ptlabs

The amendments to the Citizenship Act has been introduced in Parliament.

More here:
http://www.citizenship.gov.au/citz_bill_2005/index.htm

Peter

Jonahs_mummy

Thanks Peter
So they finally decided on 3 yrs then?

Pollyana

And what a surprise! They will make concessions for spouses of Aussie citizens.......that don't live in Australia!

Wonderful. Thanks a bunch.

The longer I live here the more I wonder why the heck I moved. This country obviously doesn't want me, so I shall hoist the Union Flag in the garden and sod the lot of them.

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Quote from Peter's link:

13. I am the spouse of an Australian citizen? What does the new Act mean for me?
The new Act requires that spouses of Australian citizens meet the same criteria as other adult applicants for citizenship. This reflects current policy.

However, a discretion is being introduced to waive part or all of the residence requirements for the spouse of an Australian citizen who can demonstrate a close connection with Australia. Associated with this new discretion, a new provision enables the approval of such applications where the spouse is outside Australia.

In addition, the definition of spouse will include a de-facto spouse where the spouse entered Australia as the de facto spouse of the Australian citizen

ShozInOz

Does anyone have any idea how long this will take to get through Parliament? I assume it has to go through the Houses of Representatives and the Senate, then given Royal Assent. Are we talking days, weeks or months?

ptlabs

It all depends. You can rush the bill through both houses in a matter of days at a cost of A$50,000.

Peter

wmoore

Hey Polly, I think you might have mis-read that. I take it as "... there is a waiver for those who can prove close ties to Australia ..." and then a seperate, extra provision "... for those outside Australia...".

You can certainly prove the close ties to Aus! It will certainly be worth checking out anyway once it gets passed.

JAJ

Not really a surprise - but if you read the details you'll see this isn't going to apply to many cases. One of the situations mentioned is where the Australia spouse is working for an international organisation (en UN).

There's a separate discretion in place for temporary residents in Australia who may be able to get a 1 year credit against the new 3 year requirement.

The legislation will be underpinned by policy documents detailing how discretion is to be exercised. These are not part of the Bill (as policy can be changed anytime as long as it's consistent with the legislation).


Jeremy

Pollyana

It does seem to indicate though that a spouse has to prove "hardship" before the waiver comes into play.
And as has been said before, how on earth this load of tosh will prevent terrorism, beats me!

JAJ

This is where there's obviously total confusion. The discretion that many spouses should be able to use is the one in s22(7) of the Bill which is not spouse-specific:

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(7) The Minister may treat a period not exceeding 12 months as one in which the person was present in Australia as a permanent resident if:
(a) the person was engaged in activities during that period that the Minister considers to be beneficial to Australia; and
(b) the person was present in Australia during that period (except as a permanent resident or an unlawful non-citizen).
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This will not just cover temporary spouse visa holders, but also former holders of SIR, 457, temporary business migrant etc. We don't know what the exact policy underlying it will be, but note that unlike many of the other concessions, "significant hardship or disadvantage" is *not* required legally.



Jeremy

tabby

My SIL is married to a Aussie since Jan 05 and has been living in Aus since Apr 05, does this mean she has to wait 2 years then apply for a PR visa and then wait 3 year for Citizenship????

JAJ

You need to be more precise if you want a meaningful answer. What kind of visa has she currently got - temporary or permanent?




Jeremy

tabby

Sorry Jeremy. She is on a Spouse Visa, temporary for 2 yrs......

Pollyana

She will get a letter from DIMIA when it is almost 2 years since she applied for the temp visa - she doesn't need to contact them, as long she keeps them unpdated with her current address, they will contact her.
She will then be granted PR ( as long as the rel'ship is continuing!) and will then have to wait the 3 years - same as me, I get PR at the end of Feb and can then start counting the 3 years.