The Liberal government seems to be overhauling everything and anything with the word “Immigration” attached. Just when we all thought it couldn’t get any more interesting, changes to the Australian Citizenship requirements as well as general eligibility were announced!
By way of background, initial discussions earlier this year seemed to indicate that the proposed changes to Australian citizenship eligibility would likely be implemented at some stage this year. These changes were originally scheduled to come into effect on or around December 2017. We now have access to new citizenship requirements which are published on the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s website with immediate effect.
Changes include:
- Increasing the general residence requirement, which means an applicant for Australian citizenship will need to demonstrate a minimum of four years permanent residence immediately prior to their application for citizenship
- Introducing an English language test, which means applicants will need to demonstrate competent English language listening, speaking, reading and writing skills before being able to sit the citizenship test
- Strengthening the Australian Values Statement to include reference to allegiance to Australia and require applicants to make an undertaking to integrate into and contribute to the Australian community
- Strengthening the test for Australian citizenship through the addition of new test questions about Australian values, and the privileges and responsibilities of Australian citizenship
- Introducing a requirement for applicants to demonstrate their integration into the Australian community
- Strengthening the Pledge of commitment as a citizen of the Commonwealth of Australia in the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 to refer to allegiance to Australia; and extending the requirement for individuals aged 16 years and over to make the Pledge to all streams of citizenship by application, including citizenship by descent, adoption and resumption.
As mentioned the effect is immediate which means that any applications made on or after 20 April 2017 are subject to the above rules. The Department assures that “the changes will not apply to applications made before 20 April 2017 (that is, the current rules will continue to apply to applications made before 20 April 2017)”.
If you have lodged an application for Australian Citizenship, the Department of Immigration may be in contact with you to request additional information as appropriate. If you are lodging an application on behalf of a client or yourself, you will need to be familiar with the new requirements to avoid any unnecessary delays with processing of your application.
As always, I am happy to hear your thoughts and comments: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.