Dear Friends,

I am really worried about my future. I got married to an Austrian citizen 4 years back and alltogether I have been living in Austria since 5 and half years.

Due to some problems my wife is threatining to divorce me.

My question is say if within a month she is able to get a divorce from the court, what will be my legal status in Austria.

Currently I have the "Afunthaltstitel" which states the following
auf des aufenthalstitel: Familienangehoringer
Sontige Angaben: Freier zugang zum arbeitsmarkt
valid until 2008

Once she is able to get a divorce

Will I be allowed to work
Will I have to leave Austria
By Jan 2007 I will be completing 5 years of work and residence in Austria so will I be given the permanent residency or since I am divorced will I not be given Permanent residency.

Please advice. I will also be glad if you could point me to a website that will give me more infomration with regards to my situation.

Thank you.

@AmirKhan

In Germany after 3 years of marriage to a german you are entitled to german citizenship. However, there is one incident I know about, which is more or less your case. I know an african guy who got married to a german girl and after 2 years she was threatining to divorce him. Eventually they came to an agreement to wait for 1 more year so that he could take german citizenship. Ofcourse there was some finacial benefit to the girl offered. Is it possible in your case?

@ Akshay,

thanks for the info, the german law is more leniant but then I am not sure what is the law in austria.
In my case I would not want to make such a deal with my wife since I believe it would be an highly immoral act.

If you know someone who could give me some info about my questions please do let me know. I would be grateful to you.

Hello,

the website is http://www.auslaender.at/ there seems to be a draft of the law implementing the eu directive here: http://blatt.htu.tugraz.at/fremdenrecht2005/?doc=nag

Before you were married, what kind of status did you have, were you studying? Also, do you currently have a job?

Rgs,
-a

Alvarez,

I was working for on a job visa for a year and then I got married. I was not studying. Well the company that I was working for belongs to my wife's family. My wife's family decided to remove me from the job so as to make it difficult for me to stay in Austria.

I currently do not have a job.

If you were working on a regular permit then you probably have the 5 years required for a permanent residence according to the draft (and in any case under EU law). I strongly recommend that you get a job as soon as possible and that you start talking to an immigration lawyer about your case.

Rgds,
-a