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We live in The USA, and my nine month old recently had his Australian citizenship by descent approved. It’s only come to my knowledge, that with this approval, he should now technically be entering Australia on an Australian passport. I was planning on having him enter under his US passport with a visa (which is already approved). Has anyone had luck entering Australia in this manner? I don’t think there’s enough time for us to get an emergency passport as you have to interview in person and flight is only 9 days away

Sunshineinco
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  • Is the visa an ETA or another sort of visa? I'm not certain that it matters, but it might. The most likely logistical problem is that the visa was cancelled when the Australian citizenship was recognized. What is the timeline? When was the visa granted? When was the Australian citizenship recognized? Also, what information did you include in the visa application about possible Australian citizenship? – phoog Mar 22 '23 at 08:17
  • Its an ETA and as of today (we leave tomorrow) is still active, has not been cancelled. Citizenship certificate rec’d in late January. Did not indicate anything in visa about possible citizenship. Visa was granted march 12. – Sunshineinco Mar 29 '23 at 16:44
  • See also: https://expatriates.stackexchange.com/questions/3227/leaving-australia-as-a-dual-national-but-without-an-australian-passport – lambshaanxy Apr 03 '23 at 00:58

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Australia doesn't actually require its citizens to use an Australian passport to enter Australia. From the Department of Home Affairs page Travelling as a dual citizen:

Australian citizens entering and leaving Australia

Australian citizens should use their Australian passport to enter and leave Australia.

The Australian Border Force has more information on crossing the border.

If you have a passport from another country, you can use that after you leave Australia.

A passport is the best way to show that you are an Australian citizen. You might still be able to enter Australia if you are an Australian citizen without an Australian passport, but it will be more difficult. The airline might also stop you from boarding a plane to Australia.

Smart Traveller has more information about travelling as a dual citizen.

Note the use of the word "should" rather than "must."

Neither of the linked pages has much more to say on the subject of passports, though you will probably want to have a look at them anyway because they do have other useful information.

The key points to keep in mind are:

  • Australian citizens have an unrestricted right to enter Australia. If your child can get to the Australian passport inspector, your child will be admitted even without an Australian passport. (If you're going to be in Australia for a long enough period, you should consider getting the child's Australian passport while your there.)

  • The "difficulty" that the government mentioned is the difficulty of proving Australian citizenship without a passport. You should bring any documents you had to submit to establish your child's citizenship by descent along with any certificate, letter, or other documents showing that the government has recognized your child's citizenship by descent.

  • The airline preventing boarding arises from the fact that Australian visas aren't supposed to be issued to Australian citizens. A dual citizen of Australia and the US normally can't have an Australian visa for her US passport. But your child already has that, so the airline should allow your child to board with the US passport and the associated Australian visa. (If the visa was cancelled, however, and the airline has to verify its validity before issuing the boarding pass, then there could be trouble.)

Finally, an Australian citizen who enters Australia with a foreign passport can expect a bit of a lecture on the, uh, strong recommendation to use an Australian passport. But for a nine-month-old baby, there will probably be some more flexibility, especially if the recognition of the child's citizenship by descent has been fairly recent. In general, rules applying to dual citizens are somewhat relaxed for children, and the same is even true in some cases of rules concerning passports and visas.

So the only critical issue you face is getting your child's boarding pass issued. If you can, confirm that the visa has not been cancelled. If it hasn't, you should be fine as the airline need not know that the child is a dual citizen. But if the visa is cancelled, the chance is high that you'll be unable to board.

If all this is too much uncertainty, consider that "an Emergency Passport is usually issued within 2-3 working days after all requirements are met"; nine days is not too little time. The expense and hassle of the emergency passport application might be worthwhile for the added peace of mind they will provide.

phoog
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    The ETA/visa is still granted so i am feeling a lot better about all of this. I saw the article you reference as well and I agree that seems to give some wiggle room. We leave tomorrow so will report back how we go with it all! I thought about doing the emergency passport but that office is a 2-hr flight away so wasn't really feasible, and i felt like that might just cause more red flags and obviously a bigger issue if not granted in time. Wish us luck! – Sunshineinco Mar 29 '23 at 16:48
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Not a problem at all getting in, no questions asked and went through as a Us Citizen.

Sunshineinco
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