On 5 July 2018, the National Council in Austria passed a law to raise the residence requirement for naturalisation for recognised refugees from six to ten years.

While the residence requirement for ordinary naturalisation in Austria lies at ten years, until now refugees have enjoyed the right to facilitated naturalisation after a reduced time of only six years if they fulfil the general naturalisation requirements (income; clean criminal record; German language knowledge; naturalisation test). Reduced residence requirements for other groups of people (applicants with higher German knowledge or working in specified fields of work; EU/EEA Citizens; people born in Austria; spouses of Austrians) will remain in place.

The legal amendment has been criticised by UNHCR, various NGOs and the International Law Office of the Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs as being in violation of the Geneva Convention on Refugees.

The conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) and the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), which together form a government coalition, voted for the legislation. It will enter into force on 1 September 2018.