Koolcat

We have been back in the UK for 6 years after 10 wonderful years in Australia.

Our oldest child was born in Australian so he is an Australian Citizen and British by Descent and has both passports.

Our youngest child was born in the uk - she is 6.

Hubby and myself got Australian citizenship just before she was born and before we moved back to UK.

Just trying to work out if we should apply for Australian Citizenship by Descent for her - or do we wait on to see if we move back before she turns 18 and then she can apply for full citizenship - is there any difference?

And is it a straightforeward application for citizenship by descent with me providing a copy of my Citizenship certificate?

I dont think we will move back in next 5 years due to elderly parents across here that need help.

At the minute there are 3 of us in our family unit who are dual-nationality, and she is single nationality.

Hubby is not good with paperwork so im half thinking it might be best to get her status sorted in case i get knocked over by a bus or anything

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks so much,
Koolcat

spouse of scouse

Hi Koolcat. I'm not an expert on Oz citizenship, but I've had a look at the process to apply as a citizen by descent and it seems fairly straightforward (link below). I also note that from 1 July 2021, people granted citizenship by descent will receive a full Australian Citizenship Certificate, rather than just an Extract, so that's good news. I can't see any benefit to waiting until your daughter is 18 but as I say, I'm not an expert (well, maybe an armchair expert)
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citi...scent#Overview

I also have a hubby who's not good with paperwork, I'm sure he'd miss my admin skills more than me if I carked it!

Paul Hand

There’s no difference in the ‘quality’ of the citizenship based on age at application, so I would apply now to get it out the way. The only long term thing to be aware of is that citizenship (by descent) can only be passed on if/when she has lived in Australia for two years.

BritInParis

There’s no advantage in waiting. It’s far cheaper and easier applying for citizenship by descent then going through the Child visa process followed by citizenship by conferral. Once your child has spent two cumulative years in Australia then they’ll be able to pass on their Australian citizenship to their own children if they are born abroad.