Zen10

Oh come off it. I grew up in England and was well aware of my status. You're taught it in school, and it arises all over the place from international sporting events to history lessons.

chris955

Gibbo

That's only your opinion which I totally disagree with. How dare you refer to people who disagree with you as "small children or a mentally incapacitated adult" that is so insulting. I'm quite sure that many of those you refer to have much more common sense and are much more intelligent than you. This is the second time, to my knowledge, that you have pontificated, in an insulting manner, on a subject of which you have absolutely no knowledge or experience. I shall refrain from acknowledging any posts by you in the future.

Beoz

You know, some people don't give a toss enough to actually bother with citizenship. Thinking about the thought of doing 25 years in prison, coming out and being deported to a country they don't even know doesn't enter into it. ..... and its only government policy. They could change the policy in a flash and it makes citiZenship even less practical.

Becoming a British citizen for an Aussie is far more appealling. It gives you access to live in many countries. Not just one. The matter of convenience is pretty much it all the world over.

Pollyana

My former SiL moved to Aus as a small child from Canada; very intelligent lady and certainly not "mentally incapacitated". Her parents are British and Dutch, never bothered becoming Aussies. She has always considered herself an Aussie, for 40 years, and said she only really stopped and thought when I arrived and talked about dual citizenship. Till then it never crossed her mind that she was not Australian - brought her up short when she realised that 1) to travel to Fiji with the family she needed a Canadian passport not an Aussie one, and 2) she holds a different nationality from her husband and two children.
She had honestly never thought about it, and I'm sure she's not alone. Even her children assumed she was Australian, she has lived here for years, has an Aussie accent, nothing Canadian about her!
We use this forum, we are all aware of stuff like this, but for people who are just out there living their lives and not touching on such subjects things like this are a closed book.

chris955

You seem to be totally missing the point. Im not talking about being aware of you nationality, I am talking about consciously deciding to become what in your mind you just assume you are anyway. As I said until I started travelling it hadnt even occured to me, if that makes me a mentally incapacitated adult then so be it

Zen10

If you are really trying to argue that normal adults are not aware of their own nationality, then I think you're on a sticky wicket, frankly. Apart from the groups I mention, I do not accept that people are as stupid as you describe. Adults, even really thick ones, understand the concept of nationality and what their own nationality is. You wheel out these absolutely preposterous assertions, in this case that right-minded adults have no clue what nationality they are (something that is taught in primary school and upwards and constantly reinforced throughout life), and then lose your temper when people dispute them. If you are serious about not acknowledging my future posts, all I can say is I got lucky.

Zen10

I take your point about the nature of this forum, but I'm not changing my view on nationality. If you have no clue what nationality you are I'm not sure you should really have the vote. (You vote through here, Madam. Are you Australian? "I have no idea.") etc. It is essential to your being and you have a responsibility to know it.

Zen10

We're talking about people being surprised when they get deported because they are not citizens. I'm arguing that they have no business being surprised and getting indignant and complaining about their deportation, because they are not citizens. Others are arguing that people have no clue what nationality they are, and I dispute that. It is possible to have a nationality you don't know about because of, perhaps, one of your parents' status in another country, etc. but it if you think you are Australian just because you were a child here, then you, and/or your parents are irresponsible at best.

denzil73

No they won't. Just like private pensions in the UK you can transfer them to your Oz super so long as they are signed up to the scheme. I did this with Sunsuper and can take it with me if I wish.

As for citizenship. Sure why not, handy when travelling but I refuse to pay the money to take some stupid test that used to be free to take. With passport application fee included you're looking at the sharp end of a grand. Now they can F*** off as I've already paid close to 6 grand for my permenant residence visas

Almo

I was in Australia by virtue of being an NZ citizen; would not have met the points requirements to get any other visa and throughout my time in Aus that never changed. It's not that I necessarily didn't want Aus citizenship, I wasn't eligible and wouldn't be in the future unless the rules change.

I was born in a former British colony to a British dad and a Kiwi mum. Throughout my life I've been told I am a British citizen, among other things, just that we never bothered to get me (or my brother) British passports - I hold an Irish one which covered all the bases a British one would, and a Kiwi one along with right of abode in the country of my birth. I never gave it a second thought until we returned to the UK and I was reading around some stuff online. Transpires that my parents never registered me as a British citizen - I am eligible to be a British citizen but am not actually one. I'm not stupid but I had never had cause to doubt what my parents told me (and they didn't mislead me deliberately!).

kips

Small print ? We are talking about acquiring citizenship of a country not buying car insurance.

Maybe some people need to pay more attention to what they are agreeing to when becoming an Australian citizenship and not just treat it as a matter of convenience.

Not only are you declaring you will continue to reside in Aus or maintain ties here but also serve on a jury if called to do so, vote in federal and state elections and defend Australia - although this last condition is probably stretching it a bit.

There is nothing to stop the Australian government changing the law in the future to revoke the citizenship of people who flout the rules and do not have genuine reasons for leaving Australia for a lengthy period.

chris955

I have family in Australia so I have ties.
I have absolutely no problem saying I took out Australian citizenship for convenience, just as many others have. The same is true of those who take out citizenship in other countries for various reasons. If any Government tried to dictate to me why or when I could leave any country for a lengthy period I would tell them to stick their citizenship paper up the hole between their buttocks.

chris955

I still havent seen where anyone has said that people have no clue what nationality they are, could you point that out?

roaringmouse

Did you renounce your other citizenship(s) when you became an Australian citizen and decided to stay in Australia permanently?