> "John Smith" wrote:
>
> > > I've met a few PRs here from non-Commonwealth countries
> > > that have said they were refused [Australian] citizenship
> > > because they weren't prepared to give up their original
> > > citizenship.
>
> "JAJ" replied:
>
> > That is not true. No restrictions on dual citizenship since
> > 4 April 2002. And even before then it was allowed in many
> > different situations.
>
> Does Australia's citizenship law allow discretion on the part of
> officials to reject an application for citizenship even when the
> applicant has satisfied all specific legal requirements?
>
> If so, perhaps John's report referred to the use (or abuse) of
> such discretion. Otherwise, I'd tend to assume John's report is
> a garbled account of people who were unwilling to obtain Aussie
> citizenship because their old countries would have insisted on
> revoking their previous citizenship.
>
> Australia's naturalization oath used to require new citizens to
> state that they were "renouncing all other allegiances", but I
> understand this portion of the oath was removed in 1986.
>
> Rich Wales richw@richw.org http://www.richw.org/dualcit/
> *DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
> or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
> are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.
Technically yes. But discretion must be exercised in line with
established policies and there is a right of "merits review" appeal to
the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in citizenship cases.
Discretion is not based on the whim of the minister or a citizenship
officer and holding another nationality would not be an acceptable
reason for refusal, even under "discretion".
--
This is not intended to be legal or professional advice in any
jurisdiction
Posted via http://britishexpats.com |