MA 35 - PROBLEM AUTHORITY OR SERVICE CENTRE?

YouTube premiere "From Kreisky's living room"

Rudolf Scholten in conversation with Georg Hufgard-Leitner

PROBLEM AUTHORITY OR SERVICE CENTRE?
A look behind the scenes at MA 35 in Vienna

Georg Hufgard-Leitner has been head of the Vienna Municipal Department 35 for Immigration and Citizenship since summer 2020. The core task of MA 35 is to carry out procedures in accordance with the Settlement and Residence Act as well as procedures for obtaining Austrian citizenship. The federal legislation to be enforced by the authority in the area of immigration and citizenship is complicated and the procedures are sometimes very time-consuming. The now 538 employees process around 150,000 procedures per year.

Since a federal law passed by the National Council came into force in autumn 2020, the MA 35 has also been entrusted with an all-Austrian responsibility: the descendants of Austrian victims of National Socialism - as well as refugee victims themselves - are given easier access to Austrian citizenship. MA 35 processes these applications in co-operation with the BMEIA via the Austrian embassies. Almost 20,000 applications have been received so far.

Both immigration and Brexit procedures for British nationals living in Vienna led to a significant increase in the number of applications last year. The coronavirus crisis has also increased the workload of MA35 employees: face-to-face appointments are only possible to a limited extent, work is mainly done via email and telephone; around 25,000 calls per month have to be answered.

Despite an increase in staff and ongoing modernisation of the authority's working methods, the media repeatedly report long waiting times for individual applications, desperate applicants and overwhelmed MA 35 employees.

BKF President Rudolf Scholten talks to Georg Hufgard-Leitner in Kreisky's living room about the work of MA 35, about problem areas in the legal basis and its enforcement, and about reforms to relieve employees and make procedures faster and easier and more comprehensible for applicants.

Georg Hufgard-Leitner, Lawyer, Head of Vienna Municipal Department 35 for Immigration and Citizenship
Rudolf Scholten, President of the Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue