[marco_l]

Hi guys and gals,

I hope someone found himself / herself in the same situation as me and can give me an answer about the sponsor eligibility for partner visa 309 from offshore.
The actual explanation as to whom is an legible sponsor on the immi.homeaffairs.gov.au wouldn't seem to leave any room for misunderstandings but to me it's not as straightforward as it may seem. A valid sponsor "must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen" that's exactly what is says.
My wife is an Australian citizen by descent (with an australian passport) but she's never resided in Australia before. She got her australian citizenship through her father who was born in australia and lived there for a short while before moving to Ireland. Our confusion arose when in the online sponsorship form (40SP) that my wife is filling out she can only see 2 options in terms of how she got australian citizenship. Option 1 is by birth and option 2 is by grant. Her citizenship would not fall into either one unless I'm missing something.

Now my question is whether she would be an eligible sponsor to me or not

Thank you to anyone who can help us with this.

 

[LordDee]

It would be by birth: your father-in-law was born in Australia and she was birthed as a descendant of him.

 

[marco_l]

thanks for quick reply LordDee.
That would be my line of thoughts as well but I got really confused when I saw a couple of unanswered posts in different forums (as if this is not black-and-white) about this very same topic.

I would be interested to see if anybody who is in my same situation has ever been granted 309 visa after the whole process.

 

[council]

IMO, if citizenship is applied for (with paperwork, etc), it could be "by grant" because citizenship was "granted" to her after providing evidence, etc.

If it were "by birth" then there would have been no need to claim it in the first place.

(Just my two cents)

Maybe one of the migration agents here could provide a clear-cut answer also.

 

[marco_l]

thanks Council, your answer is much appreciated
I can see this is more difficult than I originally thought. I'm hoping a migration agent can give me a clear-cut answer if there is such thing
Rang the guys at the immigration department in Australia but I was told "they can't tell me which box to tick"

 

[ampk]

Citizenship was your wife's birth right - secondly it was applied for.

 

[marco_l]

Thanks for your reply ampk!
Not sure if there is a right or wrong answer at this stage. Maybe is just a case where we need to pay our 8000+ dollars to apply for the 309 (our son will be included in the application as well), sit tight and hope for a positive outcome. Ultimately though if my wife (AKA my sponsor) selected "citizenship by grant" in the form 40SP she would be forced to prove the "length of residence" which of course she wouldn't be able to do because she's never lived in OZ. In that case I can only imagine one outcome.......and it's not a good one :-(

 

[wrussell]

Any of the RMAs who post on this forum could put you on the right track.

If you send an email to; [email protected] I shall advise you how to deal with the mess.

 

[ampk]

"but she's never resided in Australia before"

is more the mess.

 

[LordDee]

"[E]ffective on January 26, 1949 by the Nationality and Citizenship Act. Upon implementation, all persons who were born in Australia assumed Australian citizenship through naturalization…(By Birth)

However, after August 19, 1986 the automatic issuance of Australian citizenship was discontinued. Thereafter, Australian citizenship was only granted to a child by birth only if he was born in Australia to an Australian parent or a permanent resident…(By Birth if the aforementioned applied, otherwise by grant)

Australia's nationality laws were modified in 2007. The Australian Citizenship Act stated that as of July 1 2007, anyone applying for naturalization in Australia was expected to have legal permanent resident status for at least 4 years before they could qualify as an applicant for Australia's citizenship through naturalization. Immediately before applying, applicants are expected to have spent the last 12 months in Australia, good working knowledge of the English language, an understanding of the responsibilities and rights of being a citizen of Australia, continue residing in Australia on a permanent basis and not have been involved in any illegally activity during the period of permanent residency in Australia…(By Grant)

Persons who are exempt from the standard residency demands are: children born to former citizens of Australia…(By Birth)

Acquiring Australian citizenship by ancestry is possible under the condition that the applicant… was born to an Australian citizen at the time of birth…(By birth)

Children are not entitled to become citizens of Australia if the parent had lost his or her Australian citizenship prior to the child's birth…

The loss of Australian citizenship generally occurred whenever someone renounced his Australian citizenship upon the acquisition of a second nationality anytime between January 26, 1949 and April 4, 2002. Before November 22, 1984, a person was not deprived of Australian citizenship if he acquired a second citizenship (dual citizenship) while he was present in Australia, nor was his citizenship taken from him if it occurred as a result of another activity such as applying for a second passport or permanent residence in another country. These regulations were changed, however, in April 2002, when Australians became freely able of acquiring a second (dual) citizenship without having to lose theirs."

