Dual Citizenship

[ozhodge]

I've tried to read the online embassy information but its not the most informative. We are both Australian but our baby will born here in UK. We want it to be an Australian citizen, the question is can it have dual citizenship with Britain? If so how is it done? Thanks for any advice

Hi

I may be completely wrong but don't you just register the birth at your embassy?

Yes, you'll need to register at the embassy - the UK embassy for Australia website should have clear details on the process and cost for registering a child.

I have a hunch that your baby won't be dual, unless one of you is also British or at least has a British grandparent. You need to phone the Border Agency and ask if your baby might qualify: 0845 010 5200

Related discussion.

Sorry, missed one of your questions - I believe current UK law is that one of the parents has to be a UK citizen to gain citizenship. There is no right to citizenship just on being born here.

My understanding is that British citizenship is based on the mother's immigration status at the time of birth. For instance, both my DCs are dual British and American, but simply being born in the UK didn't automatically confer British citizenship. Rather was contingent on me having Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK in addition to having a British father. Strangely enough, having a British father doesn't automatically mean the children would be entitled to be British.

Even if your DC is entitled to British citizenship, there's nothing saying you have to apply.

What is your visa status? This will determine if your child is eligible for British citizenship. If you have indefinite leave to remain ILR, then your child is a British citizen. If you are still under visa restrictions (eg work, study, ancestory) then your child is not a British citizen.

It may be eligible for Australian citizenship, depending on how parents acquired their citizenship (eg birth, naturalization, or descent), but it is a 2 step faffy process to get an Australian passport for children of Australian citizens born in the UK. Get on to it ASAP so the baby will have at least one passport, particularly if you didn't get your own citizenship through birth.

If you don't have ILR, your child will be eligible for British citizenship when you are granted ILR, so the child will be eligible to get their British citizenship12 months before you.

There is no problem holding both Australian and British citizenship, Australia has allowed dual citizenship since 2004, and the UK has never had an issue with dual citizenship.

Just to let you know, if you go back to oz, there are some jobs in oz that ban dual citizens, including ASIO, lots of DFAT stuff, national security jobs, and to become a member of parliament.

starting point for researching British citizenship
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/eligibility/

starting point for researching Australian citizenship for babies born overseas
www.citizenship.gov.au/

ask me any questions you want on this, I have been juggling visas and citizenships for years.

To clarify another post above, you do NOT register the birth at the Australian embassy. You register the birth normally, in whichever borough the baby was born.

What you do at the Australian embassy is to apply for an Australian passport (which you can later use as evidence of Australian nationality). To do this, you need the birth certificate which you get when you register the birth, plus a few other bits and bobs. It is very straighforward and easy and they are lovely and helpful at the embassy (you can tell I've been through this!).

Australian passport photos are different sizes and have different requirements to British ones, but there is a photo shop further west down the Strand from the embassy where they know all the requirements and will do them.

Re dual citizenship, it is certainly possible now to have Australian/British dual citizenship, although it wasn't possible a few years ago. Whether your baby is entitled to it is another question and will depend on your and your DP's visa/citizenship status in Britain, as other posters have said above. Your baby is, as I suspect you are aware, definitely entitled to Australian citizenship, it's just the British part you need to check into. She wont get it simply by virtue of being born here.

"Rather was contingent on me having Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK in addition to having a British father. Strangely enough, having a British father doesn't automatically mean the children would be entitled to be British."

My children have their British citizenship through their father alone. I'm a EU citizen, but I don't think that that would have made a difference?

According to Border Agency the gender of the parent doesn't matter:

"f you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983

If you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983, you are a British citizen if at the time of your birth one of your parents was:

a British citizen; or
legally settled in the UK.

"

Should have clarified that if you are not married, then it isn't automatic, so yes, widow you're partly right.

I wasn't married to the father when my first daughter was born.