Aslan came to Vienna at the invitation of the Austrian Agency for Education and Internationalization (ÖAD). He received a scholarship to do his doctoral thesis on “The effect of various treatments during menstruation on the fertility of cows” at Vetmeduni. In the process, he met and fell in love with his future wife.
Desire for “Family Austria”
His main position was at the University of Ankara, and he was also a visiting professor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vetmeduni. Because of his wife, who is a teacher at a school in Vienna, he moved to Vienna. The couple has a son together and lives in an apartment in Liesing.
After retiring, Aslan decided that he still wanted to apply for citizenship. For a long time, his nationality – he is Turkish – played no role for him. But he has more ties to Austria, as he tells “Vienna Today”. “If I didn’t love the country, why should I apply for citizenship? I mean, I have permanent residency status. But I want to be a member of this family, a member of Austria.”
No citizenship for ex-professor
Selim Aslan has been in Vienna regularly for 35 years. The veterinarian came to the University of Veterinary Medicine in 1987 to research and teach and has stayed ever since. He has a permanent residence permit, but he is denied citizenship.
Too often on research trips
He is retired, does not need a job and his future life is taken care of. But his application for citizenship was rejected by MA 35, as reported by Falter. He has been abroad too often in recent years – on research stays and congresses. Georg Hufgard-Leitner, department head of MA 35, explains: “Anyone wishing to obtain Austrian citizenship must have spent at least 80 percent of their time in the federal territory during the entitlement period. This also includes business trips, vacations and so on.”
According to his own calculations, which he submitted to MA 35, Aslan spent 954 days outside of Austria in the last ten years. On the other hand, he was in Austria for 1,263 days. According to Hufgard-Leitner, it often happens that applicants do not receive Austrian citizenship because of this. For example, it is almost impossible for tour guides because they are abroad so often. This is regulated in a federal law. The city’s hands are tied.
call for reforms
It doesn’t matter how those affected feel. Aslan affirms the question of whether he feels Austrian. His entire family, closest friends and his apartment are in Vienna – his biggest scientific sponsor came from the Vetmeduni. From the office of the integration city councilor Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS), the call for a legal reform is loud. “It is completely absurd that staying abroad for too long is a reason for a negative decision. This is simply not acceptable in a Europe in 2022 and should be abolished.”
The reform can only happen at the federal level. The responsible Federal Ministry of the Interior refers to inquiries to the parliamentary groups of the governing parties. In the past there had been clear differences between them. The Greens were in favor of easier access to citizenship, the ÖVP is clearly against it.
Aslan takes it with humor. “Sometimes I tell myself, if I were a footballer, a mediocre footballer and didn’t score a goal, maybe I would get citizenship.” He doesn’t know yet whether he will apply again. At the latest when he is buried in Liesing, he says, he will be Austrian anyway.