JAJ

Unfortunately the answer to your question is based on some extremely complicated definitions in the Citizenship Act (different from the Migration Act).

A validated visa should be ok, an offshore granted visa may be, we'll have to see.

macker

Thanks JaJ for that. Any idea when it should be sorted?? Maybe after January?

Pollyana

How long is the proverbial piece of string?

sa2oz

We applied on Sunday for citizenship online. 2 years to the day.
Does anybody know how long it takes? I see in the application the quetion is asked if you are leaving Australia in the next year and for what reason. The site also says it can take up to 9 months, but I would not think that in most circumstances it will take any where near that long to be asked to attend an interview and then get comunication about a ceremony.
I was hoping it can be done before I need to go on a short trip in May next year and travel on a new passport.
Jan 26 07 would be good. : )

JAJ

It's already there in the draft legislation if you would like to read it for yourself.

JAJ

1. They cannot approve your application (normally) when you are offshore.
2. If you are planning to leave Australia permanently, your application can be refused.

sa2oz

I am currently in Australia and have been for 2 years. I am going on a 10 to 14 day trip in May 2007 and then will be back. We are here for the long stay.

That is why I was hoping it could happen sooner rather than later. It is not a problem either way, we will wait it out and postpone. There is afamily that has applied and want us to be at the same ceremony. I just dont want to impact their citizenship with delays.

sa2oz

I have found out from other applicants it takes about 3 weeks to get the letter requesting an interview provided all the info is as per the visa application

Pollyana

Remember that if you become a citizen before the UK trip, then you will need an Aus passport to travel on

ptlabs

And you don't become a citizen legally until you've taken the pledge at your citizenship ceremony, which in some local government areas may take months to arrange.

Peter

JAJ

Although citizenship ceremonies should normally be no more than 3 months after approval of application. This is DIMA policy.

>40

Dear JAJ and everybody else,

After looking through the official documents related the new Australian Citizenship Bill 2006 (renamed from ...2005) after it has passed the House of Representatives on November 28, I have come to the following conclusions:

- Under the NEW bill, a person granted an offshore permanent visa only becomes a permanent resident after the visa has been validated [Australian Citizenship Bill 2006, section 5(1)(b)(ii): "the person has previously been present in Australia and held a permanent visa immediately before last leaving Australia"].

- A person that is a permanent resident according to the OLD Citizenship Bill (1948) at the time the new bill commences, and applies for citizenship within three years after the new bill commences, satisfies the residence requirement if he/she has been present in Australia as permanent resident for a total of 1 year in the 2-year period before applying, and a total of 2 years in the 5-year period before applying [Australian Citizenship (Transitionals and Consequentials) Bill 2006, section 5B].

- The possibility under the OLD Citizenship Bill to count time outside Australia, engaged in activities considered beneficial to the interests of Australia, towards fulfilling the residency requirement will not be available after the new bill commences. Instead of referring to the rules of the old bill in general under the 3-year period after the new bill starts, the new rules are specifically listed as described above [Australian Citizenship (Transitionals and Consequentials) Bill 2006, section 5B].

- Under the OLD bill, a person granted an offshore permanent visa directly becomes a permanent resident [Australian Citizenship Bill 1948, section 5A(d): "in relation to a period during which the person was not present in Australia, if the person was, during that period: (i) the holder of, or deemed to be included in: (A) a valid visa that is in a class of visas prescribed for the purposes of this sub-subparagraph or a return endorsement that was in force"].

As I am quite new to this, I very much welcome any comments on my conclusions. Especially the last one I am quite uncertain about as these paragraphs of the old bill were a bit hard to follow. By the way, I accessed all the official documents from the website http://www.aph.gov.au/house

bjbrian

Did I miss this.
Quote: "after it has passed the House of Representatives on November 28, I have come to the following conclusions:"


I thought it was held off til next year.

Is it coming in January 2007 or not....

Would really like to know.

Brian.

john_w

I thought it was 1st July 2007???????????????

>40

In addition to being passed by the House of Representatives, the new Citizenship Bill also has to be passed by the Senate before it can come into effect. As I understand it, the bill was introduced in the Senate on November 30 but the discussion was later adjourned until the first day of the next period of sittings. According to the parliament schedule, this means early February.

That the bill would commence before that (e.g. on Australia Day as has been suggested earlier) is therefore no longer possible. Because July 1, 2007 has been mentioned on DIMA's homepage for the last couple of weeks, that commencement date is my own best bet at the moment, although in principle it can be earlier than that.

Although changes to the bill itself are still possible until it is passed by the Senate, I personally doubt that there will be any, or at least no major ones.

Sources:
http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/...:2006-12-01%3B
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/info/sit...2007/index.htm
http://www.citizenship.gov.au/law-an...6-announce.htm