Bitish citizenship by descent

[EiBaW]

Hi there! My partner and I are planning to move to the UK within the next year & I was just looking at my options as to what to apply for in regard to visas, citizenship etc. I know definitely that I have access to an Ancestry Visa as my paternal grandfather was born in London & was a citizen. My main question is if I have citizenship or not. I've listed some details as frankly I've looked for hours online & I know there's a lot of ifs & buts but I just thought I'd get a bit more perspective.

My grandfather was born in London & moved to Australia at 18months old.
He served in the military between 1939-1945 but he was discharged at some point as his father fell ill & was a farmer which counted as essential services to the war effort.

My father was born in 1944 in Australia & has British citizenship. What I'm unclear on is if this is by descent or otherwise. He worked with Australia Post for 41 years & was there when I was born in 1987. I'm unsure if this counts as Crown Service regardless of his by descent or otherwise status. I've found articles that state that public utilities under a colonial government are included. Again this is unclear as Australia became a dominion in 1949.

Any help would be appreciated as I am immensely confused. My grandfather isn't here anymore & my father thinks he had already been discharged at his birth but the NAA National Records don't specify, only that he served between those dates which included Dad's birth. Thanks in advance!

[JAJ]

Presumably your grandfather served in the Australian military.

Australia was a dominion long before 1949 (1901). It was not included as a colony in the British Nationality Act 1948. The kind of "Crown Service" in Australia that would be eligible would be if someone was recruited in the civil service or military in the United Kingdom or a colony (example- Bermuda) and then sent to Australia on official duties.

Based on everything posted, your father appears to be British by descent and you do not appear to have a claim to British citizenship. All that said- it's not necessarily a bad thing. It is actually easier in many cases to bring a partner to the United Kingdom as a dependent on an ancestry visa rather than on a spouse visa. The wait time for permanent residence (Indefinite Leave to Remain) is 5 years either way and you should both be able to apply for naturalisation after another year or so, assuming current laws stay in place.