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Australia-Born Maltese Who Got Second Citizenship Before 2002 In Legal Limbo Due To Outdated Law

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If you are an Australian with dual, Maltese-Australian citizenship that was granted before 2002, you may be in legal limbo due to an outdated law.

This was the case for an Australian-born man, Matthew Niall, who got Irish citizenship more than 20 years ago.

However, on New Year’s Eve of 2022, the Department of Home Affairs informed him that he hasn’t been a citizen of Australia for the past two decades, because his second citizenship stripped him of his Australian one.

This is despite the fact that Niall has been using his Australian passport to vote in elections, travel and get citizenship for his son in 2008.

The legal limbo is due to an outdated law that stated that any adult Australians who gets second citizenship would automatically be stripped of their Australian one.

The law, which is now repealed, applied between November 1984 and April 2002.

While it is unclear how many people are affected by this legal limbo, at least 700 Australians a year were losing their citizenship when the law was active.

The government is facing pressure to solve this legal grey area.

While ex-citizens can apply for citizenship again, there is no guarantee that they will get it and the process can take months or years.

Do you know anyone that has been affected? Let us know at [email protected]

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Sam is a journalist, artist and writer based in Malta. Send her pictures of hands or need-to-know stories on politics or art on [email protected].

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