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Citizenship, Unreasonable delay
It appears that Home Affairs has been sitting on Citizenship Applications hoping hope against hope that the foreshadowed changes to the Citizenship Act will eventually make its way across the line.
It appears that the backlog is now running at 120,000 unresolved applications. (as at April 2017)
At some stage the delay becomes unreasonable and there is good judicial authority to the effect that an application arguing unreasonable delay can be made in the Federal Court.
http://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2016/2016fca1530
I am of the view that the fact of Home Affairs "sitting" on applications in order to apply the 20 April 2017 foreshadowed changes is completely unacceptable and is imposing hardship and significant disadvantage to would be Citizens.
In addition there is no proper legal basis for this tardiness.
I think a delay of 2 years is prima facie "unreasonable".
Comments
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Wednesday, 17 October 2018Yes. I had my test in last April, around 17 month before the approval.
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Wednesday, 31 October 2018
My wife's application is yet to be approved, she has submitted her application by conferral on in December 2015.
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Friday, 23 November 2018
Hi Christopher,
Its November now and a whole 5 months since you wrote this blog. Since then, the wait times have only become longer.
I was wondering if you were able to comment on whats going on in the world of immigration and what could people like me look forward to in the next few months?
THanks, -
Wednesday, 28 November 2018
Dear All,
I think it fair to say that the delay is unconscionable.
All applicants who have been waiting a year or more are now victims of unreasonable delay.
A good strategy would be for those applicants who fit into this category to file identical pleadings in the Federal Court arguing this point and then for the Registry to bundle the cases together to have a single judge make individual rulings in each case.
If you are up for that let me know.
The filing fee, setting down fee and hearing fee ( all admin charges) are $6040 total.
Assuming the case was successful ( it certainly has good prospects of success) the filing fees etc are all recoverable by an order for costs. Professional costs could be recovered from each applicant by the simple expedient of an irrevocable direction to pay with $3K levied against each applicant, the only out of pockets would be all of the filing setting down and hearing fees.
Interested?
Let me know: Christopher@levingston.com.au.
we could file next week?
Immigration blog
did you say your application was approved 22 months ? Did you go to test yet?