Vienna's immigration and citizenship authority, MA 35, has clarified that an ongoing corruption investigation into the department is strictly limited to residence permits issued in the city and does not affect naturalisation cases. The agency also rejected reports that its headquarters was subjected to a police raid, revealing that it was the department itself that initially flagged the suspected misconduct to prosecutors earlier this year.
The clarification comes amid mounting allegations that documents related to residence-permit procedures may have been forged or intentionally destroyed. Despite public concern, MA 35 has declined to answer specific questions regarding the exact number of files currently under review, whether impacted applicants are being contacted, or if the probe has slowed down application processing times.
The authority explained, "We can unfortunately not provide comprehensive information because of the ongoing investigations, so as not to jeopardise them." However, it confirmed that the inquiries generally target residence permits, or Aufenthaltstitel, issued in Vienna.
Providing details on the timeline of the investigation, MA 35 disclosed that the case originated from a whistleblower report submitted through Vienna's internal system in April 2026. Following this tip, the City of Vienna's Internal Audit and Compliance unit alerted the management of MA 35. After conducting its own internal inquiries, the immigration authority officially reported the matter to the Vienna public prosecutor's office on May 22nd, 2026.
Since then, security and investigative bodies have carried out subsequent inquiries, which included responding to multiple administrative assistance requests from Austria's Federal Bureau of Anti-Corruption, or BAK. Austria's Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office, known as WKStA, confirmed that two individuals are currently under investigation. A current MA 35 employee is being investigated on suspicion of Vorteilsannahme, which refers to seeking or accepting an undue advantage in connection with the proper performance of official duties.
Meanwhile, a former employee faces allegations of Missbrauch der Amtsgewalt, or abuse of official authority, and Bestechlichkeit, meaning bribery. According to local reports, the former employee was initially detained but has since been released.
MA 35 strongly disputed local media characterisations of an incident at its headquarters on September 22nd, 2026. Several Austrian outlets reported that investigators had executed a Razzia, meaning a raid, or a Hausdurchsuchung, which translates to a house search. The authority denied these claims, stating, "On September 22nd, 2026, neither a 'raid' nor a 'house search' took place at MA 35, as some media incorrectly reported." Instead, investigators were executing inquiries under Section 76 of Austria's Code of Criminal Procedure, which governs requests for administrative assistance.
The department head coordinated and supported the inquiry, and IT staff assisted in providing access to the specific office. MA 35 emphasized that a formal house search would have required a judicial warrant ordered by the public prosecutor's office, which was not the case here.
The agency also sought to decouple the investigation from naturalisation procedures, which had recently drawn political scrutiny. The Vienna branch of the Freedom Party of Austria, or FPÖ, had demanded a comprehensive review of both citizenship and residence decisions made by the employees under investigation. Furthermore, a report by the Kronen Zeitung newspaper claimed an internal report showed a sharp rise in naturalisations among former Albanian citizens.
MA 35 flatly denied this, stating, "This internal report does not exist." It explained that the figures cited in the article—57, 81, and 105 naturalisations—were actually national data from Statistik Austria and did not represent cases handled specifically by MA 35. The authority labelled the media presentation as misleading, noting there is no concrete link between the investigated cases and these naturalisation numbers.
While the authority's statements have clarified the boundaries of the probe, many critical questions remain unanswered for applicants. It is still unclear whether MA 35 has suspended any active applications, how many total cases are under review, what specific timeframe the suspect files cover, or whether completed procedures will be overturned.
Despite the ongoing scandal, MA 35 stressed that the allegations involve individual employees and do not represent the overall integrity of the department, which manages more than 165,000 procedures. The authority concluded by stating, "Corruption must be firmly rejected and has corresponding consequences."
MA 35 did not answer The Local's questions about how many individual files may now be under review, whether affected applicants are being contacted, or whether the investigation has affected processing times.
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