekannt in 1938 tells its own story.
The documents a file usually needs
- Birth or marriage records of the persecuted ancestor.
- Residence registration (Meldezettel) showing an address in Austria and the deregistration date.
- Proof of citizenship: a Heimatschein, an old passport, or registration in a community's Heimatrolle.
- Any evidence of persecution: property seizure files, emigration files, deportation records, or records of the family's arrival abroad.
- Your birth certificate and those of each generation in between.
Where the records are
Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv. The Vienna city archive holds the Meldezettel, which are the backbone of most 58c files, and the Heimatrollen of Vienna.
Austrian State Archives. The Vermögensanmeldungen, the forced property declarations of 1938, and the files of the property transaction office. These often list family members and addresses.
The Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG). Birth, marriage and death registers of the Jewish community from the nineteenth century, and its own archive.
Church archives. Catholic and Protestant Matriken for families who were baptised, many of them online on Matricula.
Archives in the former crown lands. Many Viennese families came from Galicia, Bohemia, Moravia or Bukovina. Their earlier records are now in Poland, Ukraine, Czechia or Romania.
How we work
Tell us the ancestor's name, the street or district if anyone remembers it, and when the family left. We start with the Vienna registration records because they quickly confirm address, dates and citizenship.
We then collect the civil records of each generation, look for persecution evidence where it helps, and arrange everything in the order MA 35 expects.
Common questions
My ancestor was born in Galicia, not in Austria. Can this still work?
Possibly. Many people born in Galicia lived in Vienna and held Austrian citizenship, or were citizens of a successor state living in Austria. Their Viennese records answer the question, and we find the birth record in Polish or Ukrainian archives.
The family left in 1937, before the Anschluss.
The route also covers people who left because they feared persecution, not only those who left after March 1938. The records of where they went and why still matter.
Are documents in English accepted?
MA 35 generally asks for German translations of foreign documents. We tell you which ones need translation and which are already in German.
If your family left Austria between 1933 and 1955, send us what you know. The first assessment is free.
Read more about research in Austria and the citizenship documents we prepare.
Official sources and scope
Editorial review: 14 October 2026. This is a guide to document research, not a determination of eligibility. Confirm the current procedure and checklist with the competent authority before committing to an application.