emmaj Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Hi Everyone, long time no see Wondering if anyone can help me. We gained citezonship the end of August and didnt realise that at this point we should have applied for an AU passport. We are planning on travelling to America within 2 weeks and really hadnt budgeted for buying new passports even though we will be getting them. Is there anyway we can travel on our UK passports? We can take proof of citezonship i.e certificate and letter from local council? Any help would be fantastic! Emma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peach Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 No. As an Australian citizen you must always leave and enter Australia on an Australian passport. If you also have a passport from another country you can use that for travel once you have left Australia. http://www.citizenship.gov.au/current/travel/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Australia requires you to exit and re-enter the country on on Australian passports, as any visas you previously held have been cancelled. Once outside Australia you can use your UK passports if you prefer. I would be ordering fast track Australian passports asap if I were you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 No you will have to get fast track passports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bibbs Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 No. http://www.citizenship.gov.au/current/travel/ Doesn't quite work, as I'm an Aussie Citizen (by birth) and for 10 years I didn't have a valid Aus passport. Still came in/out of Australia on my Brit one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Doesn't quite work, as I'm an Aussie Citizen (by birth) and for 10 years I didn't have a valid Aus passport. Still came in/out of Australia on my Brit one. Not to live though - you would have had a tourist visa and the OP will not so will struggle to get through immigration on a UK passport. My kids have dual citizenship and for years we travelled to Australia on the UK ones with a tourist visa. Then one year I tried to apply for the visas online and got refused because they thought one of the kids had citizenship and therefore had to travel in and out of Australia on an Australian passport. So we got Aussie passports. I think think the rule about travelling on an Australian passport has been there a long time but until recently the systems haven't been advanced enough to identify if someone using a different passport had Australian citizenship. The systems seem to be improving and picking up more people who should be travelling on Australian passports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bibbs Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Not to live though - you would have had a tourist visa and the OP will not so will struggle to get through immigration on a UK passport. My kids have dual citizenship and for years we travelled to Australia on the UK ones with a tourist visa. Then one year I tried to apply for the visas online and got refused because they thought one of the kids had citizenship and therefore had to travel in and out of Australia on an Australian passport. So we got Aussie passports. I think think the rule about travelling on an Australian passport has been there a long time but until recently the systems haven't been advanced enough to identify if someone using a different passport had Australian citizenship. The systems seem to be improving and picking up more people who should be travelling on Australian passports. Didn't get a tourist visa. Told by Perth immigration I didn't need one, due to being an Australian citizen Yes, their system is being improved. When the wife got her PR they called me to ask a few questions and tidy up their system as I was technically on it twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Didn't get a tourist visa. Told by Perth immigration I didn't need one, due to being an Australian citizen Yes, their system is being improved. When the wife got her PR they called me to ask a few questions and tidy up their system as I was technically on it twice. OP could be creating all kinds of problems (e.g. trying to check in) when there is no need to. Getting the passport will avoid any issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bibbs Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 OP could be creating all kinds of problems (e.g. trying to check in) when there is no need to. Getting the passport will avoid any issues. I agree. I'm just stating that (for me when I did it) it's not black & white. I may have had a nice immigration officer, I may have broken the law. But if you can get a passport, I'd defo do it. Saves a lot of hassle in the long run (I got a new one when I was returning full time, for this reason). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lebourvellec Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 I agree. I'm just stating that (for me when I did it) it's not black & white. I may have had a nice immigration officer, I may have broken the law. But if you can get a passport, I'd defo do it. Saves a lot of hassle in the long run (I got a new one when I was returning full time, for this reason). this is not an immigration issue once get to Australia - without a valid visa in the passport, the country that flying from wont be able to print the boarding pass. We had major issues with OH passport when coming to validate our visas, even with having a visa label, they system wouldn't print his boarding pass. Took them almost till boarding to sort it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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