Australian Citizenship - who's got it / going to get it, and why?

[Que Sera Sera]

I often wonder how many would take out Australian Citizenship if they had to give up their UK citizenship , I know it's not an issue because we can , but who knows it could change , I certainly wouldn't have given up my Uk citizenship to be an Aussie

I would not have been able to do that either.

[Johndoe]

Me neither. As much as I love Oz, I'm still a Pom

[Marisawright]

I often wonder how many would take out Australian Citizenship if they had to give up their UK citizenship

 

I feel more Australian than British now, but I certainly would've hesitated to take out citizenship if I had to give up my UK citizenship. The UK passport is so much more useful.

[Slean Wolfhead]

I often wonder how many would take out Australian Citizenship if they had to give up their UK citizenship , I know it's not an issue because we can , but who knows it could change , I certainly wouldn't have given up my Uk citizenship to be an Aussie

 

You're right, it could change.

If the UK brought in citizenship-based taxation like the USA, there might be a rush, or the banking industry might make it so difficult you'd be forced into choosing.

[Parley]

I would give up my UK citizenship if I had to choose.

I have no real need for it anyway.

[Nemesis]

So, for those of you who are saying people should just hold one citizenship - some people are born with citizenship of two or more countries, due to parents/birthplace/etc. How do you make them choose? Many people born in Northern Ireland for instance are both British AND Irish by birth - how do you make a baby choose?

 

So many people have individual reasons and circumstances. Unless you've walked in their shoes, I don't see what right anyone has to judge them on their decision to get citizenship. We all had our reasons when we made that decision, and those reasons are personal to our positions at the time. .

[Parley]

A baby doesn't choose but some countries require a child to choose once they become an adult.

 

What is more common though is that if you are born with 2 citizenships then that is permitted, but if a citizen takes up a new citizenship through a voluntary act they are required to relinquish their existing citizenship.

Edited March 25, 2016 by parleycross

[FTA]

You're right, it could change.

If the UK brought in citizenship-based taxation like the USA, there might be a rush, or the banking industry might make it so difficult you'd be forced into choosing.

And then pay tax to UK instead of ATO? It would be a hard choice. I much rather not pay any tax.

[Slean Wolfhead]

So, for those of you who are saying people should just hold one citizenship - some people are born with citizenship of two or more countries, due to parents/birthplace/etc. How do you make them choose? Many people born in Northern Ireland for instance are both British AND Irish by birth - how do you make a baby choose?

 

So many people have individual reasons and circumstances. Unless you've walked in their shoes, I don't see what right anyone has to judge them on their decision to get citizenship. We all had our reasons when we made that decision, and those reasons are personal to our positions at the time. .

 

It's not the people who are changing, it's the world. Dual citizenship is a privilege to some nationals, but it's also a resolution to dodgy politics that some nations have created. Look at the mess that Hong Kong caused.

Ignoring the fact that Vancouver has ended up with the best Cantonese food outside Canton, the UK had a real problem trying to sort out that mess with the various levels of passports and rights that had been conferred, and had to be respected.

 

China doesn't allow dual citizenship. I have a nephew who is Chinese. He has to be Chinese if he wants free schooling and to have the same rights as anybody else over there, but in effect he is half-English, looks half-English, behaves in a very English manner. If he wants to realise his half-English heritage by descent, he has to give up his Chinese citizenship. He might, or he might not, when he gets older, depending on his circumstance.

Some people are lucky to be given the privilege of dual citizenship, and one day they may have to make a choice. Just the way it is. Citizenship will be just a way of recording a number one day, it might even get abandoned altogether. It's already becoming less important in a world economy where rights are given to the individual based on their merits, such as qualifications or skills.

[Slean Wolfhead]

And then pay tax to UK instead of ATO? It would be a hard choice. I much rather not pay any tax.

 

Pay tax on top of what you pay to the ATO maybe, that's why a record number of Yanks are giving up their US passports because of the IRS problem.

That and the US insisting on access to all of their citizens overseas bank accounts, forcing foreign banks to close accounts of American citizens because it's not worth their hassle or expense to deal with it.

 

It's not a bad idea to cut down on people going overseas and laundering money or evading taxes...but if the US are prepared to say to their own people "choose which side of the fence you want to be on", it's a sea change if those Americans have built working lives abroad and feel they are being forced to give up their nationality because of it. Where the USA goes, the UK usually follows about 10 years later....