How to become Australian

Immigrants are eligible for Australian citizenship after just two years’ residence in the previous five years, but this must include a total of 12 months in the two years immediately before making a citizenship application, which costs $120.

Applicants must be permanent residents, be at least 18 years of age, have a basic knowledge of the English language, be capable of understanding the nature of their citizenship application and understand the responsibilities and privileges of Australian citizenship, be of good character, and be likely to live in Australia or maintain a close and continuing association with Australia. The ability to speak English doesn’t apply to people over 50 (although in 2004 there was talk of raising this to 60), and those over 60 aren’t required to understand the responsibilities and privileges of Australian citizenship.

Exceptions to the above rules apply to armed forces personnel (who need only to have served for three months), former Australian citizens (who need only to have been resident for 12 months in the last two years), permanent residents not present in Australia but engaged in activities beneficial to Australia, spouses, widows, widowers of Australian citizens (who normally need to have been resident only for the 12 months prior to their application) and various others. In certain cases, such as that of spouses/widows/widowers of Australian citizens, applicants must show that they would suffer significant hardship or disadvantage if they weren’t granted citizenship.




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Family migration

The Australian government is constantly changing the rules and sometimes introduces retrospective changes that apply to applications already lodged (but not processed). Before making an application, check the latest regulations and criteria for visa applications. Even when new requirements have been announced, they may not be introduced for many months or even years, and could even be rejected by the upper house (Senate) of the Australian parliament after being passed by the lower house.

To be accepted for migration to Australia you must meet the personal and occupational requirements of the category for which you’re applying, and be of good health and character. The Australian migration programme (often spelled program) is divided into two main categories: migration and humanitarian. Migration is split as follows:

Family migration, where people can be sponsored by a relative who's an Australian citizen or a permanent resident.
Skilled migration, with categories for people with particular business or work skills or ‘outstanding talents’ and a separate quota for states or territories with particular skill shortages.
Special eligibility migration, covering former citizens or residents wanting to return to Australia, and also certain New Zealanders.
The Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) offers an enquiry service (local call rate 13-1881 or www.immi.gov.au) for further information. The form Migrating to Australia – Who can migrate? (957i) contains general information about migration and the various categories. An Application for Migration to Australia form (47) must be completed by all applicants wishing to travel to Australia to live permanently. There’s a fee (e.g. around £5 in the UK) for this form and the information package. If you wish to inquire about an application it must be made in writing, quoting your DIMIA file number, although you may telephone the DIMIA and enquire about the progress of your application (but this can delay its processing).

Application fees for migrant visas are high and aren’t refundable, so you should ensure that you have a very good chance of being accepted before making an application (otherwise you would be better off spending your money on lottery tickets!).

Health & Character Checks

Applicants for migration visas must pass health and character checks before they’re granted a visa.

Application ProcedureAll application forms must be completed in English and you must provide originals or certified copies of all documents (as requested).

Documentation

You must usually provide certified copies of documents such as birth and marriage certificates, educational and trade qualifications, and employer references. Assessments of some trade and professional qualifications can usually be done fairly quickly, although if they must be referred to Australian professional bodies it can take up to six months.

All documents must be certified by a legal professional, a Justice of the Peace or other person authorised to witness statutory declarations (e.g. a Commissioner for Declarations in Australia), who must state that the photocopy is a true copy of the original. Original documents mustn’t be sent unless specifically requested.

Additional information concerning your application can be provided at any time (and is taken into account) before a decision is made. You must keep the DIMIA informed of any changes in your circumstances if they relate to information already provided that’s no longer correct. If you provide incorrect information or documents, your application or visa can be cancelled.

Interviews

If you meet the criteria for migration to Australia, you and your family members are invited to attend an interview with an officer of the DIMIA. If you fail to attend a scheduled interview your application won’t automatically be refused and a decision may be made on the basis of the information already provided. If you’re invited to an interview, take care how you answer seemingly innocuous questions such as ‘Why do you wish to emigrate to Australia?’ It’s recommended always to answer positively and rehearse your answers to potential tricky questions.

