Guest GeorgeD Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I am a UK Citizen and a PR of Australia, living in Oz. One day I may be eligible for and chose to become an Australian Citizen too. Fair enough, all easy so far. But...I am from Scotland. The SNP are wanting to hold a referendum to decide if Scotland should declare independence from the rest of the UK. It's a long way off and by no means certain, but if it does go through, the Scottish government plan to offer citizens dual Citizenship of Scotland and the UK (we are UK citizens anyway and can chose to become Scottish I think is the exact way). But how would this work if I was also Australian?? Can I hold more than two citizenships if one of them is Australian, or would I have to choose whether I was a Brit or a Scot, rather than both?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Some countries don't allow you to hold citizenship in two countries. Our friend is Austrian, lived here years and his children were born here, however, he said that he has not taken citizenship because it would mean giving up his Austrian one. I don't think people from Singapore can be dual citizens either .... Not sure how many countries this effects. We hold both British and Australian citizenship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildrover Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Some countries don't allow you to hold citizenship in two countries. Our friend is Austrian, lived here years and his children were born here, however, he said that he has not taken citizenship because it would mean giving up his Austrian one. I don't think people from Singapore can be dual citizens either .... Not sure how many countries this effects. We hold both British and Australian citizenship Yes you can I looked this one up Im already Dual with Irish and UK citizenship http://www.citizenship.gov.au/current/dual_citizenship/ [h=1]Dual citizenship[/h]Main content It is possible to hold citizenship of two or more countries if the law of those countries allow. This is known as dual, or multiple, citizenship. People can become dual citizens automatically, or after being granted citizenship of another country. For example, an Australian citizen may automatically gain citizenship of another country through marriage, while a permanent resident of Australia may become a dual citizen by becoming an Australian citizen. Prior to 4 April 2002, Australian citizens who became citizens of another country lost their Australian citizenship automatically. Wildrover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie 2 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Yes you can I looked this one up Im already Dual with Irish and UK citizenship http://www.citizenship.gov.au/current/dual_citizenship/ Dual citizenship Main content It is possible to hold citizenship of two or more countries if the law of those countries allow. This is known as dual, or multiple, citizenship. People can become dual citizens automatically, or after being granted citizenship of another country. For example, an Australian citizen may automatically gain citizenship of another country through marriage, while a permanent resident of Australia may become a dual citizen by becoming an Australian citizen. Prior to 4 April 2002, Australian citizens who became citizens of another country lost their Australian citizenship automatically. Wildrover This is not strictly true. Two of my sons are Australian born and 1 has held both Australian and British passports since at least 1991. I have both but I would gladly give up my British one for a Scots one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabo Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 You can't have your Australian citizenship by birth revoked. I think the 'before 4 April 2002' business was to do with people who had acquired Australian citizenship say via the PR route, and then went to on to say, become an Irish citizen. They would have, probably unknowingly, revoked their Australian citizenship - not that anyone in Australia would know though. I had a friend who fell foul of this, briefly, but sorted it out quick smart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty81 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I am a UK Citizen and a PR of Australia, living in Oz. One day I may be eligible for and chose to become an Australian Citizen too. Fair enough, all easy so far. But...I am from Scotland. The SNP are wanting to hold a referendum to decide if Scotland should declare independence from the rest of the UK. It's a long way off and by no means certain, but if it does go through, the Scottish government plan to offer citizens dual Citizenship of Scotland and the UK (we are UK citizens anyway and can chose to become Scottish I think is the exact way). But how would this work if I was also Australian?? Can I hold more than two citizenships if one of them is Australian, or would I have to choose whether I was a Brit or a Scot, rather than both?? I'm also Scottish with Australian PR but won't be able to apply for citizenship until around the time of the referendum. As it presently stands we can hold dual nationality. I think it will just be a case of waiting and seeing what happens. I suspect we could hold dual Scottish and Australian passports but the question I will be interested in is if Scotland will remain (or join I suppose) the EU, will a Scottish passport still be an EU passport? Interesting times ahead, B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 You can hold as many citizenships as you want, provided all the countries involved allow multiple citizenship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boganbear Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I don' think it is really worth worrying about the moment about to be honest. Sort it out if Scotland becomes independent. The referendum, if it happens might not be until 2014, there might be court cases about its legality, whether it is binding or not on a government and there will have to be negotiations regarding separation - it won't happen immediately following a vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graemsay Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Whether you can hold dual nationality depends on the country. I know that China doesn't allow its citizens to hold dual nationality, for example. Going slightly off-topic, there doesn't seem to be an overwhelming majority in favour of support for independence in Scotland, and I'm surprised that a once-in-a-generation referendum is being called. Unless it's going to be a regular event, like in Quebec. I suspect that what Salmond really is angling for is Devo-Max, in which case the citizenship issue won't arise. In the event of independence then I suspect that Scotland will join (or remain) a member of the EU. Various European rules would need to be rewritten to support this, and it's possible that other countries with separatist regions (such as Spain) might seek to block accession for domestic political reasons, but I wouldn't foresee it as being a problem. I suspect that there would be some flexibility in choosing nationality. The SNP has said that it'd be open to anyone living in Scotland at the time of independence or is born in the country. That would also imply you could opt to remain a citizen of the rump of the UK. In which case, if Scotland chose to reject dual nationality or was barred from the EU then retaining an English (plus Wales and NI) passport could be a pragmatic decision. OK, it might not be ideal from an emotional angle, but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeD Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 At this point it is totally hypothetical as there might not even be a referendum, and it is far from certain to result in independence. That said...there is an emotional part of me which would dearly love a Scottish passport...every time I flew from Glasgow to London it always made me smile that I needed a passport to get in to England! But what would be the reality? Depending on the position within the EU (or not), would it be best to remain a British Citizen and not take any citizenship of Scotland (assuming of course I had the chance to take it up at some point in the future due to being born and brough up there by Scottish parents.) Would a Scottish passport have the same rights of passage around the world? Would I suddenly need more visas when travelling? What if we moved back to the Uk and went to live in England, would I be penalised in any way, would it be like going to live in another EU country right now? Or would I be best saying I'm not Scottish, I'm British, when that really isn't how I feel inside! All hypothetical of course...I just hope they all want me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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