The measures were included in a bill approved by the cabinet on Wednesday, as the coalition government of conservatives and the far right clamps down on the country’s migrants.
“We have very deliberately set ourselves the goal of fighting against illegal migration but also against the misuse of asylum,” Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told a news conference after the weekly cabinet meeting.
Wednesday’s bill, which now must be passed by parliament, would push to 10 years from the current six the time refugees must wait to become citizens. That will bring the requirement in line with rules that apply to most people, the government said.
Others measures were more original. One would force hospitals to tell the government when asylum seekers will be discharged, to ensure “more effective preparation and implementation of deportations”, a government summary said.
In 2015, at the height of Europe's migrant crisis, over 90,000 people applied for asylum in Austria, more than 1% of the country's population.
Support for the far-right, anti-immigrant Freedom Party - then in opposition - grew, and Austria's centre-right conservative People's Party, led by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also campaigned strongly against migration.
In the first three months of this year, 3,992 people claimed asylum in Austria, compared with 14,400 in the same period in 2016.
But the government is continuing with its hard line.
Austria is not alone. Denmark, Germany and Switzerland have also permitted the confiscation of valuables belonging to refugees to pay for their stay. In Denmark, some reports suggest the authorities have not received large amounts of money from the policy.
