Am I an Australian citizen?

[Guest davenwolf]

Hi, I came out to Australia on my parents passport in 1966 on the Fairsky on one of those 10 pound pommie schemes. We stayed at Bradfield Park hostel in one of those army style corrugated iron dome huts. I was 3 when we left. As both my parents are dead and I can't ask them if I was naturalised and I've never had a passport am I an Australian Citizen? My Father told me I automatically became one but now I'm not sure. I'm just going through the final stage of landing a government job and don't want to find out I'm not eligible. I have never left the country since arriving here. I have been on social security and have voted before but have never had anything to say I'm a citizen or have dual citizenship with Australia and England. After 45 years in Australia I would like to think I am a citizen.

Is there anyone else out there in the same boat?

[Cerberus1 3,879]

Hi, if you think you may be an Australian citizen and you'd like confirmation, you can ring the Citizenship Information Line. Telephone 131 880 8.30 am to 4.30 pm Monday to Friday.

[Guest ChloeJem]

I am not 100% but I would say you are. If you have voted etc and never had any problems buying houses and getting jobs then you must have citizenship. I think you have to live in Australia for 3 years to become a permanent resident so after 45 years I'm sure you qualify. My dad was born there and lived there until the age of 6 months old which somehow makes me an Australian citizen. :biggrin:

[Les Mighalls 1,521]

If you have voted etc ... <edited> ...then you must have citizenship.

 

Not true.

 

Until 1980 a British citizen with permanent residency status in Australia was entitled to be enrolled vote, join the Australian military, be liable to be called for jury service etc etc in the same manner as an Australian citizen.

 

In the first instance the OP should call the Citizenship Information Line.

 

I had one client who came out to Australia as a child in the 1950s and had never been outside of Australia since, but wanted to travel back to the UK for a holiday. No documents survived since then but we assembled a range of documents to substantiate our application and obtained citizenship for the client who then obtained his passport.

[Petals 4,258]

Yes you will have to take out citizenship, I arrived in 68 the first time and took our citizenship in 78 before my children were born. I have a friend who is scots and left Scotland at 19 and he is still on a Brit passport his wife is a Kiwi and she is still a kiwi. Have to do the commitment thing. However as has been said we could vote.

 

Not sure that it would affect your job as you are able to vote but is something to sort if you ever want a passport.

[londonpaul 10]

You could trace it throgh your Driver Licence, Medicare and Centerlink records from the relevent offices.. They all are linked to your residency status.

[Guest brooksey]

I didn't think i could vote as a pr. Thought you had to be a citizen.

[Les Mighalls 1,521]

I didn't think i could vote as a pr. Thought you had to be a citizen.

 

These days, to be enrolled to vote you must be an Australian citizen.

 

However, prior to 1980 a UK citizen was entitled to be enrolled to vote etc once they were granted PR.

 

In 1980 I had not only served 6 years as a Commissioned Officer in the RAAF but was also on the electoral roll, all with PR, not citizenship.

[BuddysMum 733]

I don't think you are automatically a Citizen. One of our cousins who came over in 1960s has never "had the op", and that's great so long as he stays in Australia, but if he wanted to leave he would have to apply and become a citizen proper.

 

So, yes, I think you might find your aren't eligible for that job. Perhaps you could ask the HR department just to check. In your situation where you are eligible to become a citizen asap then they might waive the restriction, or allow you time to do it???

[tisme 410]

These days, to be enrolled to vote you must be an Australian citizen.

 

However, prior to 1980 a UK citizen was entitled to be enrolled to vote etc once they were granted PR.

 

In 1980 I had not only served 6 years as a Commissioned Officer in the RAAF but was also on the electoral roll, all with PR, not citizenship.

 

 

You are definately correct, I arrived 1973, and was enrolled to vote by 1980, and voted every election since, all as a permanent resident. I only took out citizenship in 2005.

[tisme 410]

Hi, I came out to Australia on my parents passport in 1966 on the Fairsky on one of those 10 pound pommie schemes. We stayed at Bradfield Park hostel in one of those army style corrugated iron dome huts. I was 3 when we left. As both my parents are dead and I can't ask them if I was naturalised and I've never had a passport am I an Australian Citizen? My Father told me I automatically became one but now I'm not sure. I'm just going through the final stage of landing a government job and don't want to find out I'm not eligible. I have never left the country since arriving here. I have been on social security and have voted before but have never had anything to say I'm a citizen or have dual citizenship with Australia and England. After 45 years in Australia I would like to think I am a citizen.

