Summary heading

PP4/1 – British migrant selection documents, single number series

Function and purpose

This series comprises applications for assisted passage to Australia under the United Kingdom and Australian Government agreement. The form of application is completed by the applicant in the United Kingdom and returned to the Chief Migration Officer, London.  A medical examination is then arranged, and if satisfactory, the applicant is interviewed and a recommendation is made as to the applicant’s suitability as a migrant.  Documents for successful applicants are forwarded to the Immigration Department office in the state in which the migrant intends to reside at their time of departure. 

On form L.E.M. 2 the applicant is required to show: full name, postal address, nearest railway station, date and place of birth if not born in the United Kingdom, date of arrival, nationality, marital status, height, weight, accompanying dependants, name and address of next of kin, full particulars of civilian employment, proposed occupation, financial position, and a series of questions regarding proposed accommodation and travel.

Physical characteristics

Each migrant’s application documents contain a selection of forms which vary from item to item. However, all applicants have at least a 2 page double sided form which has four main sections – personal and service particulars documenting the personal particulars of the migrant and any dependants and their military service history if applicable; civilian employment history; migrant’s declaration and certification and approval by the Ministry of Labour and National Service. All applications also include form K – Medical Examination form which sets out the applicant’s medical history and approval by the Chief Migration Officer, Australia House.

Other documents that may also be found include radiologist’s report, clearances for return to the United Kingdom, Document of Identity, and an approval letter stating migrant has been selected for a particular occupation in a particular Australian state.

System of arrangement and control

The records were maintained in alphabetical order by surname of the intending migrant while in use within the agency. This has been preserved upon transfer to the Archives, however a numerical system of control has been imposed as the primary control system in order to aid retrieval. 

Relationships with other records

This series is part of a larger group of records that document the permanent migration of individuals to Australia. This group includes medical examination forms, migrant selection documents, nominal rolls and passenger cards. See series links for individual series numbers.

Finding aids

As all migrant selection documents in this series have been entered into the RecordSearch database, a form relating to a particular person(s) can be retrieved by keyword search in RecordSearch (limiting search by Series No PP4/1). 

Additional information

The following data was keyed from the paper documentation:

Form number:                           CA 17

Creating department:                 Immigration (West Australian Administration), General Division, Records

Transferring department:           Immigration, General Division, Records

Date of transfer:                        15/07/1957

Archives file number:                 RWP28/1/4