Waiting times for Austrian citizenship appointments in Vienna remain long, despite significant improvements to the city’s immigration and citizenship department, MA 35, according to a recent report.
The interim report, presented by Christoph Wiederkehr, City Councillor for Education, Youth, Integration and Transparency, said that the waiting time for appointments currently stands at 324 days.
MA 35 has faced long-standing criticism for its poor accessibility and slow processing times, which have contributed to its negative reputation. However, in 2021 the department began a reform, led by Wiederkehr, which involved increasing staff numbers and establishing a phone service centre.
“We can see that we have achieved a lot,” Wiederkehr said. Processing times for immigration applications have been reduced from an average of 68.6 days to 41.1 days, a drop of 40.1%. For citizens of the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes the EU countries along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, applications are now completed in just 12.9 days, down from 41.3 days in 2021.
The report also includes figures on customer interactions. In 2023, more than 260,000 phone calls were made to MA 35, and by the end of September this year, over 170,000 had been recorded. Callback requests are generally processed within two days.
While improvements have been seen in the immigration process, the citizenship sector still faces challenges. However, measures have resulted in a higher completion rate. Last year, 7,356 citizenship applications were completed, up from 5,609 in 2020.
Demand in the citizenship sector continues to rise, Wiederkehr explained, due to population growth and applications from descendants of Holocaust victims. These applications are processed in Vienna for the whole country. Monthly appointment slots have been increased to 1,000, up from 300 in 2021, with plans to reach 1,300 within a year.
Georg Hufgard-Leitner, head of MA 35, highlighted the department’s digitalisation efforts, including an online tool that helps potential applicants check if they meet the eligibility criteria for citizenship.
Although the reform process is officially complete, it is expected to continue as part of an ongoing effort to improve. As part of these reforms, the department’s staff has increased, with 717 employees now working at MA 35, compared to 554 in 2021.
