To qualify for an Australian passport, you must be an Australian citizen.
This page explains the documents you'll need to prove your citizenship when you apply for a new passport. You don't need to provide these documents if you're renewing your passport.
Changes to Australian citizenship laws on 20 August 1986 mean the documents we require depend on whether you were born:
in Australia before 20 August 1986
in Australia on or after 20 August 1986
overseas.
Birth certificates
Many options for proving your citizenship require you to provide a birth certificate.
As proof of citizenship, we only accept full, original Australian birth certificates that:
are issued by an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDM)
show parent or grandparent names.
Born in Australia before 20 August 1986
If you were born in Australia before 20 August 1986, you only need to provide your full birth certificate issued by an Australian RBDM.
Born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986
If you were born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986, you can prove your citizenship by providing one of the following:
If one of your parents was born in Australia before 20 August 1986, or they were an Australian citizen on the day you were born, you can prove your citizenship by showing us 2 documents.
Your own full Australian birth certificate and one of the following:
that parent's full Australian birth certificate, showing they were born in Australia before 20 August 1986
that parent's Australian passport, if it was issued on or after 20 August 1986, issued before you were born and valid for at least 2 years when it was issued
that parent's Australian citizenship certificate that shows citizenship was acquired before you were born.
If one of your parents was born in Australia on or after 20 August 1986, and you can’t provide any of the above, you’ll need to provide:
your own full Australian birth certificate
that parent's full Australian birth certificate.
You'll also need to show us one of the following:
a full Australian birth certificate of your parent’s parent (your grandparent) who was born in Australia before 20 August 1986
an Australian passport of your parent’s parent (your grandparent) issued on or after 20 August 1986, before your parent was born and valid for at least 2 years when issued
an Australian citizenship certificate of your parent’s parent (your grandparent) that shows they acquired citizenship before your parent was born.
We need to see a direct link between you and your parent, and you and your grandparent.
Sometimes the link isn’t clear from birth certificates. This may happen if you changed your name, or if your parent or grandparent changed theirs. If this is true in your case, you’ll also need to show us name change documents that prove these links.
If you identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and can't provide documents that prove your citizenship, an alternative process is available.
You can complete a B-19 form and submit it with your passport application if you:
don’t have a birth certificate
can’t get a late registration of birth
were born on or after 20 August 1986 and can’t present documents to prove your parents’ and/or grandparents’ Australian citizenship
have different names on your personal identification documents.
Completing a B-19 form means you won’t need to provide a citizenship certificate. Instead, we'll verify the information in the B-19 form to confirm both your identity and proof of your Australian citizenship.
In most cases, if you were born overseas, you must attend a citizenship ceremony before you can acquire citizenship. Once you attend an Australian citizenship ceremony, you should receive a citizenship certificate.
Provide your original Australian citizenship certificate with your application.
If you've been issued a citizenship certificate but can't provide it, ensure that you write your full name on your passport application form as it’s shown on your certificate.
If you know your citizenship certificate number or your Home Affairs client ID (CID) number, please provide that too.
