SEAndy

Hi,

I was granted a Permanent Residency (subclass 136) visa in 2007. As I get closer to the 5 year visa period I will need to apply for a Resident Return Visa. I was wondering about the 2 year rule, to be elegible for a RRV. Does it for instance need to be 2 consecutive years of just 2 years in total of the 5 year frame?

The reason I'm asking is that I do extensive travelling for work. With up to 200 travel days per year internationally, I'm concerned that I may have problems when I need to apply for a RRV visa after the 5 year period.

If there a requirement to physically be present on Australian soil for the "2-year" qualifying period, to be elegible for a Resident Return Visa?

Thanks,
Andy

welshtony

2 years aggregate in the previous 5 years - concessions available if you have close ties of benefit to Australia e.g. you work for Australian company and are paying Australian tax and are absent for work reasons .

Regards


Tony Coates
MARN 0635896

JAJ

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/968i.pdf

You should have no problem getting a 5 year RRV if you have a total of 730 days in Australia, or if you have "substantial ties".

A bigger problem is citizenship ... 200 days out per year will, if sustained, likely mean you're never eligible for Australian citizenship. Is that a problem?

If you have a spouse and spouse becomes an Australian citizen, you may have an alternative route to citizenship.

SEAndy

Thanks for your replies.

I will likely cut down own travel after a few years so I'll eventuelly spend more time psysically in the country.

Citizenship is something I definately would like to apply for, however as long as I get 5 year RRV - that would allow me to make/change plans in accordance to the citizenship requirements during the next 5 year P.R timeframe. I will certainly have 3-4 years of tax returns in AU during my initial 5 year P.R period. So I gather this might count as "Substansial ties" (and work reasons) when applying for the RRV even though I might just have, say for instance, 5-600 days in total in Australia(?)

Thanks again,
Andy

JAJ

It might. But you can never be sure in advance, except that they must follow policy and if you apply onshore for an RRV (if you are still a permanent resident at that point) you can appeal to the Migration Review Tribunal.

They only ever look at substantial ties if there is less than 730 days. 730+ days and they have to grant the visa regardless.

Bear in mind the RRV rules could be changed at any time.

When did you first enter Australia on your 136 visa? If it was before 1 July 2007, you might be able to make a concessional case for citizenship under the 2 year rule. Unfortunately, that becomes near-impossible under the 4 year rule.

madankumars

what does a "concessional case" mean? i am on a similar boat and i'd like to know what my options are...

JAJ

Concessional case : where the 2 years in 5 rule is not met. Did you read form 968i?