Southern Cross Group: Australian Citizenship Issues for War Brides

Privacy Statement

Australian Citizenship Act 2007 Now in Force!

This means that citizenship applications under the 2007 Act can now be lodged! For links to the new citizenship application forms and tips and tricks, please see the top of the SCG's Home Page.

Has the SCG been of service to you? Please consider making a donation to show your appreciation. We are an entirely volunteer run organisation with no paid staff. Your donation will help us offset various outlays for postage, copying, stationery, web-hosting fees, telephone costs, etc. You can send a cheque in US$, or donate online through the Amazon Honor System. Thank you!

Australian Citizenship Issues for War Brides

This page (and the related page on children of Australian war brides) has been prepared to demonstrate how the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 affects Australian war brides in the United States and their children, as well as others in the Australian diaspora since its relevant provisions came into force on 1 July 2007. The family used is fictional, but representative.

Facts: Joan Small was born in Australia in 1925. She was one of approximately 15,000 Australian women who married American servicemen during or shortly after World War II and her story is typical of many thousands of Australian war brides. In 1943 she married an America GI named Thomas Brown while he was on leave in Australia. In late 1944, Joan gave birth to a daughter Sarah in Australia. In 1946, she and Sarah moved to the United States to be with Thomas. Joan has lived in the US ever since along with Thomas and their children. A son, Peter, was born in the US in 1948. A second daughter, Patricia, was born in the US in 1950. On 3 September 1952, Joan became an American citizen. In 1954 her fourth child, a boy called Adam, was born in the US.

Joan, Peter, Patricia and Adam are all only US citizens today despite their Australian heritage, but all of them now qualify to apply for Australian citizenship under the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.

Joan's Citizenship Story

When Joan was born in Australia in 1925, there was no such thing as Australian citizenship. Everyone was simply a British subject. It was not until the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 came into force on 26 January 1949 that Australian citizenship was created in law. Although Joan was living in the United States on 26 January 1949, she became an Australian citizen on commencement of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 because she was born in Australia.

Joan remained an Australian citizen until 3 September 1952, the date on which she acquired US citizenship. She forfeited her Australian citizenship on that date under Section 17 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948. This occurred automatically by operation of Australian law. Whether or not the Australian authorities knew of Joan's new US citizenship was irrelevant. Loss of citizenship occurred immediately under Australian law. The oath of allegiance Joan took to the US as part of the US naturalisation process under US law had no affect on her Australian citizenship. It was Section 17 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 that stripped her of her Australian citizenship.

(NB: If Joan had not yet reached the age of 21 (or from 1973, the age of 18) on the date she took US citizenship, she would not have lost Australian citizenship on acquiring US citizenship. Also: If Joan had waited until 4 April 2002 or after to take US citizenship, she would not have lost her Australian citizenship, as Section 17 was repealed with effect from 4 April 2002.)

In the mid 1980s, it became possible for those who had lost Australian citizenship under Section 17 to resume citizenship. However, because Joan was living indefinitely outside of Australia, she was prevented from resuming her Australian citizenship under Section 23AA of the 1948 Act which remained in force until 30 June 2007 because she was unable to make a declaration in good faith that she intended to return to reside in Australia within three years.

However, now that the relevant provisions in the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 are in force, Joan is able to apply for resumption of Australian citizenship. The only requirement is that she is of good character. Joan will therefore be able to become a dual US/Australian citizen under Section 29(3)(a)(i) of the 2007 Act. Although now over 80, she is looking forward to regaining her Australian birthright.

For information on how the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 affects Joan's children, click here.

Will Joan's United States Citizenship Be Affected if she becomes an Australian citizen again?

No. By applying for and gaining Australian citizenship under the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, Joan's US citizenship will remain unaffected. She will retain her US citizenship. She will become a dual citizen because she will hold American citizenship and Australian citizenship.

Preparing Your Australian Citizenship Application

For links to the new citizenship application forms and other tips and tricks, go to the top of the SCG's Home Page.

Make sure you also consult our six-page SCG guidance document for resumption applicants that accompanies the 07/07 version of Australian Government Form 132 - Application to resume Australian citizenship. Download the US-letter size format here, or the A4 size format here.

You will have to provide police certificates for all countries you have lived in for one year or more in the last 10 years (except Australia) if you are over 16. If you are resident in the US, or have been resident in the US at any time in the last 10 years, the first thing you should do without delay now is order your Criminal History Record Check from the FBI. These are presently taking up to 18 weeks to arrive once ordered. You will also need a Clearance Letter from each place of residence in which you have lived in the US in the last 12 months. Read our specially prepared Information Sheet on obtaining police clearances in the United States for full guidance.

Police clearance documents will be crucial for your Australian citizenship application in order to show good character. You will not be able to file your citizenship application until you have them.

