lamsung

I was just wondering if any citizens by descent have claimed citizenship by descent for their foreign born children and, if so, what documentation did they provide to demonstrate residence in Aus before the child was born? My UK born son moved to Aus at 6months (his father is Australian hence his by descent status) and lived there continuously until about 24. Now his son has been born in UK and it makes sense for him to register our grandson as a citizen by descent. Just need to know what documentation might be required. Thanks!

quoll

Good question, I've discussed this with my son whose situation mirrors yours exactly. He hasn't got around to doing it yet because his Aus passport has lapsed and it'll be more of a palaver to get it renewed than usually. I think, along with the usual citizenship and proof of his descent from his dad he was going to go with education documents - school and Uni and maybe a stat dec and he could ask for medical records plus his TFN which would show several years of casual earnings. He hasn't got much else left as things like bank statements are long shredded as he's been in uk for 15 years now. We keep suggesting but he will get around to it once he's got around to renewing his own passport I suppose but as we are currently in UK he is in no rush/has no need to go back to Australia.

spouse of scouse

All the info you need is here https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Citi/...ptions/descent

quoll

That's the easy bit but a citizen by descent can pass on citizenship to their kids by proving evidence of a 5? Year min residence in Australia before their child is born overseas.

spouse of scouse

Hi Quoll, I think the OP's question about required documents, and also the minimum time the Australian parent by descent needed to live in Australia, are answered in the above link:

Under the 'eligibility' tab:

You might be eligible for Australian citizenship by descent if:
you were born outside Australia on or after 26 January 1949
and
one or both of your parents was an Australian citizen when you were born.
If your Australian citizen parent became an Australian citizen by descent or by adoption under the Hague Convention or a bilateral arrangement, then that parent must have spent at least two years lawfully in Australia (except for stateless applicants).

Under the 'documents' tab (edited):

Documents about the applicant’s Australian citizen parent
documents that show that one of the applicant’s parents was an Australian citizen when the applicant was born, such as the parent’s:
full Australian birth certificate
Australian citizenship certificate or naturalisation certificate
Australian passport.
evidence of other citizenships held by the Australian citizen parent such as a letter or certificate showing the date they got the other citizenship, if applicable.
if the applicant's Australian citizen parent was a citizen by descent or by adoption under the Hague Convention or a bilateral arrangement, evidence that the parent lived in Australia for two years, such as:
school records
employment records
any documents issued by an Australian government agency.

quoll

Ah, good oh! I didn't follow them all. We were on the right track anyway. Only two years, that's a breeze, the UK requires 4 I think.

BritInParis

Your son won't need to provide anything if he is under 35 - DIBP will hold electronic records of all his movements in and out of Australia.

teza

Just a quick question if I can butt in, my son was born in Finland -99 to Oz/Finn parents, he's Finnish by birth, Oz by decent, lived in Oz for 17 yrs until he just now moved to U.K. We know he can pass his Finnish citizenship on but I was unaware he could pass Oz citizenship being ny decent. So if he meets lovely European girl, or any other nationality, his Australian citizenship, despite being by decent, can be passed on? Based on 17 yrs of living in Oz?

moneypenny20

I didn't realise this was a thing. I thought people who were citizen by descent were unable to pass citizenship on unless the children were born in Aus. Good to know.

teza

I thought so too, hence really wanting to know as I have three kids, eldest Finnish by birth, Oz by decent, girls Oz by birth but Finnish by decent, always assumed eldest can't pass it on unless his kids were born in Oz or the mother would be Oz citizen other than decent.

quoll

Yup

BritInParis

Australian citizenship by descent can be passed on indefinitely providing each generation spends at least two years onshore. The important thing to note is that the current generation has to be registered before the next generation is born, even if they haven't spent two years onshore, or the chain is broken.

teza

So given he's done 13 yrs of schooling in Oz, citizen by decent, never left Oz between 3mths and 17yrs, he can pass his Oz citizenship on regardless of future wife and their citizenship. And he can also pass on his Finnish citizenship?

BritInParis

Providing the law doesn't change, he can pass on both. Finland now permits unrestricted dual citizenship but any grandchildren will need to make sure they apply to retain it once they have reached 18 if they aren't living in Finland.

teza

So even with the 2 daughters, currently Oz born by birth, Finnish by decent, can pass it on as well? We are aware that each child (son just did it after his 18 th birthday) have to inform the Finnish magistrate between 18-22yrs of age that they wish to keep their citizenship as adult of their own choice. Probably to avoid further Barnaby Kiwi citizenship scandal of "I didn't know" hahaha