Certified translation › Citizenship
For the citizenship authority — the Office of the Provincial Government (Amt der Landesregierung), and in Vienna the MA 35 — a court-sworn and certified translator produces certified translations of your birth certificate, marriage certificate and a foreign police-record certificate: with a certification statement, standards-based transliteration of names and Austria-wide recognition. At a fixed price including shipping.
Court-sworn and certified translators · names transliterated to ISO 9 · set price for the citizenship package · StbG 1985 · a reply on working days within 60 minutes
Short & clear
The grant of Austrian citizenship requires a certified translation of every foreign-language document by a court-sworn and certified translator — above all the birth certificate, for married applicants the marriage certificate, and a foreign police-record certificate. The German-language proof (B1/B2) and the citizenship test are taken in Austria and are not translated.
The legal requirements are set out in the Citizenship Act 1985 (Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz 1985, StbG); the application is decided by the citizenship authority — the Office of the Provincial Government (Amt der Landesregierung), and in Vienna the MA 35. Which documents are required exactly depends on your country of origin and your personal situation — we translate precisely the set your authority lists on its checklist.
Procedure & deadlines
The grant under Section 10 StbG 1985 normally requires ten years of lawful and uninterrupted residence, of which at least five years settled (niedergelassen). In special cases — for example proven sustained personal integration (German at B2), recognised refugees, EEA citizens or persons born in Austria — six years suffice. Dual citizenship is the exception: the principle is renunciation of the previous nationality.
Section 10 StbG requires, among other things, ten years of residence (five of them settled), a secure livelihood from your own income (income in 36 of the last 72 months, at least the reference rate for the compensatory supplement, Ausgleichszulagenrichtsatz), a clean criminal record and an affirmative attitude towards the Republic of Austria.
Language is proven at at least B1 (B2 for the six-year integration route). In addition there is the citizenship test (Staatsbürgerschaftsprüfung) on the democratic order and the history of Austria and of the respective province (Bundesland). Both are obtained in Austria and are not translated.
Now the foreign-language documents are needed: birth certificate, where relevant marriage/divorce certificate and — depending on the country of origin — a foreign police-record certificate, translated with certification and in part with an apostille.
The application goes to the citizenship authority at the Office of the Provincial Government (in Vienna the MA 35). Waiting times should be expected; the application and its enclosures are submitted in person.
The authority reviews the documents; where the previous citizenship must still be relinquished, an assurance of the grant (Zusicherung) is issued first. Incorrect spellings of names are a frequent cause of returned files here.
With the grant notice and the oath (Gelöbnis) Austrian citizenship takes effect. Complete, correctly translated documents shorten the path there noticeably.
Which documents?
This checklist is the core of the citizenship package. Each line links to the matching guide with details on form, transliteration of names and apostille. The principle: whatever is foreign-language and the authority wants to see is translated with certification; whatever was issued in German in Austria is not.
| Document (guide) | Purpose in the procedure | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Birth certificate | Proof of identity and descent — required in almost every citizenship case | Names transliterated to ISO 9, matched to the passport spelling |
| Marriage certificate | Proof of marital status, name usage, co-naturalisation of the spouse | almost always needed where the marriage was concluded abroad |
| Divorce certificate / decree | Evidence of ended prior marriages and the name held | foreign divorces may additionally need recognition |
| Foreign police-record certificate | Proof of a clean record (Section 10 para. 1 no. 6 StbG) | watch its currency; often with apostille/legalisation |
| Registration slip / confirmation of residence | Evidence of former residences / continuous residence | Austrian registration slip is in German; translate foreign proofs of residence |
| Passport | Identity and the authoritative spelling of the name | serves as the reference for the transliteration of the name |
| Certificate / diploma / proof of income | Evidence of a secure livelihood from your own income | case-dependent; qualifications where relevant via recognition |
Each citizenship authority (Office of the Provincial Government, and in Vienna the MA 35) keeps its own list of documents. Obtain it first — so we translate no document twice and none too few. Where several documents come together, we calculate the set and pass on a volume advantage.
Apostille & authentication
For foreign documents (birth and marriage certificates, a police-record certificate from the country of origin), the citizenship authority — depending on the country — additionally requires an apostille or a legalisation confirming the genuineness of the document.
Important: The FÜD does not issue apostilles. They are issued by the competent authority in the country of issue. Conversely, for Austrian documents needed abroad: for court documents the President of the Regional Court (Präsident des Landesgerichts) is competent, and for civil-status and other administrative documents the Office of the Provincial Government (Amt der Landesregierung); for countries outside the apostille system the BMEIA (Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs) handles legalisation. Within the EU, the apostille is dispensed with for many civil-status documents under Regulation (EU) 2016/1191. We then translate the document and the apostille together, with certification.
A name that does not match the passport stops the citizenship application.
That is why: standards-based transliteration to ISO 9, a match with the passport and a traceable certification note.
Real cases
Country of origin and marital status decide which documents must be translated and apostilled.
Türkiye
Syria
Ukraine
Expert value
Citizenship applications rarely fail on the running text, but on a name, a deadline or a missing seal. The most frequent returns — and how a court-sworn and certified translator avoids them.
| Pitfall | Why this is critical | How the FÜD solves it |
|---|---|---|
| Name spelled differently on each document | If the birth, marriage and passport spellings diverge, the authority doubts the identity. | Uniform transliteration to ISO 9, matched with the passport, deviations explained in the note. |
| Police-record certificate too old | An out-of-date foreign police-record certificate is not accepted — the appointment lapses. | We point out the required currency and translate close to the time of submission. |
| Apostille overlooked | Without apostille/legalisation the foreign document counts as not proven. | We check the apostille requirement of the country of origin in advance and translate document and apostille together. |
| Only the running text translated | If seals, stamps and marginal notes are missing, the translation is incomplete and cannot be certified. | Seals, stamps and handwritten notes are described and translated; anything illegible is marked. |
| Documents issued in Austria translated needlessly | Having the German proof or the citizenship test translated costs money for no benefit. | We translate only foreign-language documents of origin — proofs issued in Austria stay as they are. |
How it works
You upload clearly legible scans of all documents and tell us the passport spelling of the names. We review scope and language direction, match the names and name a binding fixed price for the entire set. After your approval, a court-sworn and certified translator translates true to form and layout, including stamps and notes.
You receive the translations as a PDF in advance for checking and then the certified originals by post. On request we check the apostille requirement beforehand — so the citizenship authority accepts everything on the first attempt.
Quote & price
For a citizenship application several documents usually come together. Standard civil-status certificates are charged as a flat fee per document, longer documents per standard line — calculated as a set with a volume advantage.
| Certified translation by a court-sworn and certified translator | ✓included |
| Certification note, stamp & signature | ✓included |
| Advance PDF for checking | ✓included |
| Postal delivery of the certified originals | ✓included |
| Set discount for several documents | ✓possible |
Standard documents at a flat fixed fee, longer documents from € 0.89 / standard line; we name the exact amount after a brief review — How the price is made up →
FAQ
Evidence
Every legal statement on this page is tied to an Austrian primary source. The grant in the individual case is always decided by the competent citizenship authority.
For our citizenship we had to have the birth certificate, marriage certificate and the police-record certificate translated — everywhere the name now read exactly as in the passport. The MA 35 accepted everything without a query.
D. Yılmaz · Citizenship, Vienna
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