Harton and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

This matter concerned an application for citizenship by descent made by the Applicant, who was born in the United Kingdom in 1958. The Applicant's father was born in Australia in 1933. The dispute arose when a delegate of the Minister refused the Applicant's application for citizenship by descent, a decision which the Applicant sought to have reviewed by the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the Applicant's father was an Australian citizen at the time of the Applicant's birth, as required by subsection 16(2)(a) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth). The Respondent contended that the Applicant had not satisfied this requirement, citing evidence such as the Applicant's father declaring his nationality as "British England" on an incoming passenger card in 1965, his prolonged residence in the United Kingdom between 1939 and 1965, and the absence of confirmation from British authorities regarding his father's citizenship status. The delegate's refusal also highlighted difficulties in confirming the father's Australian citizenship without his Australian birth certificate and the potential for loss of citizenship under section 17 of the *Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948* (Cth) due to his extended period of residence overseas.

The Tribunal considered the evidence presented, including the Applicant's father's Australian birth in 1933 and his subsequent arrival in Australia in 1965. However, the Tribunal was not satisfied that the Applicant had discharged the onus of proving that his father was an Australian citizen at the time of the Applicant's birth. The Tribunal noted the lack of an Australian birth certificate for the father and the father's declaration of British nationality, which, coupled with his significant period of residence in the United Kingdom, created insufficient certainty regarding his citizenship status at the relevant time. Consequently, the Tribunal found that the Applicant did not meet the descent requirements under section 16(2)(a) of the Act.

The Tribunal affirmed the decision under review to refuse the Applicant's application for Australian citizenship by descent.