Criminal Record Certificate (Strafregisterauszug) in Austria
Key facts at a glance
- Two different things: the Strafregister is the justice authorities‘ internal record of every conviction; the Strafregisterauszug – the certificate you can request, also called a Leumundszeugnis – shows only the more serious ones.
- What stays hidden: under the „restricted information“ rule (§ 6 Tilgungsgesetz), fine-only convictions and short prison sentences (up to 3 months, or up to 6 months for people under 21) do not appear on the certificate.
- Why it matters: an entry can cost you a job, a trade licence (Gewerbeberechtigung) or a firearms card (Waffenbesitzkarte) – and it bars Austrian citizenship.
- Expungement (Tilgung): convictions are deleted automatically after 5, 10 or 15 years (3 years for certain juvenile cases), counted from the day the sentence is fully served. The most serious sexual offences and life sentences are never deleted.
- Where & cost: apply at any regional police directorate (EUR 16.40) or online via oesterreich.gv.at (EUR 10.70). Questions about your record? Call me directly: +43 676 601 7746.
A new employer in Vienna asks you for a Strafregisterauszug. A residence or citizenship application requires proof that you have a clean record. Or a court has just convicted you, and you want to know how long that conviction will follow you. In every one of these situations the same questions arise: what does an Austrian criminal record certificate actually show, what stays hidden – and when does a conviction finally disappear?
Austrian law draws a sharp line between two documents that most people treat as one. The Strafregister (criminal record register) is the complete, internal record kept by the justice authorities. The Strafregisterauszug (criminal record certificate) – in everyday language the Leumundszeugnis (certificate of good conduct) – is the far shorter extract that you can request and hand to an employer or an authority. Which convictions appear on the certificate, and for how long, is governed by the Criminal Records Expungement Act (Tilgungsgesetz 1972).
On this page I explain, as a criminal defense lawyer in Vienna, the difference between the register and the certificate, what does and does not appear on a Leumundszeugnis, where and how to obtain one, and when a conviction is expunged – including the special rules for juveniles and sexual offences, and the route of a clemency petition (Gnadengesuch).
Does this describe your situation?
- An employer, authority or embassy has asked you for an Austrian criminal record certificate (Leumundszeugnis)
- You have been convicted and want to know whether it will show on the certificate – and for how long
- You are applying for Austrian citizenship, a trade licence or a firearms card and fear an entry on your record
- You want to have an old conviction expunged early through a clemency petition
→ Then read on – or call me directly: +43 676 601 7746
Contents
- The register and the certificate: two different things
- What appears on the certificate – and what stays hidden
- Where to apply and what it costs
- Expungement (Tilgung): when a conviction disappears
- The expungement periods at a glance
- What an entry on your record can cost you
- Your record across the EU (ECRIS)
- Clemency petition (Gnadengesuch)
- Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
The register and the certificate: two different things
In everyday speech the words are used interchangeably, but in law they are not the same. Understanding the difference is the key to everything that follows.
The Strafregister (criminal record register) is an internal record kept by the justice authorities of all convictions handed down so far, until they are deleted under the Criminal Records Expungement Act (Tilgungsgesetz). Its entries form the basis for assessing a wide range of legal questions about an accused or a convicted person.
The Leumundszeugnis – another name for the Strafregisterauszug, also called a Strafregisterbescheinigung, and occasionally, using the German term, a Führungszeugnis – is the certificate an individual can request from the police. It does not contain all convictions, but only those that exceed a certain level of severity. In other words: the register is the full picture held by the authorities; the certificate is a filtered extract that you can put in the hands of a third party.
What appears on the certificate – and what stays hidden
The criminal record certificate is a restricted extract (beschränkte Auskunft) within the meaning of § 6 Tilgungsgesetz. That means certain convictions are deliberately kept off it. The following do not appear on the certificate:
- Convictions carrying a prison sentence of up to three months.
- For persons who have not yet turned 21: convictions carrying a prison sentence of up to six months.
- Convictions where a fine (Geldstrafe) was sufficient.
The practical effect is considerable. A person under 21 who is sentenced by a criminal court to six months‘ imprisonment need not fear that this conviction will show on the Leumundszeugnis – and a future employer who asks for the certificate will not learn of it. In practice these thresholds matter enormously, because life goes on after the sentence, and those affected understandably do not want lasting restrictions in their working lives.
