Becoming Aussie citizens
THERE has been a lot of chatter recently about what you have to do to become an Australian citizen.
The Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP Australia) is the official centre of wisdom on this and makes most of the rules. It is not always easy for people wishing to live permanently in this country to find out what is required.
Proposed reforms to Australian citizenship were announced by the Turnbull Government in April. They stiffen up the requirements to acquire citizenship and specifically add six new requirements. These include English language proficiency as part of the push for better integration into the Australian community and social cohesion.
Those are fine words, whatever they mean. There is little doubt the new requirements will be a great challenge for those wanting to come to this country particularly from non-English speaking backgrounds. All applicants will have to pass a stand-alone English test involving reading, writing, listening and speaking.
They must have lived as a permanent resident in Australia for at least four years prior to making application for citizenship. One year is the minimum time at present. Applicants will be expected to show what steps they have taken to integrate into the Australian community.
They get only three goes at passing the test. It’s going to be a fair bit tougher to get the nod than when I and my family successfully applied for citizenship back in January 1985. We came to Australia in August 1971 and have lived in Australia since that time.
Our permanent residency was granted to us then, when I began employment at the University of Queensland. My recollection is that the only things we could not do, as permanent residents rather than citizens, were to be members of the Australian Parliament or to work for the Commonwealth Bank.
We had to renew our permanent residency at regular intervals and behave ourselves in accordance with Australian laws.
After about 13 years, long after we had decided that Australia was the place we wanted to be for the rest of our lives, we decided to apply for citizenship.
This was an easy, painless process and we joined what appeared to be about two thirds of the population of South Vietnam in becoming citizens at a Brisbane City Hall ceremony. We were delighted to do it and we probably should have done so years earlier.
Mainly as a convenience for use when making one of our occasional return trips to England, we keep both British and Australian passports current. You are allowed to do that and it is very convenient when seeking to enter Britain.
We leave Australia using our Australian passports and enter Britain using our UK passports. We then leave again using our UK passports and re-enter Oz on our Australian passports. This avoids the need to have visas although it does mean that, for example, my Aussie passport often shows that I left the country, apparently went nowhere and returned to the country some weeks later ......
Incidentally, of course you don’t have to possess an Australian passport to be an Australian citizen. Children born in Australia automatically acquire Australian citizenship if at least one parent is an Australian citizen or permanent resident at the time of the child’s birth.
If that is not you then you have to satisfy various criteria set down by DIBP Australia but you don’t have to obtain a passport unless you need one for overseas travel.
I remember, many years ago, inquiring whether I could retain my British citizenship if I became an Australian citizen. The answer was “That is up to the Poms, but we are happy to let you still be a Brit .... ”
So, I’m a dual citizen and I’m very fortunate ............
❝process This was an easy, painless and we joined what appeared to be about two thirds of the population of South Vietnam in becoming citizens...