Last year, there was a lot of media coverage about "illegal dual citizenship". The reporting has certainly caused uncertainty among many people. The focus was and still is on these cases in connection with Turkey. However, the current problem often affects people who are not responsible for it. This is also true in the present case, which was reported by the "Kurier" on 30 April 2018:
Roman H. has been living as an Austrian for over 30. He has an Austrian mother and a Turkish father. He was granted citizenship (together with his father) in the 1980s. Roman H. attended school in Austria, completed his studies, is employed and is involved in the social sector. He does not speak a word of Turkish. He has had no connection with Turkey for 30 years - until one day he received a letter from the Turkish Consulate and is told - in Turkish - that he should pay EUR 1,000.00 to buy himself out of Turkish military service.
Understandably, Roman H.'s world has been somewhat shaken since then: in his mid-40s, he has to ask himself whether he is perhaps (also?) a Turkish citizen. Should this be the case, another serious consequence could be attached to it, namely the loss of Austrian citizenship.
Sec. 27 of the Citizenship Act states:
§ 27. (1) A person who acquires a foreign nationality on the basis of his or her application, declaration or express consent shall lose his or her citizenship, unless he or she has previously been granted retention of citizenship.
If Roman H.'s father (at a time when he was still a minor) has at best regained Turkish citizenship, he (the father) may have lost his Austrian citizenship. Pursuant to Sec. 29 of the Citizenship Act, this loss extends to his children, insofar as they are minors and unmarried and follow him by law into the foreign nationality or would do so if they did not already possess it.
However, the extension of loss does not occur if the other parent remains a citizen. This was the case with Roman H.
Balazs Esztegar is a lawyer specialising in citizenship law and explained the case from a legal perspective in the Kurier interview.