Validity

If you’re accepted for immigration, you’re asked to send your passport to the embassy or consulate and a visa is stamped in it. You must usually arrive in Australia within six months of the date stamped in your passport. If you don’t enter Australia by the ‘initial entry’ date of your visa, it expires and you need to re-apply for migration. If you enter Australia by the initial entry date, you will have used (or validated) your migrant visa and by doing so will have become a permanent resident (if applicable).

Leaving & Returning to AustraliaPermanent foreign residents of Australia don’t receive the same rights as Australian citizens with regard to their freedom to leave and enter Australia. If you migrated to Australia before 1987, you will have been issued with either an Authority to Return (ATR) or a Return Endorsement (RE), which are valid provided you haven't been out of Australia for more than three years and you haven't become a citizen.

However, if you migrated to Australia in 1987 or later, your initial visa gives you permission to return to Australia for three, four or five years after first entry. After this time, if you choose not to apply for Australian citizenship, you must obtain a ‘resident return visa’ (RRV) before leaving the country, which allows a permanent resident to return to Australia within a period of either three months or five years. Whether the visa is granted depends on how long you've spent in Australia during the previous five years.

An RRV cannot be extended and you shouldn't wait until the visa expires before applying for a new one. You should check well in advance if you're eligible for a new visa. If it expires, you must apply for a new one and the amount of time you've spent outside Australia in the five years immediately before your application determines whether you’re eligible for a new visa and, if so, what type. For example, if you've lived in Australia for at least two years within the last five, you're probably eligible for an RRV which gives you the right to remain outside Australia for up to five years. If you aren’t eligible for a five-year RRV you may be eligible for a three-month RRV. If you choose to return to Australia just before your visa expires, you're obliged to remain there for at least 12 months before you’re eligible for another RRV. If you need to leave because of an emergency during this period, you're allowed to do so only once.

Family MigrationThere’s a strict quota on family migration (or 'preferential family'), which in 2004/05 was 42,000. Of these places, 27,900 were reserved for spouses of Australians, 5,300 for fiancé(e)s, 2,800 for children including adopted children, 4,500 for parents and 1,500 for other dependants and special need relatives.

Sponsorship

Applicants in the family category need to be sponsored by a relative, who must be aged at least 18 and a settled Australian resident (which is generally accepted to be the case after two years’ continual employment). However, in spouse and parent classes, a minor child can act as a sponsor under certain circumstances. Your relative in Australia must undertake to assist you financially and with accommodation during your first two years in Australia, plus, if necessary, attendance at English-language classes. The points test doesn’t apply to family applicants.


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Student Visa

Foreign students require a student visa (costing $410), which is issued after acceptance on a course and payment of at least half the first year’s annual fees.


There are seven types of student visa:

Independent ELICOS – For overseas students studying English for Overseas Students;
Schools – For students at primary or secondary school;
Vocation Education and Training – For certificate and diploma students;
Higher Education – For students studying for a bachelor degree or a graduate certificate or diploma;
Masters and Doctorate;
Non-award Foundation Studies/Other – For students on courses that don’t lead to a degree or other formal award;
AusAID or Defence Sponsored.

Courses that qualify for a student visa include tertiary level studies at universities or colleges; courses at Technical and Further Education (TAFE) colleges; English-language courses; occupational or religious training; business study or training, e.g. secretarial and business courses; short courses at universities or colleges of advanced education; and study exchange arrangements between Australian and overseas educational establishments.

Students must have the financial resources to meet tuition fees (scholarships are available), return fares to Australia and day-to-day living expenses for the duration of their course – estimated in 2005 to be from $10,000 to $17,500 or more per year for a single person depending on where you're studying. Students should also have Overseas Student Health Cover (OSCH) or alternative private health insurance.

Secondary-level applicants for non-government schools must first obtain an offer of a place, which must be confirmed by a letter from the school. Full fee-paying students from so-called ‘gazetted’ countries (with a lower risk of students overstaying their visas) should lodge their application for a visa after they've enrolled and obtained an Acceptance Advice Form (AAF). Full fee-paying students from non-gazetted countries should lodge their application for a visa before paying tuition fees, confirming enrolment and obtaining an AAF.

