Moving to Australia for 2 years so kids can become citizenships

[AussieManque]

Hi all, wondering if anyone has suggestions for my situation. I'm Australian by descent but was born overseas so my children (also born outside Australia) won't automatically qualify for citizenship. I've never lived in Australia. I understand that if I go and live there for 2 years, my children would then be able to get citizenship. My husband is not Australian.

Has anyone been through this process? We're starting to look into it as a possibility (moving the whole family rather than just sending me), either going there for a specific job, or, if we go while kids are young enough, to live a more 'freelance' life and properly explore the country for a couple of years before they have to start school.

We might end up settling there, or we might decide to do the bare minimum to qualify and then leave - in which case I want to make sure all our ducks are lined up so we don't end up somehow missing something and not qualifying. I expect we need a paper trail to prove I've lived there.

Some questions:
-presumably I need a fixed address to register for Medicare etc - how does it work if we travel around?
-any advice for getting the visa for dependents (husband, kids) as we'd be doing this from outside Australia?
-any other key points we should be considering at this stage?

Thank you!

[Codlingmoths]

I agree it’d help if your husband could get citizenship. We didn’t do that in the uk and it would make things easier in the future. Dc and I are all citizens but not him, so we can’t just move there.

[Pythonesque]

Actually, my daughter's experience a couple of years ago is a very good example of the unpredicted situation where citizenship makes a difference. She went out mid 2021 for a gap year, to a job (at a school) that she only got because earlier applicants pulled out as they couldn't get into the country. Because my daughter had an Australian passport she was allowed in at that point. Now hopefully we'll not have another pandemic any time soon, but ...

[YouveGotAFastCar]

FWIW OP, I’d do it in your shoes too.

[Tottybotty]

@Bamboozleme a comedy? Why? I think it sounds amazing and I wish I’d done something like this before my kids were at school. I also agree it’s good to get your kids additional citizenship (my kids have it for a European country) - you never know what will happen politically/culturally/personally in the future and it may give more options. Good luck OP. 😊

[Bamboozleme]

Have you ever visited Australia oP?

[LostInTheColonies]

@Theos because you have to jump through far fewer hoops to get citizenship by descent than by emigrating for work then applying, and it's quicker and cheaper!

@Bamboozleme going for at least a couple of years sounds like a great plan. Do it!

[AussieManque]

@Bamboozleme why wouldn't it be wise?

Yes I work. But we can also afford to go without working for a couple of years due to additional income streams.

[Bamboozleme]

Do you work? How are you financially?

[Bamboozleme]

This sounds like the script for a family comedy.
OP I don’t think it would be wise for you to embark on this, especially with children involved

[AussieManque]

@BleepBipBoop there is a system for billing, but not necessarily for chasing up unpaid bills. Remember watching one of those BBC hospital documentaries a few years ago, a Nigerian woman transiting through Heathrow went into premature labour of triplets, she and her babies spent months in NICU (sadly I think only one survived) and she kept getting presented with gigantic bills everyone knew she would never be able to pay.

[AussieManque]

@Theos @NotmykingEatCake it seems a shame to miss out on the chance to get it, for example if they decide to go to university in Australia.

We don't live in the UK currently and to be honest I really don't fancy returning to live there - but we may have to eventually due to aging parents. So Australia is on our radar as a possible next move while parents still are ok. Definitely the Australian climate agrees with me more than English weather!

[BleepBipBoop]

@margarine17

Yes , backing up pp that medical rights are reciprocal. My son ( who is Australian) walked into an A&E and was wonderfully looked after and didn't pay a cent - same as UK people in Australia. Wonderful decision by the 2 govts as there is so much interchange.
OP - when you say "by descent" what exactly do you mean.

My American sister had the same experience when she was visiting me in London. Any NHS A&E will not turn away someone in need of emergency treatment. But there is no system for charging or billing anyone, regardless of citizenship. I guess the powers that be have determined the admin costs would outweigh what they could collect.

[Theos]

@NotmykingEatCake

Given you've never lived in Oz OP and it's really easy to emigrate there for work, why are you so bothered about your children getting citizenship?

This
mine have dual Canadian and it’s nice but pointless (are now young adults )

[coxesorangepippin]

I'd definitely go and live there. It's fabulous

[AussieManque]

@Pythonesque yes I did a few trips to Australia growing up, and most recently went in 2019. But it would not end up adding up to 2 years and these trips were holidays rather than "living lawfully" in Oz.

[Pythonesque]

I haven't got any advice particularly to add - apart from agreeing that going before your children start school sounds an excellent plan to give you maximum flexibility to see where your lives are leading you as a family. However, I wanted to thank you as this wasn't something I was specifically aware of and it might be in my own UK born children's interests for us to make a note of when we have visited grandparents over the years. Since the eldest has also done a gap year in Australia, a rough guesstimate suggests she might only need another 7 months to tot up the 2 years if it becomes relevant in the future. I'm not sure how we'd be supposed to evidence any of this though given that our passports never get stamped anywhere coming or going ...

That does raise the question to the OP though - did you ever visit grandparents or other relatives in Australia growing up? (can understand if you didn't. Our trips in the other direction weren't many either due to expense++, and really only happened when there was a justification for my mother to help out)

[LostInTheColonies]

@AussieManque

@LostInTheColonies but have you lived in Australia at any point in your life?

Yes - 3.5 years as a child, and on & off for a few years as an adult. Which may be what's making the difference for me!

[LostInTheColonies]

@OrderOfTheKookaburra I'm not a kiwi, and the rules for kids who have NZ parents and who were born in Aus (I.e. kiwi family living in Aus) have only changed in the last couple of weeks. DD's Aus citizenship is based on my Aus citizenship by descent only. I have lived in Aus for a few years though, which I think was a prerequisite for DD's citizenship.

[NotmykingEatCake]

Given you've never lived in Oz OP and it's really easy to emigrate there for work, why are you so bothered about your children getting citizenship?

[AussieManque]

Argh missed a bit out!

"So say you are born to British parents in China or Kenya, and you have a baby in Thailand or Peru, your child can automatically become British, but if they then also have children outside the UK, citizenship is not automatic."

[AussieManque]

Incidentally the UK has the same restrictions on handing citizenship to children born to UK parents outside the UK, if the parent was also born outside the UK. So say you are born to British parents in China or Kenya, your child can automatically become British, but if they then also have children outside the UK, citizenship is not automatic.

It can potentially create a lot of problems if both parents were born overseas as the child could potentially end up stateless - but there are measures to avoid this, but it just makes gaining citizenship a lot more complicated.

[AussieManque]

@margarine17 by descent means I inherited Australian citizenship from my dad due to him being Australian when I was born (overseas). My citizenship certificate specifies that it was by descent.

[OrderOfTheKookaburra]

@LostInTheColonies NZ permanent residents or citizens have different requirements to anyone else, so that might be why its been different for you.

@margarine17 "by descent" is a legal term. So Australian citizens who are not living in Australia when their DC are born, can apply for Australian citizenship 'by descent'. But if their Citizen parents are citizerns "by descent" they must have lived in Australia for 2 years before the citizenship can go down to the next generation.

Unlike some European countries, where if you can trace descent from a citizen back several generations you can apply for citizenship.

[margarine17]

Sorry to explain he was an Australian in London at the time

[margarine17]

Yes , backing up pp that medical rights are reciprocal. My son ( who is Australian) walked into an A&E and was wonderfully looked after and didn't pay a cent - same as UK people in Australia. Wonderful decision by the 2 govts as there is so much interchange.
OP - when you say "by descent" what exactly do you mean.