Austria and Germany report surge in citizenship grants

In Vienna, Austria’s MA 35 citizenship office is handling a sharp increase in naturalisation ceremonies, with up to 25 grants issued on some days. Ten years after the large refugee influx, the process has become faster, reducing the average processing time from 301 days to just 2 minutes 29 seconds, according to the newspaper Krone.

In Germany’s Ebersberg district, Landrat Robert Niedergesäß hosted a ceremony for roughly 150 newly naturalised residents. He presented citizenship certificates to individuals from Bulgaria, Serbia and Ukraine, among others. The district now hosts people from 148 nations, with foreigners accounting for about 17 % of the 25,807 residents as of 30 September 2024. Integration services and a volunteer interpreter network support the community.