I'm guessing based on an approximation of your father-in-law's age, he was granted automatic citizenship by birth regardless of his parent's status, never lost his citizenship, which allowed for your wife to gain hers since she holds a valid passport. This is how I came to the conclusion that it would be by birth. Hopefully one of the RMAs was able to give you a clear and concise answer.

 

[marco_l]

Thank you wrussell, ampk and LordDee you guys are being so helpful!

I will send an E-Mail to the RMA for sure so I can get an "official" view.

LordDee your answer is very articulated and exhaustive in my opinion so we should be good.

 

[ampk]

I am not sure my 17 year old daughter would know she gained citizenship by application - she was only 2 when she got it.

 

[marco_l]

"[E]ffective on January 26, 1949 by the Nationality and Citizenship Act. Upon implementation, all persons who were born in Australia assumed Australian citizenship through naturalization…(By Birth)

However, after August 19, 1986 the automatic issuance of Australian citizenship was discontinued. Thereafter, Australian citizenship was only granted to a child by birth only if he was born in Australia to an Australian parent or a permanent resident…(By Birth if the aforementioned applied, otherwise by grant)

Australia's nationality laws were modified in 2007. The Australian Citizenship Act stated that as of July 1 2007, anyone applying for naturalization in Australia was expected to have legal permanent resident status for at least 4 years before they could qualify as an applicant for Australia's citizenship through naturalization. Immediately before applying, applicants are expected to have spent the last 12 months in Australia, good working knowledge of the English language, an understanding of the responsibilities and rights of being a citizen of Australia, continue residing in Australia on a permanent basis and not have been involved in any illegally activity during the period of permanent residency in Australia…(By Grant)

Persons who are exempt from the standard residency demands are: children born to former citizens of Australia…(By Birth)

Acquiring Australian citizenship by ancestry is possible under the condition that the applicant… was born to an Australian citizen at the time of birth…(By birth)

Children are not entitled to become citizens of Australia if the parent had lost his or her Australian citizenship prior to the child's birth…

The loss of Australian citizenship generally occurred whenever someone renounced his Australian citizenship upon the acquisition of a second nationality anytime between January 26, 1949 and April 4, 2002. Before November 22, 1984, a person was not deprived of Australian citizenship if he acquired a second citizenship (dual citizenship) while he was present in Australia, nor was his citizenship taken from him if it occurred as a result of another activity such as applying for a second passport or permanent residence in another country. These regulations were changed, however, in April 2002, when Australians became freely able of acquiring a second (dual) citizenship without having to lose theirs."

I'm guessing based on an approximation of your father-in-law's age, he was granted automatic citizenship by birth regardless of his parent's status, never lost his citizenship, which allowed for your wife to gain hers since she holds a valid passport. This is how I came to the conclusion that it would be by birth. Hopefully one of the RMAs was able to give you a clear and concise answer.

That's right LordDee, my father-in-law became an australian citizen by birth(born in australia) in 1935.He never lost citizenship throughout his life. My wife requested her australian citizenship by descent through our local embassy in Dublin in 1986 .The citizenship extraction paper states September 1986 is when citizenship was given to her.

 

[marco_l]

Any of the RMAs who post on this forum could put you on the right track.

If you send an email to; [email protected] I shall advise you how to deal with the mess.

I sent you an E-Mail to the above E-Mail address. Thanks again wrussell and let me know at your earliest convenience please.

 

[Doreen Sutton]

Hi guys and gals,

I hope someone found himself / herself in the same situation as me and can give me an answer about the sponsor eligibility for partner visa 309 from offshore.
The actual explanation as to whom is an legible sponsor on the immi.homeaffairs.gov.au wouldn't seem to leave any room for misunderstandings but to me it's not as straightforward as it may seem. A valid sponsor "must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen" that's exactly what is says.
My wife is an Australian citizen by descent (with an australian passport) but she's never resided in Australia before. She got her australian citizenship through her father who was born in australia and lived there for a short while before moving to Ireland. Our confusion arose when in the online sponsorship form (40SP) that my wife is filling out she can only see 2 options in terms of how she got australian citizenship. Option 1 is by birth and option 2 is by grant. Her citizenship would not fall into either one unless I'm missing something.

Now my question is whether she would be an eligible sponsor to me or not

Thank you to anyone who can help us with this.

wow!! i am exactly on the same boat...i answered by birth...no other choice...i have never resided in Australia also...