Registered partnership and marriage play a particularly important role in immigration and residence law. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has constitutional status in Austria and guarantees every person, regardless of their nationality, the right to respect for their family life. This right is intended to ensure the coexistence of the nuclear family in Austria. As a rule, both spouses and registered partners of Austrian citizens or persons authorised to reside in Austria and their children can obtain a residence permit in Austria.
What is a registered partnership and how does it differ from marriage?
Since the introduction of civil marriage in Austria, this legal possibility existed exclusively for the establishment of a partnership between a man and a woman. Homosexual couples were denied a legally recognised partnership, which meant considerable discrimination against this population group. In 2010, the Austrian legislator created the Registered Partnership Act (EPG), which made it possible for people of the same sex to enter into a form of legally recognised partnership that is largely similar to marriage. Basically, it differs from marriage only in that it was only open to homosexual couples and was not called marriage. Couples of different sexes still only had the option of entering into a marriage.
However, this changed fundamentally with a ruling by the Austrian Constitutional Court on 4 December 2017. It found that a distinction between marriage and registered partnerships cannot be maintained without discriminating against same-sex couples.
Since 1 January 2019, both options for establishing a civil partnership have therefore been available to same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
Registered partnership and right of residence
In terms of residence law, registered marriages and partnerships are treated equally. This means that it makes no difference whether a couple is of the same or opposite sex, whether they are married or have entered into a registered partnership. The spouse/registered partner is always part of the nuclear family and therefore fulfils the most important requirement for obtaining a residence permit in Austria as a relative of a citizen or a person entitled to reside in Austria.
Divorce and dissolution
The divorce of a marriage or the dissolution of a registered partnership does not only affect personal and family life, but can also have a major impact on the legal residence situation. It depends both on the type of previous right of residence and the way in which the relationship was terminated as to whether the right of residence in Austria is retained. It can be important how long the marriage/registered partnership lasted, for what reason it was dissolved or divorced and whether one can finance life, insurance and housing in Austria afterwards.
We are at your disposal as your partner for all questions regarding marriage and registered partnerships in connection with immigration and residence in Austria.
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