Loss of Citizenship query & Dual Nationality

[Cookiecrew]

I have already been granted a spouse visa and we are looking at heading over to Oz this year.

 

My partner holds dual nationality as his mother was Australian but father British. He was born in the UK (and has only ever lived in the UK) and only held an Australian passport until the age of about 16 (before 2002) when he got a UK passport to simplify travel around Europe.

 

Now, looking on the DIAC website about citizenship we see that his citizenship could have been lost automatically if “you applied for and were granted the citizenship of another country before 4 April 2002” because of Section 17 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948.

 

He didn’t renounce his Australian citizenship in order to gain UK citizenship and he has not had his Australian citizenship revoked.

 

He only came across this info today whilst looking for how to get hold a copy of his original Oz citizenship certificate which he seems to have lost, although his sister has a copy of hers which also contains his name. We know he can get a copy of this certificate by filling out form 119 and paying a small fee but we don’t want to open up a can of worms! Although surely by DIAC processing my application they have checked out his status?

 

On the DIAC website there is also a statement that “Section 17 did not apply to those who acquired another citizenship automatically or simply obtained a passport of a country of which they were already a citizen”.

 

Can anyone please tell me if this last statement means that he is OK and has not lost Australian citizenship? Or does he need to apply to resume citizenship? Is there a risk that his Australian passport might not be renewed in the future?

 

Does he need the Citizenship Certificate anyway – given that he has an Aussie passport?

 

Sorry for the long post.

[Guest Tim M]

Hi,

Having read your post I think I'm in a similar situation. I lived in Oz as a kid with my family from 1980 to 1983. This is all a bit new to me and I've just e-mailed Aus House in London to start the ball rolling and enquire whether I retain Australian citizenship. Please let me know if you come across any info further to your original post and I'll do the same.

Cheers, Tim.