DinkyDie

Hello everyone,

My friend's girlfriend is a former Eastern European migrant. Things are going very between them. Recently, however, she suspected that her parent's original application to migrate to Australia might have included fraudulent documents. She arrived in Australia as an infant and obtained citizenship while still a baby. They came some time in 1988-1989, and the type of potential fraud involved some documents about her mum, who was the main applicant.

Again, she isn't certain about this, but she doesn't want to confront her mother as she is old and quite ill, & her father has passed away. Are there any possible implications for this? Or is there a 'sunset provision' on these things, since it's been over 20 years and the family is now well-established in the country and their kids' kids were born here? Australia is the only country she has ever known, so any problems are a major cause of distress. Can anyone provide information from legal sources, etc.

Thanks

RICH

You said she obtained citizenship as a baby.

" She arrived in Australia as an infant and obtained citizenship while still a baby."

If this is true, then the baby has no problem however they arrived. If they arrived illegally and baby did not get citizenship - different story.

DinkyDie

Yes, she was still a child when she became a citizen. So you're certain that this won't affect her? Do you have any legal sources to set the record straight?

Also, what about her mother? Any thoughts on her situation?

Thanks

mrsgreenstar76

I assume you have links to support this?

OP, it might be worth having a chat with a MARA registered agent.

hoofie2002

After this amount of time dare I suggest it might be better to let sleeping dogs lie. Its hardly the girls fault and surely for it to become an issue someone would need to actually tell the authorities that a possible fraud was perpetuated.

JAJ

If everyone has a citizenship certificate I would not be too concerned.

Legally - citizenship can be revoked for migration related fraud in certain instances, however the Department has to prosecute and win a case in a criminal court. Not easy and it doesn't happen very often. Even if the Department were to find out and launch an investigation, they would be unlikely to prosecute someone who is elderly and in poor health.

And they cannot prosecute or revoke citizenship of children on this basis. They can revoke the citizenship of a child if they revoke the citizenship of parents, but only if the child is aged under 18.

DinkyDie

They're all citizens, but the question is, is there a time limit to the possibility of using any potential fraud against the person? I realize this is a highly technical legal matter, so I'm just wondering if there are any links to actual legislation on the matter.

JAJ

You could start with the Australian Citizenship Instructions.
http://www.citizenship.gov.au/learn/law-and-policy/

If this is more than theoretical then a. your girlfriend's mother needs a good immigration lawyer immediately and b. she should not incriminate herself!

As for you, you should not be discussing this on a public forum (you have already said too much).

Tramps_mate

I wouldn't even mention it ever again. Why bring it up now any way?

If the worst thing happens (not likely) she will get herself kicked out the country! Why even question it?

DinkyDie

Thank you to you all.

So, after this discussion, the person in question approached her mother with the matter and, as it turns out, there has been no foul play. The question was in relation to a document about her mother's parents being Jewish, which is what created the confusion, but as it turns out, they really are of Jewish descent.

It's a very emotional time for her, as you can imagine; discovering she comes from a family of Holocaust survivors, and that they are absolutely legitimate migrants to this beautiful country.

Thanks again for your help.