by descent: ie. Citizenship derived by virtue of your parent’s citizenship (due to lex sanguinis).
Gelöbnis
(en. pledge of allegiance) part of the citizenship ceremony in which you are asked to repeat an oath pledging allegiance to the Republic of Austria and its values.
Niederschrift
The Niederschrift is a simple record of the application appointment (Antragstermin) and contains the salient points about your qualification for naturalisation (e.g. duration of residence, level of integration etc.)
Selbstauskunft zur Vorlage
The Selbstauskunft zur Vorlage is a document issued by a credit rating agency (e.g. Kreditschutzverband) that is used in the naturalisation process to assist your application in terms of confirming your sound financial footing. This document is paid for upon delivery (ie. you pay the correct sum to the postman who delivers it and makes you sign for it). It contains excerpts from the KonsumentenKreditEvidenz (a register of consumer loans). Some bank overdraft facilities are captured in this way – as they constitute a type of credit facility. There is also a Warnliste (warning list) excerpt in relation to this (which should of course state “Es liegen keine Eintragungen vor”), as well as the WarenKreditEvidenz (a register for trade loans).
Case officers may not necessarily understand the difference between a rolling overdraft facility and an actual overdraft – so be prepared with a recent bank statement if necessary.
StbG 1985
Abbreviation for the Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz 1985 (Austrian Citizenship Act of 1985) which contains provisions about acquiring, revoking an all aspects of citizenship.
Zivildienst
Zivildienst is alternative civilian service – done as an alternative to military service. Naturalising as an Austrian citizen before the age of 35 will mean that you are required to do either military or alternative civilian service. Under alternative civilian service, a Zivildiener spend nine months working in say a Kindergarten, hospital, care institution against a very modest remuneration.
Zusicherungsbescheid
The Zusicherungsbescheid is the term meaning the administrative decision (Bescheid) through which a claim to take Austrian citizenship is conferred (zugesichert). Upon receiving the Zusicherungsbescheid, I had to initiate the renunciation process to then have my citizenship ceremony, before subsequently renouncing my British citizenship.