If you are having trouble obtaining an FBI criminal history record check in the US because your fingerprints are worn or faded, please contact the SCG. This issue is arising for a number of elderly female applicants.

Australian Government Form 47P provides further details on how to obtain police clearance documents from many countries around the world to satisfy the good character requirement.

You should also consult our Frequently Asked Questions document for those living the United States for answers to many further questions you may have about applying for Australian citizenship.

If you are in the UK, see our separate UK FAQs document and separate guidance on how to obtain UK and Irish police clearances.

If you are in Canada, find out how to obtain Canadian police clearances here.

If you need to obtain birth, death or marriage certificates from Australian state authorities to go with your Australian citizenship application, consult our guidance document in A4 format on that subject here, or in US-letter size paper format here.

Have you already applied for Australian citizenship since July 2007? We'd be glad to hear from you about your experiences. Was your encounter with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship a positive one? Were there any hitches with your application? How long did it take to be processed and decided? Are you still waiting and wondering? The SCG is monitoring processing times and administrative issues for Australian citizenship applications globally and welcomes your feedback. In several cases we have recently stepped in to act for applicants before the Department where matters have been less than satisfactory.

Tell us Your Story, and Help us Keep you Informed!

If you are a war bride of Australian origin, the child of a war bride, or someone else who lost their Australian citizenship or who has not had access to Australian citizenship although you had an Australian parent, please tell us your story. We can be reached at info@southern-cross-group.org, or you can talk or write to our SCG volunteer War Brides Co-ordinator, himself the son of an Australian war bride:

Ken Lankard
War Brides Co-ordinator
The Southern Cross Group
PO Box 24606
Ventura, CA 93002
USA

Tel: +1 (805) 485 7217
Fax: +1 (805) 485 6818
E-mail: ken@southern-cross-group.org

If you have e-mail, then sign up to the SCG's free e-mail bulletin list so that you can receive updates on the above reforms, including information as to how to prepare your citizenship application, and other information of interest to those in the Australian diaspora. Or e-mail us.

If you don't have e-mail, then please write to us or phone us with your full contact details so that we can add you to our snail mail list and keep you updated by post. Your contact details will be kept fully confidential. You can use our special mailing list registration form for Australian war brides available here. Children of Australian war brides should use this form. Forms can be faxed to Ken Lankard on Fax: +1 (805) 485 6818.

If you are an Australian-born war bride or another Australian-born person who became a naturalised US citizen (or took citizenship of another country) BEFORE 26 January 1949, or the child of a war bride or other person in that position, please contact the SCG. Consult your naturalisation certificate to find out your date of naturalisation. See the letter we wrote to the Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship on this particular scenario on 11 June 2007. Our legal assessment in that letter was confirmed by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship by e-mail dated 10 July 2007. This means that Australian-born WWII war brides who took US citizenship before 26 January 1949 and who on their date of US naturalization were married (not divorced or widowed) became Australian citizens on 26 January 1949. It is likely that they have been Australian citizens ever since (i.e. dual citizens) and that their US-born children can therefore now apply for Australian citizenship by descent. If this is your scenario, please contact us.

Further Useful Information on this Website:

For links to the new citizenship application forms and other tips and tricks, go to the top of the SCG's Home Page.

Make a Donation to the SCG! (For those in the US who would like to donate by sending a cheque drawn on a US bank) >>>

Make a Donation to the SCG! (For those anywhere in the world who would like to donate online using the Amazon Honor System and a credit card) >>>

SCG Guidance Document for Citizenship Resumption Applicants (Accompanies Version 07/07 of Australian Government Form 132), US Letter size paper format, 8 July 2007 >>>

SCG Guidance Document for All Australian Citizenship Applicants on how to prepare Certified Copies/Endorsed Photographs, in US Letter size format >>> or A4 size paper format >>>

Listen to an ABC Radio National Life Matters segment on the citizenship changes with SCG Co-founder Anne MacGregor in Brussels and war bride son Doug Norris in Alaska, aired on 4 July 2007 >>>

SCG Media Release of 1 July 2007
"100,000 Eligible for Australian Citizenship Overseas" >>>

SCG Media Release of 26 June 2007
"Vietnam War Bride to Resume Australian Citizenship" >>>

SCG Letter to the Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship re Police Clearances for Resumption and Descent Applicants, 22 June 2007 >>>

Proclamation by the Governor-General of Australia dated 7 June 2007 concerning the commencement on 1 July 2007 of the operative provisions of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 >>>

SCG Letter to the Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship re War Brides who Naturalized in the United States before 26 January 1949, 11 June 2007 >>>
(The six annexes to this letter can be downloaded from the Dual Citizenship folder of our website archives, 2007 subfolder)
E-mail Response from DIAC dated 10 July 2007 confirming the Legal Interpretation by the SCG in the 11 June 2007 Letter >>>