Is there anyone else out there in the same boat?

 

I was exactly the same as you, I came out on my parents passport as a child and have been here 37 years now, I only took out citizenship in 2005, but prior to this was voting along with all the other citizens.

 

You must check with the relevant government department to see if your parents did take out citizenship. Being here since you were 3 and having the right to vote doesn't mean you are a citizen.

[Bobbsy 778]

Accurate advice so far.

 

My wife arrived in Australia as a child in the mid 1960s, accompanying her mother. The mother never took out citizenship and, because of that, my wife still has PR (she's in the process of getting citizenship now)

 

One thing that might help: when a question arose about this, the immigration people were able to check the exact date of entry and status even though my wife could only provide the name of the ship and a rough year of arrival--even though her recollection was wrong by a year or two, they were able to trace her history almost instantly.

 

And, yes, because of the date of her arrival, my wife votes--indeed, she'd be fined if she didn't.

 

Bob

[Ellie 2 601]

Hi, I came out to Australia on my parents passport in 1966 on the Fairsky on one of those 10 pound pommie schemes. We stayed at Bradfield Park hostel in one of those army style corrugated iron dome huts. I was 3 when we left. As both my parents are dead and I can't ask them if I was naturalised and I've never had a passport am I an Australian Citizen? My Father told me I automatically became one but now I'm not sure. I'm just going through the final stage of landing a government job and don't want to find out I'm not eligible. I have never left the country since arriving here. I have been on social security and have voted before but have never had anything to say I'm a citizen or have dual citizenship with Australia and England. After 45 years in Australia I would like to think I am a citizen.

Is there anyone else out there in the same boat?

 

 

I too came in 1966 and stayed in Bradfield Park Hostel. I had 2 sons when we arrived, one was 3 and the other almost 2. Both of them have voted since they were 18 but were not citizens until a few years ago when they applied for it. No hassle as long as you can prove when you arrived in the country or provide evidence of schooling etc.

[scousers 109]

I don't believe you will be. My uncle who has lived her for 55 years took his citizenship about 10 years ago. He did'nt get it automatically even though he had voted etc.

[Quinkla 2,653]

You say you need to know because you have landed a Government job. If it is a Commonwealth Government job then you will (probably) need citizenship. But if it is a State Government job then it is sufficient to be a resident with a visa that permits work.

[Bobbsy 778]

My wife had a Commonwealth Government job for many years on her PR visa (even with a higher than normal security clearance).

 

This was back in the 80s and 90s so the rules may have changed, but don't give up hope just yet.

 

Bob

[Wylie 0]

I came out here in 1963, I was 2yrs old, we came on a "travel document" as my parents didn't even have passports back then, it just had my parents names as mother & father, & the names of us 4 kids as travelling with them & that was basically it!

I've worked & paid taxes since I was 15yrs old, I have purchased many homes & paid stamp duty & rates, I've voted since I was 18yrs old, I have been married & had my children here, have worked in a few government jobs, & have been called upon for jury duty.

I actually looked into this subject about 10yrs ago on the department of immigration website, I went from one link to the other until I found a page that stated people who came to Australia in the early 1960s were classed as Australian Citizens from the day they sailed!!  

I tried to find this information again recently to prove I was an Aussie citizen but that website has no information, links or anything regarding this subject now!! It's just disappeared?!

Whenever I ring Immigration to ask I get a young & rude person who quotes from the new website! And I was told that it doesn't mean a thing if I've been here for 58yrs, immigration only looks at my last visa for residency status! which is bullshit because we have to get those every 5yrs anyway!!

Both my parents have passed away & they had all the important documents in their possession as they never trusted us with them, so now they're gone, I have no birth certificate or the travel document we came to Australia on, so I have to renew my British passport every 10yrs as a form of official identification as it's all I have now!

I met a lady who works for centrelink who was a £10 pome too & she said she didn't have any problems getting an Australian Passport as a PR, she just applied for it & got it!! 

So where you should be ok with the government job even as a PR, I've worked for 4 government agencies in the past with only PR status!

But as far as proving we are Aussie citizens & getting an Australian passport, we're screwed because they keep changing the rules & everytime the do, the department of Immigration removes all content containing any information that supports us!!

What a crock hey??

[Bobj 10,156]

I came over as a ten quid  kid in 1963 and had to apply for citizenship after 4 years and had to apply for a passport to go back to the UK on a holiday at the same time. That was in Western Australia.

Cheers, Bobj.