Where to apply and what it costs
You can request a Leumundszeugnis at any regional police directorate (Landespolizeidirektion). It is also possible to apply online, via the official portal www.oesterreich.gv.at.
The cost depends on the route. Requested at the police in Vienna, a Leumundszeugnis costs EUR 16.40. Requested online, an extract from the criminal record costs EUR 10.70.
From conviction to a clean record
A conviction does not stay on your record forever. Once the sentence is fully served, the expungement clock starts to run; after the statutory period has passed, the conviction is deleted and – in the eyes of the law – you have no prior record again.
Practical tip from the defense lawyer
In many cases the whole fight comes down to a single threshold: three months. A fine-only sentence and a prison sentence of up to three months do not appear on the standard certificate (§ 6 Tilgungsgesetz). That is why a defense often aims not only at the verdict itself, but at the sentence – keeping it below the line that would put an entry on your Leumundszeugnis. For someone whose job, trade licence or citizenship is at stake, staying under that line can matter more than almost anything else in the file.
Expungement (Tilgung): when a conviction disappears
„Tilgung“ in the criminal-law sense means that, once a certain period has elapsed, a conviction is deleted from the criminal record register. The consequence is far-reaching: in legal terms the prior conviction then no longer exists and may no longer be taken into account. Once all entries in the register have been expunged, the person concerned is unbescholten (without a prior record) and must be treated as such by the authorities.
Why this is worth fighting for: it makes a great difference, above all to the prosecution authorities, whether a person has (especially similar) prior convictions or not. In deciding whether pre-trial detention (Untersuchungshaft) should be imposed, for example, prior convictions can play a decisive role.
The legal basis is the Tilgungsgesetz 1972, which sets out the conditions under which a prior conviction is deleted from the register – and therefore also from the certificate. The expungement period (Tilgungsfrist) begins with the final completion of the sentence imposed and all measures connected with it: that is, from the moment a fine has been paid, or a prison sentence has been served and all deadlines associated with any conditional early release have expired.
The expungement periods at a glance
How long a conviction stays on the record depends on the sentence imposed. The following table sets out the expungement periods under the Tilgungsgesetz.
| Type of conviction | Expungement period |
|---|---|
| Juvenile offence (in German) with a finding of guilt without punishment (§ 12 JGG) or subject to reservation of punishment (§ 13 JGG) | 3 years |
| Other juvenile offences; prison sentence up to 1 year; fines | 5 years |
| Prison sentence over 1 year up to 3 years | 10 years |
| Prison sentence over 3 years; placement under § 21 para 2 StGB (Unterbringung) | 15 years |
| Unconditional prison sentence for a sexual offence (in German) | Extended by half |
| Conviction under § 201 StGB (rape) and other sexual offences | Doubled |
| Sexual offence over 5 years, or life imprisonment | No expungement possible |
A three-year period applies to a juvenile offence dealt with by a finding of guilt without punishment (§ 12 JGG) or a finding of guilt subject to the reservation of punishment (§ 13 JGG). A five-year period applies to other juvenile offences, to a prison sentence not exceeding one year, and to fines. A ten-year period applies to a prison sentence of over one year that does not exceed three years. The period is fifteen years for a prison sentence of more than three years, and for placement under § 21 para 2 StGB.
If further convictions are added before an expungement period has elapsed, the period is extended accordingly, until all convictions are expunged together in a single, common deletion. This is why a series of convictions can keep an entire record alive far longer than any single conviction would.
For an unconditional prison sentence for a sexual offence, the expungement period is extended by half; for a conviction under § 201 StGB and other sexual offences, it is doubled. Convictions of more than five years for a sexual offence, and life sentences, cannot be expunged and remain for life. Because several convictions can only be expunged together, all other convictions then remain on the record as well – so under these conditions there is effectively no expungement period at all.
What an entry on your record can cost you
An entry on the Leumundszeugnis is, in practice, a serious cut into a person’s life, and those affected are anxious to avert this harm for the sake of their future. The effect reaches well beyond job applications.
An entry does not only affect applications for employment (where the employer asks for a certificate). It can also mean that a trade licence (Gewerbeberechtigung) is refused or withdrawn, or that a firearms possession card (Waffenbesitzkarte) is denied. And an entry on the Leumundszeugnis is an exclusion criterion for obtaining Austrian citizenship. This is precisely why the defense so often works to keep the sentence below the thresholds that trigger an entry in the first place.
