wombatinabox

Great news and amazing job everyone, I knew we could overcome this in the end. While we suffered immensely with the odds against us, its a great outcome and a relief for all immigrants affected. No one will be able to compensate us for the lost time and stress but the next step will be insuring our apps are unfrozen and processed in a timely manner.

We are winning: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/10/17/raise-citizenship-bill-or-take-cowards-approach-out-mckim-tells-dutton http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/punjabi/en/article/2017/10/16/relief-migrants-citizenship-bill-seems-doomed

Question is after October 18 will they speed up the citizenship app process and add more resources to compensate for the time wasted chasing this ridiculous bill? Or is everyone after April 20 still looking at a total of almost 2 year wait? Seeing the attitude of immigration minister so far is discouraging, I don't think he really cares.

Mate this is def a scam, you can tell by the language.

Hi Folks, In my opinion based on my latest conversations (via email, phone and social media) and responses with Senators from various parties this bill is dead. Let's just sample Nick Xenophon's policy adviser Latest response to my email (cut out the long story and for simplification): " If new citizenship bill 2017 is not voted on by 18 October, the bill will be discharged. Nick and his NXT colleagues supported this amendment for two reasons: 1. People whose lives are currently in limbo as a result of this bill will be able to move forward after this date without added stress concerning uncertainties in their future. 2. As a democratic society, NXT believes that disallowance motions should be avoided where possible so that there is an opportunity to debate the issue being put forward, rather than ?gagging? the issue. NXT has confirmed that it will not support the Turnbull government proposed changes in their current form. NXT opposed most elements of the package; including retrospective changes that would require permanent residents to wait for four years before applying for citizenship, higher-level English language testing, and Immigration Minister bid for the power to overturn decisions of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on citizenship matters. "" "" This means the following aspects at the very least 100% dead: - Retrospective aspect (no chance of this happening anymore ever rest assured, please apply NOW if you are eligible otherwise you will regret if bill passes) - Level 6 IELTS English (no chance) - New Powers for Minister (possible but might be watered down a bit) If there is a compromise, these aspects might make it: - New "Values test" - Lower IELTS English level maybe level 4/5 - Watered down but New powers for Minister - 4 years wait period on PR vs current 1 (only for those applying AFTER bill is passed and maybe lowered to 2-3 years) But think how the government will look to the specific voters they are trying to appeal/please with these laws if they agree on a weak english test and weak bill? i dont think so. Also the Chinese and Indian communities are pissed off (large current and future voting bloc in NSW & VIC) http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/09/18/about-race-baiting-ethnic-groups-condemn-citizenship-bill My main and only concern right now is that the Application freeze Backlog severe consequences (80K+ apps), those applied since April 20 are potentially looking at very long wait time if government does not "accelerate" them or allocate additional resources to compensate for the time lost. Good luck everyone and make sure to keep contacting the relevant senators with your concerns about these changes (available in my previous posts).

Guys, the bill is dead. It's over http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/peter-duttons-australian-citizenship-crackdown-doomed-after-key-senators-pull-support-20170905-gyb1ls.html

Team Xenophon slams New Citizenship laws: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/08/31/duttons-citizenship-reforms-likely-fail-xenophon-team-slams-bill-fomenting-hate

Hi Folks, Important reminder, the The following Senators will be the main deciding factor if this Citizenship Bill goes ahead or rejected. So if you are affected by this bill, without delay make sure you email the following senators with your story and opposition to this bill and ask them to reject the bill: 1. Nick Xenophon (Team Xenophon Party) senator.xenophon@aph.gov.au 2. Stirling Griff (Team Xenophon Party) senator.griff@aph.gov.au 3. Skye Kakoschke-Moore (Team Xenophon Party) senator.kakoschke-moore@aph.gov.au 4. Derryn Hinch (Justice Party) senator.hinch@aph.gov.au 5. Lucy Gichuhi (Independent) senator.gichuhi@aph.gov.au Points you can mention (Retrospective/backdating nature of this Bill, Applications freeze since April20, extra 4 years wait for non-PR, English level 6 test, extra votes they can win by rejecting this bill from near-future citizens, new powers for Minister to override courts, any other stuff affecting you, etc ) I have personally received responses from all of these Senators, spoke to some of them and in some cases their policy assistants, who all confirmed that they are leaning towards rejecting or watering down the bill but haven't made a decision yet (on the fence), continued pressure from the public like yourselves will help steer them in the right direction. I have also been in touch with Labour and Greens Reps & senators who are united in strongly opposing the bill. In addition, it also helps contacting your local MP and State Senator (regardless of Party), you can find them using the following tool: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members The odds maybe against us, but it's important for us all to keep up the pressure as a collective.

