Abigail 1983

Hi there,

I hold dual nationality (UK/Australian) and so have two passports. I have lived in the UK for my whole life (27 years) but plan to move to Australia next February (2011). As I have an Australian passport and am an Australian citizen already, is it as easy as just moving there and starting a new life?! I understand that I need to apply for a tax file number for income purposes but is there anything else that I need to be doing to make me a fully-fledged Aussie citizen?

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Sherlock Holmes

Hi Abigail and welcome to B.E.

It's my pleasure to welcome you to the forum and give you a point of contact should you need any help with the site in general. You can contact me here.

A list of all the moderators and helpers with their relevant countries including Australia can be found here.

Any problems, dont hesitate to PM me.

I can't think of anything else other than: Enrol with Medicare and get a driver's licence. Which state are you going to?

Enjoy B.E. and enjoy your new life.

Alistair.

Sherlock Holmes

I've just realised that my reply didn't actually answer the citizen question, my comments were just things that you ought to do when you get here.

I guess if you are a citizen, then you are a citizen. Good luck anyway.

stuie83

You'll need to present yourself to Medicare, they'll give you a card so that you can access the health care services here.

Stu

DadAgain

Dont forget you'll need somewhere to live.

To get a rental you'll need lots of ID.

A passport will get you some of the way but it'll help if you also have:

- Bank Details
- Electricity Bill
- Drivers licence

Of course to get a bank account, electricty bill or drivers licence you need prove a valid address... This is a deliberate 'catch 22' situation designed by buracractically obsessed Australians to frustrate any potential immigrants into giving up and going back home. <joke>

Dorothy

You are already a fully fledged Australian citizen. Are you a citizen from birth or by descent? Either way, it's a good idea to have a citizenship certificate as well as your passport to prove your citizenship.

As others have said, you will need to get to Medicare, get a TFN, driver's license, open a bank account (not sure where you are going, but some banks have migrant banking centres with staff who are experienced with helping newcomers set up their banking), find a place to live, get a mobile phone.

Good luck.

Dorothy

We didn't have to provide a valid address to get our bank account. We were staying in our holiday home when we went to ANZ in Adelaide. The woman we dealt with was great. She simply said when we get a rental to let them know the address and she would change the details. Easy peasy. We also bought our car using our holiday rental as the address and changed it when we got our rental.

medwaymark

I too have dual nationality & you do not need a visa, just enter Australia on your Australian passport. I have never been asked to provide a citizenship certificate, but was asked for my passport once......I was told then that they wouldn't of mornally asked for it.....but I didn't sound Australian!

If you are coming with a partner, they will need to apply for a visa, if you are coming alone, just turn up with your passport.......have to say I was a bit nervous the first time I entered on my Aussie passport, expecting there to be some bit of paper I needed, but it was fine

Good luck!

Pomster

My big sister was born in Aus, and applied for her first passport in her 40s.
She came to visit us- first trip to Aus since she was 5- and passport control just said 'welcome home'...I guess seeing her brand new shiny passport and very English accent!

BSD18

Hi all,

I'm new to the site and just saw this discussion - did Abigail1983 make it to Oz? How did you get on with the move?

I have just applied for my citizenship by descent - my mum was born there so I am lucky to be able to apply.

I am hoping to move to Melbourne next year sometime - but would love some advice on procedures - e.g. living somewhere!! I am just wanting to go into a house share or something but where do you start. My brother already lives in Coffs Harbour so I am thinking I am going to have to base myself there and set up everything as I go along.

Also - people who have moved from the UK - how much money did you all save to go?

Thanks

DotSpot

You don't even need to be living in Oz to open a bank account, at least not with ANZ. We opened our first account in NZ when we visited 6 years ago, with a UK address. They gave us an EFTPOS card each and online banking, and since then they have been sending statements to the UK every couple of months.

Then we figured we'd need an account in Australia, as you can't transfer between Australia and NZ. No problem, just gave them a quick call, they opened us a new account up in Australia complete with online banking etc. When we arrive we just have to call into a branch to collect our new EFTPOS cards and give them our new address.

From our experience ANZ are great to deal with, always a pleasure to call them.

fish.01

You can't get a passport if you are not a citizen so no issues - just turn up and say g'day

Sign on to the electoral roll when you settle so you can vote.

JAJ

Untrue. Passports have been given by mistake to a lot of non-citizens, especially children and those who were once Australian but lost their citizenship.

Which is why in certain situations (such as child passports) you can't "renew" it - you need to prove citizenship from scratch.

Which in turn is why you need a citizenship certificate, unless you were born in Australia before 20 August 1986.

fish.01

Assume if they turn up at the airport the assumption will hold though?

JAJ

Some people who have lost Australian citizenship do just that - arrive using an invalid (but apparently valid) Australian passport. Such a person will normally be assumed to be an Australian citizen and will be allowed through on that basis.

However, the status of such person under the Migration Act is unlawful non-citizen.