Section 30 NAG limits reliance on a marriage without a shared family life. The guide explains granting, retaining and EU residence rights.
Section 30(1) NAG sets a clear limit: spouses or registered partners who do not live a shared family life within the meaning of Article 8 ECHR may not rely on their marriage or partnership when a residence permit is granted or retained. A marriage certificate alone therefore does not answer the question.
The actual family relationship is decisive. The assessment concerns how the relationship is or was lived during the relevant period, which contacts exist and whether they amount to a shared family life. Section 30 contains no fixed checklist requiring one particular form of housing or contact.
Section 30(4) NAG also requires an application to be refused if actual family relationships between the sponsor and the family member do not exist or no longer exist. This article explains that residence-law limit. Family reunification in general and an independent residence right after separation are separate questions.
For the residence status of the sponsor, see the article on the sponsor's residence status in family reunification. The article on a family member of an Austrian citizen brings together the relevant status and evidence questions.
This check sorts the procedural stage, the actual relationship and open evidence questions. The result shows which facts should be described in a specific enquiry.
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If you actually live a shared family life, describe the relationship through the concrete circumstances. Set out housing and contact arrangements, shared responsibilities and relevant changes in chronological order. Section 30 requires no particular form of living together. The assessment remains a question of actual family life within the meaning of Article 8 ECHR.
Where the living situation has changed or remains unclear, the relevant period and the actual relationship matter. State when housing, contact or mutual support changed and which family relationships continue. A single snapshot does not replace a coherent account of the relationship as a whole.
Section 30(4) NAG provides for refusal where actual family relationships between the sponsor and the family member do not or no longer exist. The actual circumstances and the procedural position must be established for the assessment. An independent residence right after separation is a different issue and is not covered here.
The marriage certificate proves the marriage. For Section 30(1) NAG, the separate factual question is whether the spouses live a shared family life within the meaning of Article 8 ECHR. Alongside the civil-status document, describe the actual life, contacts and any changes in a way that can be followed.
This check concerns reliance on a marriage or registered partnership under Section 30 NAG. If you want to assess an independent residence right after separation, that is a different legal question. It requires a separate review of the previous residence status, the procedural position and the relevant provisions.
Section 30(1) NAG concerns spouses and registered partners who do not live a shared family life within the meaning of Article 8 ECHR. They may not rely on the marriage or registered partnership when a residence permit is granted or retained. The rule therefore connects reliance on the formal relationship with the family relationship actually lived.
The provision sets a limit on reliance on the marriage. It does not create a residence permit by itself and does not replace the rest of the assessment for the requested status. If an application relies on another legal basis, that basis must be assessed separately.
Section 30(3) NAG expressly provides that paragraphs 1 and 2 also apply to the acquisition and maintenance of a right of residence under Union law. Section 30 is therefore not limited to a conventional application for a national residence permit.
Section 30(1) NAG expressly refers to shared family life within the meaning of Article 8 ECHR. The wording contains no fixed statutory checklist for every couple. The decisive issue is the actual form of the relationship during the relevant period.
Depending on the circumstances, shared housing and household arrangements, personal contact, mutual support and shared responsibility in everyday life may be relevant to the assessment. These points are not exhaustive statutory conditions in Section 30. They help to describe the factual connection to family life in a concrete way.
Separate housing therefore does not answer the legal question automatically. The formal marriage alone does not answer it either. The circumstances should be presented as a coherent account, including specific reasons for an unusual housing or contact arrangement.
The authority must assess the shared-family-life question in the context of the specific NAG file. It is therefore important to explain the actual development of the relationship rather than identifying it only through the marriage certificate.
Describe where the spouses or partners live, how they organise everyday life, how regularly and in what form they have contact and which responsibilities they undertake for each other. If the living situation has changed, include the date, reason and practical effect of the change.
These circumstances do not form a statutory evidence list. Section 30 names no minimum period of cohabitation and no fixed number of contacts. Their relevance depends on the concrete living situation and the file as a whole.
Section 30(4) NAG contains an additional rule for the application. An application must be refused if actual family relationships between the sponsor and the family member do not or no longer exist. The focus is the real family relationship between the specific people concerned.
The wording covers both a situation in which an actual family relationship did not exist in the first place and one in which it later ended. That cannot be determined solely from formal family status or from one temporary change in living circumstances.
Section 30(4) also names a specific case involving an actor under Article 6 of the Status Regulation from whom persecution or serious harm to the sponsor originates. This additional ground must be kept separate from the general evidence of a marriage and from any criminal-law assessment.
Yes. Section 30(1) NAG expressly names both stages: granting and retaining residence permits. The marriage or registered partnership may therefore support a first application and the continued residence status only if the required shared family life exists.
For a grant, the living situation during the proceedings concerning the requested status is relevant. When retaining a status, the actual relationship must also be assessed during the later residence period. A change since the original grant should therefore be explained in chronological terms.
The legal consequence under Section 30 concerns reliance on the marriage. It does not make a blanket statement about every residence status held by the person concerned. Other possible legal bases, procedural issues and any independent residence basis require a separate assessment.
Section 30(3) NAG expressly extends paragraphs 1 and 2 to the acquisition and maintenance of a right of residence under Union law. The actual relationship can therefore matter even where the application or existing right is described as a Union-law right.
Paragraph 3 carries the limit in paragraph 1 into that area. A person relying on the marriage or registered partnership must therefore also address the actual family relationship in the specific case where a Union-law residence right is involved.
Section 30(3) is not a complete set of rules for Union-law residence. The applicable Union-law and national requirements still need to be examined separately.
Start with a timeline of the relationship and the residence proceedings. Record when the marriage was concluded, which living situation existed in each period, when housing or contact arrangements changed and which letters the authority sent about these matters.
Match the factual statements with the relevant documents. Depending on the case, documents about housing, shared everyday organisation, contact or jointly carried responsibilities may make the account easier to follow. The key is the link to a specific factual statement, not a large unstructured collection of documents.
Finally, check that the account distinguishes the marriage, actual family life, other family relationships and any independent residence basis. This makes clear which question Section 30 answers and which questions lie outside that provision.
No. The marriage certificate proves the marriage. Under Section 30(1) NAG, it is also relevant whether the spouses live a shared family life within the meaning of Article 8 ECHR. The actual living situation therefore needs a separate assessment.
No. Section 30 NAG contains no fixed rule for one form of housing. Separate housing may matter as part of the overall picture, but it does not decide the question by itself. The actual relationship during the relevant period remains decisive.
No. Section 30(1) NAG expressly refers to granting and retaining residence permits. Reliance on the marriage is therefore tied to shared family life at both stages.
Yes. Under Section 30(3) NAG, paragraphs 1 and 2 also apply to the acquisition and maintenance of a right of residence under Union law. The other Union-law requirements must be assessed separately.
Section 30(4) NAG requires an application to be refused if actual family relationships between the sponsor and the family member do not or no longer exist. The specific relationship and the contents of the file remain relevant. An independent residence right after separation is a different legal question.
Assess the residence-law position of the sponsor.
Assess statuses and evidence for a family member of an Austrian citizen.
An overview of the family situation and suitable residence statuses.
A separate question concerning the previous residence status and separation.