My child is an Australian citizen

My child is an Australian citizen, do I have to get an Australian passport for him or her?

The Australian authorities have a requirement that Australian citizens must leave and enter Australia on Australian passports. As the child is an Australian citizen he or she would be required to leave and enter Australia on an Australian passport. If the child travels on an Irish passport, problems may be faced in leaving Australia, and great difficulties arise in re-entering Australia. We therefore strongly advise parents to apply for an Australian passport for their child as soon as practicable as it can take some weeks to gather all the documentation and process the application.

Citizenship Certificate

The Australian Passport Office requires that where both parents are permanent residents (not Australian citizens) the child’s passport application must be accompanied by a citizenship certificate. Citizenship certificates have to be applied for through the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and can take up to 21 days to issue.

The Australian Passport Office advises that parents should not book travel until they have both the citizenship certificate and the passport. In the case of emergency travel (death or serious illness of a loved one) you should call the Australian Passport Office on 131232 to explain your situation. The Consulate in Sydney is not in a position to intervene in the Australian passport process.

Applying for an Irish passport

Both Ireland and Australia allow for dual nationality. If your child is an Irish citizen (born to a parent who was born in Ireland), you can also apply for an Irish passport for him or her. You can find details on how to apply on the 'passports for children' section of our website.

However, parents should note that the Consulate does not have authority to issue emergency passports to first time child applicants. You should therefore apply for the passport in good time.