Students must usually be attending full-time courses, but are permitted to take part-time jobs of up to 20 hours a week to help cover their living costs, plus a full-time job during the summer break. The spouse of a postgraduate student may be permitted to work full time and other dependants up to 20 hours a week. However, if you wish to work you should apply for a visa that includes ‘permission to work’.

In order to retain a student visa, you must have a satisfactory attendance and academic results record. On completion of your course, you must leave Australia when your visa expires, for which an undertaking must be given in writing. It isn’t possible to switch from a visitor’s visa to a student visa while in Australia.

Information about student visas is provided in Student Entry to Australia (form 1160i) and Application for a Student (Temporary) Visa (forms 157a).




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Visitors Visa

Requirements and application procedure
A visitor’s visa is normally valid for three months, but people on business visits or undergoing medical treatment and the retired parents of an Australian citizen can obtain a visitor’s visa valid for 12 months.


If you’re applying for a long-stay visitor’s visa, you must be able to show that you have access to adequate funds, although the amount is lower if you will be staying with friends or family in Australia.
Nationals of certain countries can obtain three-month visas on the spot from travel agents (see Electronic Travel Authority below) and at Australian missions (if you’re applying by post you should allow a minimum of three weeks in most countries). Many travel agents and companies provide a visa application service for visitors, although there’s usually a fee in addition to any visa fee levied by the Australian government.



It isn’t necessary to make a separate application for a child who’s included on a parent’s passport. Your passport must be valid for the period of your proposed stay in Australia.

If applicable, ensure that your visa allows multiple entries within its period of validity, when it should be marked ‘multiple travel’.

A visitor’s visa for stays of up to three months carries a fee of either $65 or $170, a visa allowing stays of up to a year costs $65 or $200.

Visitors to Australia are required to sign a declaration stating that they ‘have never had tuberculosis or any serious condition likely to endanger or be a cost to Australia’.

Electronic Travel AuthorityAustralia has one of the most efficient visa processing systems in the world for visitors planning to spend up to three months there, called Electronic Travel Authority (ETA). The ETA system builds on the Advanced Passenger Clearance (APC) system whereby Qantas passengers arriving at Sydney airport can be cleared in as little as 20 seconds! It’s designed to fast-track passengers at airports through immigration and customs processing, and has substantially reduced the time taken to process passengers. It also allows passengers on certain flights to Australia to complete their immigration and customs processing while in the air. On arrival, electronic cards containing passenger details are simply ‘swiped’ through an immigration card reader.

Citizens of the following countries are eligible for an ETA visa: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, the US and the Vatican City. (There are plans to scrap visitors’ visas for visitors from ‘low risk’ countries, i.e. rich countries such as Canada, Japan and the US, whose nationals usually have little intention of overstaying their permitted period in Australia.)

Under the ETA system travellers can obtain visitors’ visas at the same time as they make their travel arrangements. Travel agents using the ETA system simply enter your passport number into a computer system linked to the Australian immigration database and receive a confirmation within seconds. No stamp is placed in your passport. To qualify, you must travel to Australia on a participating airline (includes most major airlines) or a cruise ship.

An ETA visa is usually issued free of charge (although agents may levy a fee, and for certain business classes there's a charge of $65) and is valid for a single entry into Australia within a year of issue.

In mid-2001, the Australian government introduced an online ETA application (www.eta.immi.gov.au) whereby for a fee of $20 payable by credit card only, you can be issued with an ETA visa online. Your application is processed while you’re online and you're informed of the result of your application before logging off. As part of the application and approval process, you're issued with a reference number and you can check the status of your application and approval at any time on the site.

It’s possible to obtain an extension for a visitor’s visa under certain circumstances, although you must apply before your visa expires and must have a good reason. Visitors aren’t permitted to engage in any type of employment or formal study. They may, however, undertake non-formal study involving short-term courses of up to three months which are recreational or ‘personal-enrichment’ in nature and aren’t subsidised by any government.

The ETA system is eventually intended to replace visa application forms and labels or stamps in passports, although if you require a passport stamp you must complete an Application to visit Australia for tourism (form 48).
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