Becoming an Aussie

This past week I began the process of establishing Ezekiel's Aussie citizenship and getting him a passport. As he was born overseas this meant I had to fill in a form proving he was eligible to be an Aussie (ie. because his mother is), get an official English translation of his Arabic birth certificate, have his identity 'verified' and, of course, pay a fee. None of this was especially difficult, just time consuming. In the end we received his Citizenship Certificate which meant we were then able to apply for a passport.

Ezekiel's Citizenship by Descent certificate

As I write this his passport is in processing, and then the next step will be to deal with the local authorities and get an Egyptian visa. As soon as possible after that, we will be on a plane to Australia to see the family.

The hardest part of this whole process was probably getting the photo. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a photo of a baby's face where they are awake, looking at the camera, eyes open, no pacifier/dummy, and nobody holding their head straight and still????? Thank God for digital cameras. We took a gazillion photos and finally got one that fit all the criteria.

Ezekiel's passport photo - he has already changed so much since this was taken 2 weeks ago.