Kiwis urged to register

Press, 9 February 1989, Page 12

Kiwis urged to register

By

JOHN HUTCHISON,

in San Francisco

New Zealand families in the United States who want their children to be New Zealanders must register them properly at consulates before they reach the age of 22. That advice is contained in a printed notice being distributed here. Provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it urges “Keep your children in touch with their Whakapapa. Register them now." The notice opens with a greeting .in

Maori but is otherwise in English. It appears to have been intended for primary use in Australia, cautioning that children born there who are not of Australian parentage do not automatically have Australian citizenship and can therefore be stateless if not registered. The law is different in the United States, which regards any person born here to be an American citizen. United States law does not recognise dual citizenship. l|fte New Zealand

American Association here has sent the notice to its members. It is one of the very few channels through which New Zealanders can be reached in the consular district, which stretches from Alaska to the Mexican border and from Hawaii to Colorado. The Vice-Consul, Rama Durie, explained in Los Angeles that New Zealanders resident in the United States were not required to record themselves at the consulategeneral and that few: did so. £ ■ v