Who can apply
Dual and multiple citizenship: what Australian law allows since 2002
Enter the year you took another nationality to see whether your Australian citizenship survived, then check whether you can resume it.
Independent, non-government site: tests, applications and appointments are handled only on the Home Affairs website.
Did I lose my Australian citizenship?
Your Australian citizenship
Probably lost then
| Dual citizenship allowed from | 4 April 2002 |
| If lost before that date | resumption, $255 |
| Other country’s law | check it separately |
Taking another citizenship as an adult before 4 April 2002 ended Australian citizenship in most cases.
Australia allows dual and multiple citizenship. Since 4 April 2002, an Australian citizen who becomes a citizen of another country keeps Australian citizenship, and a migrant who becomes Australian by conferral is not required by Australia to give up the nationality they already hold; whether the other country lets them keep it depends on its own law. Before that date, section 17 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 ended the citizenship of any Australian aged 18 or over who took action to acquire another nationality, at the moment they acquired it. Many people lost citizenship that way without knowing, and their children may have lost it too. Most of them can apply to resume citizenship on form 132, which costs $255 on form 1298i of July 2026 (the Home Affairs resumption page still shows $210), with no test and no ceremony. Children born to a parent who lost citizenship before 4 April 2002 have a separate route by conferral without the residence requirement.
Can I become an Australian citizen again?
Resumption
Open to you
| Fee | $255 |
| Form | 132 |
| Ceremony | not required |
Questions, dates and fees by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How questions and dates are built
Before and after 4 April 2002
| Event | Before 4 April 2002 | Since then |
|---|---|---|
| An adult Australian acquires another nationality by their own action | Australian citizenship ends on acquisition | Australian citizenship kept |
| A migrant becomes Australian by conferral | may keep the first nationality if that country allows | same |
| A person who lost citizenship wants it back | the loss itself happened in this period | resumption, form 132, $255 |
The change came when section 17 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 was repealed on 4 April 2002. Home Affairs puts it simply: since then, Australian citizens can acquire another citizenship without losing their Australian one, and a dual citizen is someone who holds the citizenship of two or more countries. Nothing in Australian law limits the number of nationalities a citizen may hold.
Who lost citizenship under section 17
The old rule caught Australians who were aged 18 or over and took a positive step to acquire another nationality: an application for naturalisation abroad, for example, often made for work or family reasons. Citizenship ended on the day the other nationality was granted. The wording looked at a positive act to acquire the other nationality, so people who held two nationalities from birth were not in the same position. If you are unsure, the tool above gives a first answer from the year and your age at the time; the department makes the final assessment.
Getting it back: resumption
Former citizens in the following groups can apply to resume citizenship: those who lost it by acquiring another nationality as adults before 4 April 2002; those who renounced it to keep or acquire another nationality; those who renounced it to avoid significant hardship or detriment; those whose citizenship was revoked as children when a responsible parent’s ceased; and some citizens by registration or naturalisation who lost it by living outside Australia and New Guinea for seven years in a row between 26 January 1949 and 8 October 1958.
Can I become an Australian citizen again?
Resumption
Open to you
| Fee | $255 |
| Form | 132 |
| Ceremony | not required |
Resumption uses a paper form, posted with documents and payment. There is no age limit, no test, no residence requirement and no ceremony; citizenship begins again on registration and the certificate arrives by post. The fee on form 1298i is $255, and children under 16 on the same form as a responsible parent pay nothing. The resumption page lists the evidence for each group.
Children of former citizens
A person born to a parent who lost Australian citizenship before 4 April 2002 can apply by conferral without meeting the residence requirement, does not sit the citizenship test and is not required to attend a ceremony. Proof of the parent’s former citizenship and of the date it was lost goes with the application. This is a separate route from descent, which needs a parent who was a citizen on the birth date.
Checking a family history
A section 17 loss can come to light years later, for example when someone applies for a passport, or when a child applies by descent and the parent’s status on the birth date is questioned. The facts that decide it are dates: the day the person turned 18, the day they applied for the other nationality and the day it was granted. The other country’s naturalisation certificate or grant letter usually carries the grant date. Home Affairs asks descent applicants to send proof of any other nationality held by the Australian parent, such as a certificate or letter showing when and how it was obtained, precisely so it can check whether that parent was still Australian when the child was born.
A child born overseas after a parent lost citizenship under section 17 cannot apply by descent through that parent, because the parent was not a citizen on the birth date. That child may instead use the conferral route for children of former citizens described above, and the parent may resume citizenship. Old Australian records, such as school or employment files, can be traced through the National Archives of Australia.
Children of dual citizens
A dual citizen passes on Australian citizenship exactly as any other citizen does. A child born in Australia to a dual citizen parent is a citizen at birth; a child born overseas can apply by descent on form 118. Holding a second nationality, even from the country where the child is born, does not reduce that right, although a parent who is a citizen by descent must first have spent 2 years lawfully in Australia. The child may also hold the other country’s nationality, depending on that country’s law, and so be a dual citizen from birth.
Living as a dual citizen
Our Common Bond reminds new citizens that even a person who is also a citizen of another country must follow all Australian laws while in Australia, and that some Australian laws apply to citizens overseas as well. Australian citizens are free to return to Australia without a visa; a citizen who leaves without an Australian passport travels on another passport and, Home Affairs warns, needs a valid visa to come back on it. Getting an Australian passport soon after the ceremony avoids that problem. Our Common Bond also lists consular help from an Australian official overseas among the privileges of citizenship.
Giving up a nationality
Some people need to give up Australian citizenship to keep or take another, because the other country does not allow dual nationality. Renunciation needs form 128 and costs $320 on form 1298i (the give up page still shows $205); applicants aged 18 or over must already hold, or be about to receive, another citizenship, because renunciation may not leave anyone stateless. People who renounce for that reason can later apply to resume. The renunciation page sets out the steps and the ex-citizen visa that follows.