Tony

Does anyone know how this works..

I understand that if you are married to an Australian, after 2ys you can get
citizenship.

If you then leave the country for a long time, do you keep your citizenship?


Thanks

shecha

Hi Tony,
I've checked on this and we are waiting for hubbies spouse visa to come through. I'm a duel UK/Ozzie Citizen.
We've been advised that my hubbie can apply for citizenship after 1 year due to us having a son, or if no children then you wait 2 years.
Once you've been granted Citizenship, you don't lose your UK Citizenship either and become duel Citizenship like me.
Once you've been granted citizenship I don't think you lose it regardless of where you live after that.
There's further advice on this on the DIMIA site.

Good luck.

JAJ

I don't know where you heard that, but spouses normally have to wait 2 full years for citizenship as a permanent resident in Australia - whether they have children or not.

Only in *exceptional* circumstances can citizenship be obtained sooner than 2 years. Form 1027i has the details:
http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1027i.pdf

In the next year, the position for spouses *might* become a little easier depending on how the Government's reform proposals work out. Details are not yet available, but there may be extra concessions for spouses.

Correct - once you have citizenship you do not lose it by living overseas.
I'd use the Citizenship website rather than the main DIMIA site as a reference
http://www.citizenship.gov.au


Jeremy

shecha

Hi Jeremy,

I know that spouse visas are normally temp for 2 yrs and then you apply for a perm one, however, if you have a child/children, the 2 yr wait to apply for perm visa is reduced to 1yr.
Once you have a perm visa I was told you can then apply for citizenship immediately - but this could be wrong after looking at the citizenship site.
I'm now even more confused, I'm not sure now whether you have to be living in Oz for 2 years b4 applying for citizenship, regardless of the visa type you have (temp or perm) or whether you can only apply after 2 years of being on a perm visa only????????

JAJ

I can see where you've become confused. You are mixing up the requirements for citizenship and the requirements to get a permanent visa directly as a spouse applicant without having to spend two years on a temporary visa.

The criteria to get the permanent visa as a spouse straight away are explained in the Partner migration booklet. As of time of application, you need to have been together 5 years - or if there is a child of the relationship, it's 2 years.


It's wrong. You need two years in Australia as a permanent resident to apply for citizenship. Time on a temporary visa does not normally count.


Effectively it depends on the type of spouse visa you get. If you get the temp visa you spend two years on that, and then another two years on the permanent visa before you can get citizenship. So effectively 4 years. The Government may legislate next year to bring this time period for spouses down a little, but that's the way it is currently.

If you get a permanent visa straight away, it's two years.

So if you're marginal on the criteria to be a 'long term relationship' it may well be worth doing some planning to apply at the right time to be in line for a PR visa at the start. Not only do you get citizenship quicker, but there are other disadvantages of the temp visa. For example, although you do have work rights as far as DIMIA are concerned, many employers (especially for better jobs) are somewhat reluctant to hire people who don't have citizenship or PR.

If still confused after reading the material again - get some professional advice.

Jeremy

Tony

Thanks for the info.


"shecha" <member26966@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
    > > Does anyone know how this works..
    > >
    > > I understand that if you are married to an Australian, after 2ys you
    > > can get
    > > citizenship.
    > >
    > > If you then leave the country for a long time, do you keep your
    > > citizenship?
    > >
    > >
    > > Thanks
    > Hi Tony,
    > I've checked on this and we are waiting for hubbies spouse visa to come
    > through. I'm a duel UK/Ozzie Citizen.
    > We've been advised that my hubbie can apply for citizenship after 1 year
    > due to us having a son, or if no children then you wait 2 years.
    > Once you've been granted Citizenship, you don't lose your UK Citizenship
    > either and become duel Citizenship like me.
    > Once you've been granted citizenship I don't think you lose it
    > regardless of where you live after that.
    > There's further advice on this on the DIMIA site.
    > Good luck.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

madankumars

Isnt there an amendment in the Citizenship Act that allows counting upto 12 months on a temp. visa in which u were contributing to the country's economy?

i was in australia on a 457 visa for 3.5 years until dec '03.

if i go back to australia within a year or so from now, wont i be eligible to apply for citizenship after 1 year?

JAJ

You'll need to see exactly what the Government does - the legislation has not been introduced yet. And any change is unlikely to in be in force until mid 2005.

Jeremy

shecha

Cheers Jeremy,
Thanks for your advice on the Citizenship thing.
Also we've had good news - hubby had phone call from AHC in London saying spouse visa will be granted as soon as we provide details of our sons passport. Should take about 10 days.
House up for sale and as soon as sold we'll be off.
Cheers again for your advice - its much appreciated!!!