[Marisawright 10,066]

3 hours ago, Wylie said:

I came out here in 1963, I was 2yrs old, we came on a "travel document" as my parents didn't even have passports back then, it just had my parents names as mother & father, & the names of us 4 kids as travelling with them & that was basically it!.....I actually looked into this subject about 10yrs ago on the department of immigration website, I went from one link to the other until I found a page that stated people who came to Australia in the early 1960s were classed as Australian Citizens from the day they sailed!!  

What a pity you didn't apply for your Australian passport then, and that would have solved the problem.   

You are not screwed, anyway.  You've lived in Australia for many years and you're still here. All you have to do is apply for citizenship, which you could have done at any point in the last 58 years.  You chose not to, that's your right, but nothing stopping you doing it now.

[Parley 7,204]

4 hours ago, Wylie said:

I came out here in 1963, I was 2yrs old, we came on a "travel document" as my parents didn't even have passports back then, it just had my parents names as mother & father, & the names of us 4 kids as travelling with them & that was basically it!

I've worked & paid taxes since I was 15yrs old, I have purchased many homes & paid stamp duty & rates, I've voted since I was 18yrs old, I have been married & had my children here, have worked in a few government jobs, & have been called upon for jury duty.

I actually looked into this subject about 10yrs ago on the department of immigration website, I went from one link to the other until I found a page that stated people who came to Australia in the early 1960s were classed as Australian Citizens from the day they sailed!!  

I tried to find this information again recently to prove I was an Aussie citizen but that website has no information, links or anything regarding this subject now!! It's just disappeared?!

Whenever I ring Immigration to ask I get a young & rude person who quotes from the new website! And I was told that it doesn't mean a thing if I've been here for 58yrs, immigration only looks at my last visa for residency status! which is bullshit because we have to get those every 5yrs anyway!!

Both my parents have passed away & they had all the important documents in their possession as they never trusted us with them, so now they're gone, I have no birth certificate or the travel document we came to Australia on, so I have to renew my British passport every 10yrs as a form of official identification as it's all I have now!

I met a lady who works for centrelink who was a £10 pome too & she said she didn't have any problems getting an Australian Passport as a PR, she just applied for it & got it!! 

So where you should be ok with the government job even as a PR, I've worked for 4 government agencies in the past with only PR status!

But as far as proving we are Aussie citizens & getting an Australian passport, we're screwed because they keep changing the rules & everytime the do, the department of Immigration removes all content containing any information that supports us!!

What a crock hey??

You wouldn't be a citizen unless you applied to be a citizen.

It doesn't sound like you ever applied so no you are not a citizen.

 

[BuddysMum 733]

On 25/08/2010 at 00:11, Guest davenwolf said:

Hi, I came out to Australia on my parents passport in 1966 on the Fairsky on one of those 10 pound pommie schemes. We stayed at Bradfield Park hostel in one of those army style corrugated iron dome huts. I was 3 when we left. As both my parents are dead and I can't ask them if I was naturalised and I've never had a passport am I an Australian Citizen? My Father told me I automatically became one but now I'm not sure. I'm just going through the final stage of landing a government job and don't want to find out I'm not eligible. I have never left the country since arriving here. I have been on social security and have voted before but have never had anything to say I'm a citizen or have dual citizenship with Australia and England. After 45 years in Australia I would like to think I am a citizen.

Is there anyone else out there in the same boat?

[BuddysMum 733]

You can't get a visa for any country if you are a citizen.

[Skani 5,287]

5 hours ago, Wylie said:

.......... I found a page that stated people who came to Australia in the early 1960s were classed as Australian Citizens from the day they sailed!!  I

No, that was never the case for anyone.   Between 1949 and 30 November 1973 British subjects had fewer requirements for Australian citizenship than other nationalities:  they could  apply for registration as an Australian citizen after only one year's residence in Australia and did not have to attend a citizenship ceremony.   But those special provisions for British subjects ended in 1973:  after that date they had to fulfil the same requirements as any other migrant.    

As already mentioned, you can apply for citizenship at any time.  From the details you gave you will be 60 this year.  You can apply online through this portal specifically for  "Person 60 years or over""

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/become-a-citizen/person-60-years-and-over#Overview

[Bulya 2,698]

Came in ‘67 and even though I was in the RAAF from ‘70 I had to apply and go through citizenship rigamarole in ‘73.  I very much doubt the OP is a citizen.

[calNgary 9,134]

I thought you had to be a citizen to vote?????????

 Cal x