Australian citizenship by adoption in accordance with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption
Children adopted overseas to Australian citizens under full and permanent Hague Convention Intercountry Adoption arrangements may be registered as Australian citizens.
The eligibility requirements are:
- the adoption of the person must have been finalised outside Australia in accordance with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption
- at least one of the adoptive parents must be an Australian citizen
- the legal relationship between the applicant and the birth parents must have been terminated
- an adoption compliance certificate must have been issued
- the adoption must be recognised by the Commonwealth and/or States or Territories
and
- if the person is aged 18 years or over, the person must be of good character at the time of the decision on the application.
Although an applicant may be aged 18 years or over, the applicant’s adoption must have been agreed to by the adoption authorities of Australia and the other Convention country before the person turns 18.
If the applicant’s Australian citizen parent was an Australian citizen by descent, the applicant’s parent must have resided in Australia for a period of two years before the application is made.
An adoption compliance certificate is evidence that a 'full and permanent adoption' has occurred under the Hague Convention and the legal relationship between the adopted child and the birth parents has been severed.