THE NEW REFORMS

The applicants must be permanent residents for at least four years — three years longer than at present — and must be committed to embrace “Australian values”. Abolishment of the current system that allows unlimited attempts to pass the citizenship test, imposing a two-year denial if an applicant failed three attempts.

The public will be able to make submissions until June on how Australian values might be tested.

The move comes after Australia announced it would abolish the popular 457 work visa used by over 95,000 foreign workers — a majority of them Indians — to tackle the growing unemployment in the country.