MartaaJ

Hi All,

I just found this awesome forum and wanted to ask a very important question.
As it is my first post here, please take it easy on me. Thanking you all in advance.

I will be eligible to apply for my Australian citizenship in 3 weeks. I was wondering if it is possible to get an urgent ceremony and test date as I need to go to my home country for an unknown period of time.

The reason for that is my father is very sick. He had an Open Heart Surgery around 10 years ago. he was OK until last week when he felt some chest pain and went to his doctor. They are saying he may need another surgery soon but nothing has been confirmed yet.

I really don't know if I go back to my home country how long I will need to stay there for him. My mom has passed away when I was 13 and my dad has no one who can take care of him . On the other hand I don't want to lose the chance of my citizenship as my whole life is here after living in this beautiful country for the last 10 years. I really want to come back.

I can definitely get a letter from his doctor confirming his situation and translate it to English for immigration as a supporting document.

However all my dilemma right now is Immigration does not consider my situation urgent and ask me to travel to my home country on my current passport.

Please Please let me know what you think and if there is anything I can do in this regard . This situation is giving me many sleepless nights at the moment.

Thank you all very much.

Dorothy

You can get a 5 year RRV and travel on your current passport. That gives you up to 5 years to come and go.

If DIBP doesn't think your situation is urgent then it's unlikely you'll get an expidited test date and ceremony. Honestly, I don't see your situation as all that urgent, either. You're a permanent resident of Australia, you've lived here for 10 years so obviously have strong ties so should be eligible for a 5 year RRV. Why do you need citizenship so urgently?

drizzcool

I agree. Going to get citizenship is definitely not the way if you need to quickly get out of the country for an unknown period of time, but it needs to be under 5 years if you're going to get a Resident Return Visa (RRV). It can usually be processed within one working day.