The day before I left the country I phone the Australian Iimmigration department to confirm the info I got from their website that told me I would be able to leave and then re-enter Australia on my British passport, as I do not have an Australian passport. The lady on the phone told me flat out that it is illegal for an Australian citizen (which I am) to leave the country on a non-Australian passport. We spoke for a while, and she gradually changed her mind and told me that the department preferred citizens to leave on an Australian passport. I asked what would happen if I tried to reenter the country as an Australian citizen on my British passport, and she told me she did not know and that I should phone the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Long story short, they told me to talk to the Passport Office, who told me to speak to the immigration department, who told me to get an Australian passport. But apparent you can not get them at 4 PM the day before you are leaving the country. So I gave up. After all those hassles the customs people on the way out of the country were very polite and helpful, and told me that there would not be any issues when I returned. So I should be able to get back into my country.

This entry was posted on Thursday June 1st, 2006 at 2:36 am and is filed under From afar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.