Austria - Tirol Administrative Court judgment of 22 January 2019

The applicant was born in Belarus between 1990 and 1993, to parents of Armenian ethnic origin, and lived in Austria since the age of 9. Austria's civil registration allows for the registration of births of individuals who are stateless or whose nationality status is unclear, and the applicant argued her birth should be registered based on this provision, as she is stateless, or at least her nationality status in undetermined. The authorities considered that the applicant is an Armenian national based on findings in her asylum file, but the Court sided with the applicant and determined that she is entitled to have her birth registered in Austria.

Case name (in original language)
LVwG-2018/14/1219-1
Case number
LVwG-2018/14/1219-1
Citation
https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokumente/Lvwg/LVWGT_TI_20190122_LVwG_2018_14_1219_1_00/LVWGT_TI_20190122_LVwG_2018_14_1219_1_00.html
Date of decision
State
Court / UN Treaty Body
Tirol Administrative Court
Language(s) the decision is available in
German
Applicant's country of birth
Belarus
Applicant's country of residence
Austria
Facts

The applicant was born in Belarus to parents of Armenian ethnic origin. Her parents moved to Belarus in 1990 during the Soviet Union, and stayed there until 1993, and in this time frame all their children were born. The applicant lived in the same household as her parents and siblings from her birth until her marriage on 21 July 2017. She came to Austria at the age of 9 with her family, and has not left Austria since. She requested for her birth to be registered in Austria, but the request was denied on 22 March 2018, because she was considered to be an Armenian national, and only non-Austrians who are stateless or whose nationality has not been clarified can have their births registered in Austria, provided they habitually reside in Austria. 

Decision & Reasoning

The Court reasoned as follows:

“[…] the applicant was born outside the Republic of Armenia, only knows the state to a very limited extent from a relatively short period of time following her deportation from Sweden, and therefore has no reference to Armenia, especially since she did not attend school during her stay in Armenia. It was also found that she speaks Armenian "poorly".”

After considering relevant nationality legislations of Belarus and Armenia, the Court concluded the following:

“From the submitted file it can be inferred that the applicant's parents considered that they belonged to the Armenian ethnic group. However, this does not mean that she is ipso iure to be regarded as a national of the Republic of Armenia, since this would require a legal action of acquiring the nationality. Obviously, no such action was carried out, especially since it is clear from the documents in the file that at the time of the establishment of the Republic of Armenia, the [applicant’s] family was in Belarus and all of the children [in the family] were born in Brest, Belarus.”

“Regarding the nationality, the information provided by the Embassy of Armenia on June 8, 2016 is significant, confirming that it has no information about the applicant’s nationality and that she does not have an Armenian passport. The same confirmation was issued for [the applicant’s family members], so applicant’s view that she is to be regarded as stateless is correct.”

“The view that she is stateless or that at least her nationality status has not been clarified cannot, based on the available evidence, be challenged […].”

“According to Section 35 (2) PSTG, a civil status event that occurred abroad must be entered if [it] concerns a stateless person or a person of unclear nationality if they have their habitual residence in Austria.”

Outcome

The Court decided that the applicant is to be considered stateless and her birth ought to be registered in Austria.