KidA

Ok great, I'll go for priority service. Thanks!

On the citizenship invitation letter, it recommends waiting at least 10 business days after ceremony before applying for a passport. I’ll be in New Zealand by then. I could just travel on my British passport and experience delays on re-entry. ill call DHA tomorrow and ask them what to do.

Hi guys, I just got my invitation for my citizenship ceremony, which is great. However, the ceremony takes place less than two weeks before I plan to travel to New Zealand.The ceremony is on 18/04/2018 and I go to New Zealand on 02/05/2018. As an Australia citizen, I will need to leave and re-enter Australia on an Australian passport. However, I'm not going to have time to arrange a passport as there is less than two weeks between the ceremony and my departure date. It states on the ceremony invitation letter that they recommend waiting at least ten business days after ceremony before applying for a passport. Does anyone have any ideas on what I should do? Will I need to re-arrange the ceremony date? Thanks

Applied: 21/04/2017 Received test invite: 23/01/2018 Test date: 31/01/2018 Approval: TBC Ceremony: TBC Sydney

In some cases (ie those who arrive already on a permanent visa). But for people like me, who spent three years in Australia before being granted PR, the UK pathway is shorter (two year wait on PR, as opposed to 4 here)

I think those who already meet the new criteria will be fine, and shouldn't experience any delays.

They will be frozen. I'm hoping that Labour opposes and that it won't go through, in it's current form at least. If Labour opposes then the government will need the support of eight crossbenchers in the Senate. I'm going to apply today and hope for the best.

I am going to try to get in in tomorrow. If I can arrange to get my Identity declaration form countersigned by then. I haven't contacted the Department. My experience with them is that they give inconsistent advice. It depends on who you speak to. Also, the legislation still has to be debated, go through Senate etc. I don't think anyone knows what form it will take. 'From today' doesn't necessarily (and shouldn't) include those who have lodged citizenship applications, or even those who have already been granted PR. I will get my application in ASAP and hope for the best.

I'm worried that you might be right. It seems very unfair to retroactively void an application which was submitted when the applicant met all criteria. However, it's not the first time migration (refugee) policy has been retroactively changed.

Yikes! I have completed everything apart from my identity declaration form, which I am in the process of organising. If I get my application in now. and then subsequently the new legislation gets passed, will my pending application be valid? The news reports say that if the changes are enacted they will be in force 'from today'.

Thanks for the responses / reassurances. I arrived in Australia this morning - no issues.

Thanks for all the responses! I went back onto the immi website, selected 'update details', and this time selected 'damaged passport' rather than 'lost passport' for my reason for updating details. It let me update the details there and then. I've since checked VEVO and it seems to have updated my passport details. Fingers crossed...

Hi forum, I'm a UK citizen and hold a permanent partner visa for Australia. While visiting the UK a few weeks ago, I lost my UK passport. I replaced it, and am currently in Nicaragua on holiday. I return to Australia in just under a week. It just occurred to me that my visa was linked to my previous passport. I tried logging into immi account to change my passport details there, but it wouldn't let me, as my passport had been lost. It advised me to complete a paper form 929 and return it with a certified copy of my replacement passport. There's no way I'm going to be able to organise this in time. Does anyone have a number for DIBP that I can call from outside Australia? Or am I best going to the Australian Consulate in Managua, Nicaragua on Monday? Or, should I just re-enter Australia next week with my new passport, on a tourist visa, and then sort it out when I am in Australia? Will this cause me more problems down the line? I'm freaking out slightly and don't know what to do. I should have sorted this out a few weeks ago, when I first got my replacement passport, but I had to re-organise my whole trip and the Visa issue slipped my mind at the time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks, Jon

Hi, almost finished putting the onshore partner visa application together. Form 47SP asks if we have had any periods of separation and to explain why, which concerns me slightly. I met my partner in October 2010, and we've been living together in a de facto relationship since August 2011, so we satisfy the one year minimum. We lived together in London while he was there on a working holiday visa. However, his visa was due to expire on 1 June 2012 so he had to leave the UK, before he could re-enter on a tourist visa. During this period he went to France, did some volunteer work for five weeks then returned to London. We then moved to Australia together in August 2012 and have been living together here since. Is this 5 week separation period likely to be an issue? I explained on the form that he left out of necessity due to visa conditions, and that he returned after five weeks. I'm just slightly worried as it happened in the last twelve months. We kept in daily contact during this period and I can provide an itemised phonebill showing this and facebook screenshots displaying messages to each other during this period. Thanks for your help.

Thanks