Affirmation for Those Who Are Not Australian Citizens
This page is especially for former Australian citizens and others who have a close connection with Australia despite the fact that they are not formally Australian citizens. You might be someone who lost their citizenship under Section 17 before its repeal on 4 April 2002 who has not been able to resume Australian citizenship, or someone who was born overseas to an Australian parent but missed out on Australian citizenship by descent due to quirks in Australia's citizenship law.
If you are a Maltese citizen who had to renounce their Australian citizenship before turning 19 using Section 18 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948, you can use this affirmation facility too. Also have a look at the special section of our website for Australian-born Maltese in Malta.
Before making your affirmation, we encourage you to read and consider the information on our main affirmation page.
Your affirmation will be sent as an e-mail directly to the Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, the Hon Kevin Andrews MP. It is important to include your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address so that Mr Andrews can respond.
A copy of your online affirmation will also be sent to your own e-mail address, for your records.
In addition, you may wish to fill in the names and e-mail addresses of up to five relatives or friends who are important to you, and with whom you would like to share the fact that you have affirmed your loyalty to Australia. Those people will then also receive a copy of your affirmation.
If you ARE an Australian citizen, please DO NOT use this form. Click here instead.
Name:*
Address:*
Telephone:*
E-mail:*
Subject:
Affirmation of Commitment to Australia
Message:
To: the Hon Kevin Andrews MP Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Australia Dear Minister, I am not an Australian citizen. I note that the Government, and you in particular, are vigorously encouraging eligible non-Australians resident in Australia to take up Australian citizenship. In addition, I note that you are providing an opportunity for non-Australian citizens to affirm their loyalty to Australia in the interim at affirmation ceremonies. I applaud these efforts to expand the number of citizens and to strengthen the common bond of Australian citizenship. I am unable to attend an affirmation ceremony in my area. Nevertheless, I would like you to note my affirmation as follows: I affirm my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I uphold and obey.
The remaining paragraphs below are all optional. You may wish to include none, some or all of them in your affirmation message. Click on the buttons on the left of each paragraph if you wish to include that particular paragraph. You may like to tell Mr Andrews why you are not an Australian citizen. Please choose the option below that describes your situation most accurately. Click on ONE button on the left only to include the relevant text for the paragraph you chose:
I am not an Australian citizen at the present time due to the following circumstances:
I lost my Australian citizenship under Section 17 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 when I voluntarily acquired another citizenship, before 4 April 2002.
OR
I was forced to formally renounce my Australian citizenship using Section 18 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 because the citizenship law of my current country of citizenship demanded I take this step in order to keep my current citizenship. While I applaud the enactment of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 which will allow me to apply to resume my Australian citizenship, I strongly urge you to amend the Act to allow children born to me outside Australia after I renounced my Australian citizenship access to Australian citizenship as well, in line with the solution which the government has provided for children of Section 17 victims.
I live in Australia at present, but was not born in Australia, so I am not Australian by birth, and I have not to date acquired Australian citizenship by grant of naturalisation.
I was born overseas to an Australian-born parent, but despite my Australian parentage have not to date been able to enjoy Australian citizenship by descent due to iniquities in the Australian Citizenship Act 1948. I welcome the reforms contained in the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 which allow children born to Section 17 victims after their loss of citizenship to have access to Australian citizenship. But I strongly believe that this reform should be extended to children born to Section 18 victims after their loss of citizenship as well.
The paragraphs below are also all optional. To include them, click the button on the left as appropriate.
I would also urge you to make sure that other reforms of importance to those in the Australian diaspora are included in future amendments to the Australian Citizenship Act 2007. The omission of children born to Section 18 victims after their renunciation is the most glaring deficit in the Act, but I would also ask you to give careful consideration to the catalogue of other outstanding matters put forward by the Southern Cross Group in its submissions to the Senate Committee's Inquiry into the Bill in early 2006 (Section 23 offspring, overseas adoption cases). Although the 2007 Act is a major reform of Australian citizenship law, it is a great shame that some worthy groups in the diaspora are still excluded from enjoying Australian citizenship.
Among others, in particular many Australian-born women who married US servicemen during or shortly after World War II and who settled in the United States and subsequently forfeited their Australian citizenship under Section 17 on acquiring US citizenship will benefit from measures in the Australian Citizenship Act 2007. Time is of the essence for these women, as they are all now in their 80s and 90s. Please make sure that any applications for resumption of citizenship from this elderly group of courageous women received by your Department are processed speedily and with priority from 1 July 2007.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Government on the 2002 repeal of Section 17 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948.
If you have an additional, personal message to Mr Andrews, you may type it in the text box below. This is entirely optional and you may leave the box blank.
Personal Message:
Yours sincerely,
If you would like to share your affirmation with close family and friends, you may enter their names and e-mail addresses below and they will receive a copy. This is entirely optional and you can leave the boxes below blank if desired:
Name
E-mail
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