Australian High Commission
New Delhi
India, Bhutan

Australian Citizenship

Australian Citizenship

From 1 October 2020, Citizenship by descent applications lodged in India will be processed in Australia

General Information

Australian Citizenship can be acquired in three ways - by descent, by birth or by conferral.

See: Citizenship by Descent

See: Citizenship by Birth

See: Citizenship by Conferral

Please forward all other enquiries to [email protected]

 

DNA sample collection

Form 1259i provides information about DNA testing for visa and citizenship applicants, including the availability of counselling.

If you wish to proceed with the DNA testing for your family, please contact a National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accredited laboratory that can satisfy the department’s testing requirements in an international context. A list of NATA-accredited DNA testing laboratories can be found under ‘Forensic Science’, ‘Parentage testing’ on the NATA website

Once you have chosen a NATA-accredited laboratory in Australia, you will need to schedule an appointment with the doctor in your region for DNA sample collection.

DNA sample collection is done in one of the below premises for the region:

New Delhi

Dr. (Ms) Malkit Law

Sadhu Vaswani Mission

Medical Centre

4/27 Shantiniketan

New Delhi - 110021

Phone: +91 11 24111562/ 24114316/ 24111693

 

Nepal

IOM, Kathmandu

768/5 Thirbam Sadak

Baluwater – 5

Kathmandu

(Next to Russian embassy)

Phone: +977 1 4417219/ 4429599/ 4414946

 

Bangladesh

Dr.Billal Hossein

Migration Health Physician

IOM-Migration Health Assessment Clinic

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

House 13/A, Road 136, Gulshan-1, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh

Phone: +880-2-55044811 - 13(Ext-228)| Fax: +88-02-55044818 - 19

Email: [email protected] and [email protected]

Web: www.iom.org.bd

 

Surrogacy

Australia’s International Obligations

As a party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, Australia is committed to protecting the fundamental rights of children. These Conventions include obligations to prevent the abduction, sale or trafficking of children.

While Australia does not have obligations toward children who are not within its jurisdiction, extreme caution is exercised in cases involving surrogacy arrangements entered into overseas to ensure that Australia's citizenship provisions are not used to circumvent adoption laws and other child welfare laws. 

 

Surrogacy in India and Nepal is illegal for foreign nationals

India

Indian surrogacy laws make it illegal for foreign intended parents to complete a surrogacy in India. The ban on foreign intended parents in 2015 was only the start of legislation regulating surrogacy. In September 2019, an Indian surrogacy bill was passed again that proposed on permitting only Indian heterosexual couples married for at least five years with infertility problems to access altruistic or unpaid surrogacy and thereby banning commercial surrogacy.

 

Nepal

Surrogacy was ceased by the Nepal Supreme Court on 25 August 2015 and the practice was formally banned on 18 September 2015. The Supreme Court’s final verdict announced on 12 December 2016 made surrogacy legal for infertile Nepali married couples, but illegal for single men or women, transgender couples, and foreign nationals.

 

Exit permit

Once the child has been issued an Australian passport you will need to obtain an Indian exit permit from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO). Please refer to the FRRO website for details. You can apply for the Exit Permit (EP) online