Karma..

Hopefully at the very least the retrospective aspect is rejected, that way existing migrants are not affected and future immigrants can make an informed decision if they want to come to Australia or not with these new rules. Let's see what happens, meanwhile since you're also affected make sure to contact the relevant senators (you can find my post a page or two behind with details)

Hi Folks, The Australian latest analysis has labelled the new citizenship laws changes bill as "in trouble" chk it: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/zombie-blockade-to-stymie-turnbulls-agenda/news-story/08ffd24f28abb80035be907d5384adc9 Business groups have also blasted the changes: http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/business-groups-slam-planned-changes-to-citizenship-20170807-gxqt6r.html Let's keep up the pressure folks, we can get these changes thrown out by the Senate hopefully sometime in September and our apps can resume processing as normal.

Mate, basically if you can afford to lose $285 just do it, although i am 99.9% certain they will REFUND you the money if the rules change.

interesting twist, even OneNation now opposes the retrospective/backdating nature of this bill and apps freeze. It's getting likely that the retrospective nature at the very least will get thrown out. This is OneNation Senator's response to someone who tried emailing them with his objections about the bill (obtained from another immigration forum) "" Thank you for your e-mail,One Nation is fully supportive of the Citizenship changes, however I can understand the frustration of those specifically who have lodged Citizenship applications after the Minister’s announcement on April 20 this year and having complied fully with the current Citizenship law and the Government gladly taking their money. I will support any measure that allows these legally lodged applications to proceed under the current law. It has been an error of judgement by the Department to allow any Citizenship applications to continue to be submitted after the Ministers announcement and finalisation of the proposed changes.Kind Regards,Brian Burston | Federal Senator for New South Wales ""

Immionline is now fixed that error doesn't appear anymore. However after page 4 it jumps straight to page 8. Not sure if that's normal?

Since Friday

Hey mate, yes everyone is getting that error. We don't know yet if they blocked it entirely or its a temporary glitch, we will find out in coming days. Meanwhile you can report the error to Immionline Tech support: https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa/Immi/immiaccount-technical-support-form

In your case you should just wait till the new rules are either confirmed or hopefully rejected.

There is a chance that can happen btw. Smart to apply now IF eligible under BOTH old and new rules.

If you are eligible under BOTH old and new rules you might as well apply now. It puts you in the waiting queue for processing. As you know, the wait times have increased from 3-6 months to now 16 months due to massive backlog created by the freeze. If freeze continues it will soon exceed 20 months wait time so you might as well block a slot in the queue now if you are eligible.

Having the exact same problem mate, since Friday. Glad I'm not alone! Hopefully it's just a Tech glitch and not them blocking apps!

No mate, i wish it was that simple. Been happening since Friday night, Sunday already still same issue. Wanted to know here if others having same issue or if its related to my account

trying to apply for citizenship online today with immionline, keep getting this error after page 4/34 ""We are currently experiencing a technical issue with our systems. You will not be able to proceed with this application at this time as this service is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."" anyone else having this problem? tried different browsers and computers, no luck

Thats what I thought, surprisingly common misinformation on forums. Quick google search and you'll find so many discussions with people saying you can't travel.

I always saw this so called rule that you can't travel after you apply for citizenship and that you can only travel after approval. But this was only discussed on forums I can't find any official rule that states this, is this just an internet rumour?

It's going to get worse as backlog piles up, We are headed to 24 months wait time soon. Used to be 3-6 months.. Very dark and cruel times for citizenship applicants.