Ref No: MC22-053044

Mr Thomas Osburg
tjosburg@gmail.com

Dear Mr Osburg

Thank you for your correspondence of 9 October 2022 to the Minister for Immigration,
Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, the Hon Andrew Giles MP, concerning revoking
Mr Jiuming Zhou’s Australian citizenship. The Minister appreciates the time you have
taken to bring this matter to his attention and has asked that I reply on his behalf.

For privacy reasons I am unable to provide you with specific information in relation to
Mr Zhou. However, I am able to provide you with general information on the revocation
provisions within the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (the Act).

There are limited circumstances in which a person's Australian citizenship may be

revoked, as set out in the Act. These circumstances are where the person:
 is convicted of migration fraud that led to the person becoming an Australian citizen; or
 is convicted of citizenship fraud; or acquires citizenship through third party fraud; or
 is found to have committed an offence prior to becoming a citizen for which they are
convicted after becoming a citizen, or
 is found to have engaged in terrorism related conduct.

After one or more of these conditions is satisfied, the Minister must then be satisfied that it
is contrary to the public interest for the person to remain an Australian citizen to revoke
their citizenship.

Other than for terrorism offences, there is no provision within the Act that enables the
Minister to revoke a person’s Australian citizenship where that person was born in
Australia or where the person commits a serious offence after they have acquired
Australian citizenship by application. This is in keeping with a long-standing principle of
citizenship that once a person becomes a citizen they have the same citizenship status as
a person who acquired citizenship by virtue of their birth in Australia.

It should also be noted that under the Act, revocation on the basis of a serious offence is
prevented where doing so would render a person stateless. The stateless prohibition was
inserted by the Australian Government to align Australia’s citizenship laws with its
international obligations under the 1961 United Nations Convention on the Reduction of
Statelessness.

4 National Circuit Barton ACT 2600

PO Box 25 Belconnen ACT 2616 • Telephone: 02 6264 1111 • www.homeaffairs.gov.au
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Australian citizens, whether by application or by birth, who commit serious offences

against the law are held fully accountable for their actions and are dealt with appropriately
through Australian courts of law.

Your correspondence has been forwarded to the appropriate area of the Department for
consideration.

Thank you for raising this matter with the Minister.

Yours sincerely

Tanya Findlay
Director
Citizenship Operations
Citizenship Program Delivery Branch

9 November 2022