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Russell Crowe Citizenship Claims FALSE, Says Australia

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Australia’s Immigration Department appears to be somewhat puzzled over Russell Crowe’s claims that he’s not been given citizenship of his adopted home.

Earlier this week, New Zealand-born Crowe voiced his frustration at not being afforded citizenship of Australia, dubbing the move ‘unreasonable’.

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Crowe has lived in Australia since 1968, and has said that he’s ‘fallen between the cracks’, with claims he was rejected in 2006 and 2013.

But the Department of Immigration has said that as far as they know, he’s not applied for citizenship at all.

A written response from the department of immigration to the Sydney Morning Herald said: “According to Departmental records, Mr Crowe has not submitted an application for a permanent visa or for Australian citizenship.

“Should Mr Crowe apply for and be granted a permanent visa, there are a variety of options that he may use to meet the eligibility requirements, including the residence requirements.”

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There has indeed been some confusion around the subject, with some of Crowe’s movie work taking him out of the country for long periods of time, which may have found him ineligible. It’s also been previously reported that he became a citizen in 2006, but this seems not to be the case.

Meanwhile, the statement from the department in question does seem somewhat unequivocal.

Crowe told the Radio Times earlier this week: “No matter how long you’d been in the country, if you weren’t in Australia for the majority of 2000 to 2002 — when I was particularly busy filming overseas — you can’t become a citizen.

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"I’ve been voted one of Australia’s 50 national treasures. I’ve even had my face on an Australian stamp, the only non-Australian to do so, apart from the Queen, of course. It’s so, so…unreasonable.”

He did indeed appear on a stamp, the 55 cent back in 2010 in a series rather cheekily named ‘Australian Legends’, alongside the likes of Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush.

Never one to hold back, no doubt we’ll be hearing more from Mr Crowe on this…

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Image credits: Getty/AP