Vanessa

My husband his son and I are coming to Melbourne in about June this year on a 457 visa. However, my husband's son was born in Peth, Australia of a NZealand mother and British father (both were PR of Australia at the time of his birth). Does anyone know whether he qualifies for an Australian Passport? - he was born in 1987 and is 17 years old.

kathmand194

You might get a better response for this thread on the Australia immigration forum.

Gary.

JAJ

Almost certainly - yes. He is most likely an Australian citizen by birth (and has been since he was born).

He should fill out form 119 and pay AUD55 to get an Australian citizenship certificate:
http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/119.pdf

Then he can apply for an Australian passport.

He should also apply for a NZ citizenship cert and passport if he doesn't already have one (assuming his mother is NZ by birth or naturalisation).

I presume he already has a British passport? If not, and his father was not married to the mother, he needs to submit a registration application for British citizenship urgently (ie before he's 18).


Jeremy

Vanessa

Thanks for that. Will do it today and also apply for NZ as his mother was a NZ by birth.

JAJ

For NZ the following links may be useful:
http://www.nzembassy.com/info.cfm?CF...=56&s=nz&p=572
http://www.citizenship.govt.nz

For Australia, form 119 should be sent to the Australian High Commission in London. Check their website for the local fee. http://www.australia.org.uk

An Australian passport can also be applied for there.

He should not assume he has either citizenship until he has a citizenship cert or passport but it's looking good based on the facts you post.

If he has a 457 visa then it will just be nullifed by an Australian passport he obtains. It won't affect your visa. In fact as an Australian citizen he needs to have an Australian passport to travel into and out of Australia.

He needs to be aware of a few things for the future (if he plans to have children himself eventually):

- any children he has born outside NZ will not automatically have NZ citizenship, as he's NZ 'by descent'

- if he has children born outside the UK they won't be British automatically either, as he is likely British 'by descent'. However as it seems he has lived in the UK for more than 3 years he may be able to register overseas born children as British provided he acts quickly and applies within 12 months of birth
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk has details, go to the nationality section and download advice leaflet BN4

- if he has children born outside Australia, they will be entitled to registration as Australian citizens by descent, however an application must be made at the time.


Jeremy