Australian Immigration Daily News

How often do you hear about someone’s having their Australian citizenship revoked?

Especially 17 years after the person has been granted citizenship.

Not very often at all! Once could probably go so far as to say “almost never”.

Do you find that the Department’s approach to visitor visas (Subclass 600) – especially those sought under the Sponsored Family Stream – can be frustrating, incomprehensible, bureaucratic, maddening?

Is a refusal of this type of application enough to send you screaming down the hallway of your office, as if your hair was on fire?  Unleash the following stream of invectives/expletives :!@#$%^&*()_+?  Cause you to bay at the moon?  All of the above?

Well, it seems anecdotally that visitor visas are often (too often!) refused on the basis that the Department is not satisfied that the applicant meets clause 600.211 – that “the applicant intends to stay temporarily in Australia for the purpose for which the visa is granted”.

Is being present in Australia without a visa, as an unlawful non-citizen, for an extended period of time disqualifying when it comes to an application for Australian citizenship? 

Should it be? 

Our article on a recent AAT case that centred on this issue, Britos and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, attracted considerable comment and controversy. 

Do the reforms to Australia’s “parent visa” framework that have been proposed by the Turnbull Government go far enough?

Do they do enough to accommodate the very understandable desire of people who have migrated to Australia to bring their parents over here?

As readers will be aware, the government has announced plans to introduce a new “temporary” parent visa that would enable Australian citizens, permanent residents and “eligible New Zealand citizens” to sponsor their parents to travel to and remain in Australia for a total period of up to 10 years.

Can a New Zealand citizen who is present in Australia on a “Special Category”, Subclass 444 visa, qualify for Australian citizenship?

Or to put the question slightly differently, are there any circumstances under which a New Zealand citizen who is the holder of a Special Category visa acquire the status of a permanent resident of Australia?

These questions were raised in a decision that was handed down by the AAT on 25 August, Carr v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (Citizenship) (2017) AATA 1361 (25 August 2017).