Your record across the EU (ECRIS)
An Austrian criminal record does not stop at the border. The Austrian criminal record can be requested by the Austrian law-enforcement authorities in other EU member states as well, under the respective national criminal-record law, and it then appears at the registration authorities there.
Conversely, the Austrian authorities can, through the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS), view all prior convictions that were handed down in other EU countries. For anyone with a cross-border history, this means the record is, in practical terms, a European one.
Clemency petition (Gnadengesuch)
A means frequently used in practice to achieve a restricted disclosure of the criminal record is an application for the clemency-based expungement (gnadenweise Tilgung) of existing convictions, or an application for a clemency-based restriction of the criminal-record disclosure.
Such an application is addressed to the Federal Ministry of Justice (Bundesministerium für Justiz), with the Federal President (Bundespräsident) ultimately deciding on whether it is granted or refused. The aim is to persuade the authority that the applicant has a compelling ground for clemency (Gnadengrund) and is worthy of clemency (gnadenwürdig), so as to obtain an early expungement.
Clemency petitions are rarely granted. It is therefore advisable to entrust the drafting to an expert, because a substantiated engagement with both the grounds for clemency and the applicant’s worthiness is indispensable to a successful petition.
Questions about your Austrian criminal record?
Do you need an Austrian criminal record certificate, or do you want an old conviction expunged early? Whether it is about a job, a trade licence, citizenship or a clemency petition – the right strategy starts with knowing exactly what your record shows and when it clears. We advise in English, German, Spanish and Arabic – a decisive advantage in international cases.
Phone: +43 676 601 7746
Email: office@ra-rauf.at
Frequently asked questions on the criminal record certificate
The Strafregister is the justice authorities‘ internal record of all convictions. The Leumundszeugnis (Strafregisterauszug) is a certificate you can request from the police, which contains only convictions above a certain level of severity. Convictions carrying a prison sentence of up to three months, or fine-only convictions, do not appear on the certificate.
You can apply at any regional police directorate (Landespolizeidirektion). It is also possible to apply online, via the official portal www.oesterreich.gv.at.
Requested at the police in Vienna, a Leumundszeugnis costs EUR 16.40. Requested online, an extract from the criminal record costs EUR 10.70.
The expungement period depends on the sentence imposed. For fines and prison sentences of up to one year it is five years; for prison over one year up to three years it is ten years; and for prison over three years it is fifteen years. The period begins with the final completion of the sentence.
The expungement period (Tilgungsfrist) begins with the final completion of the imposed sentence and all measures connected with it – that is, once a fine has been paid, or a prison sentence has been served and all deadlines associated with any conditional early release have expired.
A clemency petition is an application for the clemency-based expungement of existing convictions, or for a restriction of the criminal-record disclosure. It is addressed to the Federal Ministry of Justice, with the Federal President ultimately deciding on grant or refusal. Clemency petitions are rarely granted.
An entry affects not only job applications. It can also mean that a trade licence (Gewerbeberechtigung) is refused or withdrawn, or that a firearms card (Waffenbesitzkarte) is denied. It is, in addition, an exclusion criterion for obtaining Austrian citizenship.
No. Convictions where a fine (Geldstrafe) was sufficient do not appear on the criminal record certificate under the restricted-information rule (§ 6 Tilgungsgesetz). The same applies to prison sentences of up to three months – or up to six months for persons who have not yet turned 21.
For an unconditional prison sentence for a sexual offence, the expungement period is extended by half; for a conviction under § 201 StGB and other sexual offences it is doubled. Convictions of more than five years for a sexual offence, and life sentences, cannot be expunged.
The Austrian criminal record can be requested by the Austrian authorities in other EU member states under the relevant national law. Through the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS), all prior convictions handed down in other EU countries can also be viewed.
Related articles
Prior convictions in Austria (in German)
Consequences, expungement and effects of prior convictions
Diversion in Austria
An alternative to a conviction in criminal proceedings
Juvenile criminal law (in German)
Special rules of criminal law for young people
Pre-trial detention in Austria
Rights and procedure – where prior convictions weigh in
Sexual offences (in German)
Special expungement rules for sexual offences
Criminal defense in Vienna
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