JustUs

Congrats cybervoodoo! It’s seriously annoying and frustrating when it takes so long for no good reason at all. At least you can put all that behind you now and move on...

My spouse and I applied on 19 Apr 2019 and 10 May 2019 respectively for citizenship by conferral. The children were included on my application. We've not had any news at all other than the acknowledgement. We've just moved interstate and I called the immi helpline to find out what happens after we lodged the change of address and they said that the processing gets transferred to the new state team. Not sure if this will speed things up or delay it further! We're 8 and 9 months into our application with no request for further info or a test date. It appears that processing times have improved tremendously, especially for 2019 applicants. Should I wait patiently, lodge a FOI or call my MP? Any advice? I don't want to wait around hoping only to find out that our applications have slipped through the cracks or lost(we applied online). Thanks in advance!

Anyone??

Hi, Does anyone know the implications of moving interstate on citizenship application processing times? We’re having to move interstate for work. Applied for citizenship by conferral in mid-2019. Haven’t heard anything yet other than the acknowledgement. I know we have to inform the department of changes in address etc. Wondering if that’ll mean the processing work gets transferred to the new state and if that’ll push us down to the bottom of whichever pile we’re going to be placed in (I still have this image of files stacked on a case officer’s desk ). Appreciate any advice/info. Thanks!

Approvals from Brisbane, QLD Hi everyone, Has there been many(or any) approvals/progress from the Brisbane office? I seem to see lots of approvals from other states and some receiving invites for the test within months of applying...is it just me, or is the Brisbane office really slow?? Merry Christmas and Happy New Year PIO people!

You can check all correspondences sent to your email address in the “messages” section of your immi-account. It should already have a copy of the acknowledgement email that you would have received after submitting the application.

Hi, With all the reports of people being denied citizenship because of previous traffic convictions, I’m just wondering if all fines, no matter how small should just be declared on the application? The application says one doesn’t have to if it’s minor offence, to quote ..”A traffic infringement, such as a on-the-spot speeding or parking fine is not considered a conviction”... Granted that the case in the link below, the person had multiple DUI’s offences and suspension of his licence but I wonder if this is open to interpretation for example the fine was for running a red light or driving above the speed limit in a school zone. Logic tells me that these are “lesser” fines and shouldn’t need to be disclosed. Just wondering if it’s just safer to disclose all and let the DOHA decide if it’s minor or not, rather than have them reject the application for non-disclosure. Thanks in advance! https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/punjabi/en/article/2019/06/27/australian-citizenship-refused-over-undisclosed-driving-offences

Taken literally, the answer I would think should be “No”...as they are asking if he has TB. He had and was treated for TB, as you’ve mentioned. And you’d have declared and been cleared for TB in the medical for your PR. (I’m no expert and I’ve not been in that situation before...I’m just taking the question at its face value)

I was helping a friend with her citizenship application(as she didn’t have a scanner) and it did that to all her documents...the whole pdf was converted to multiple jpeg image files, one for each page. Also, we had to adjust the passport photo to fit into the online “frame”. Once we scanned and uploaded it, we had to move it or zoom in/out to adjust it to fit the frame. It was all a little different from when I applied for my visa several years ago. Good luck with your application. I see you’ve been getting ready to hit “submit” for some weeks now! Well done on your thoroughness and planning!

There’s an option of calling immigration/DoHA to check on your date of eligibility. A friend entered their dates into the DoHA calculator and was given an eligibility date. When she then tried to fill in the online form for citizenship by conferral, just like you, it wouldn’t let her go past page 6 either, giving an error message about not meeting the residency criteria. She called immigration who asked some questions to verify her identity, and were told that her eligibility date was about a week later. She then proceeded to apply on the given date and it allowed her to proceed past page 6 and complete the application. Apparently my friend had forgotten a business trip overseas that she had taken when she keyed the dates into the calculator. Obviously immigration know when you’ve met the residency requirements. And since it’s coming from the proverbial horse’s mouth(DoHA), I’m assuming it is probably the most accurate way of knowing when one meets the residency requirements?

Hi Sigemup, One can apply for citizenship online or fill up a paper form. The form can be found here https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/form-listing/forms/1300t.pdf and might give you a better idea of what’s required. B/Regards.

Hi, Just a quick question related to this post; when applying for my spouse’s citizenship by conferral, we uploaded certified copies (by a local JP)of some of her ID documents only later realising that we could have just scanned and uploaded the colour copies of the original documents without certification. Would this be an issue, you think? or if we uploaded documents after submission, would it affect the original application in any way as we did see it stated somewhere that we may get queried why all documents weren’t submitted at the time of payment for citizenship thanks in advance.

Hi Vickit89, A friend from Perth applied in Jan/Feb 2018, received the invitation for the test in Dec 18. Had the test in Feb 2019 and received the approval a week or so later. No date on the ceremony yet though. Application done online. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the replies NickyNook and VeryStormy. It certainly does appear that I may have to wait a little longer. Strangely, the Home Affairs calculator seemed to indicate an earlier date than I’d initially thought. But I understand now that the calculator just computes the actual number of days without taking into account the visa status etc. Thanks again...

Hello, Need some advice on the residency requirements for citizenship, please. The dept of home affairs website says one needs to have lived in Australia for 4 years before applying with at least 12 months of that being on a PR visa and I understand that one can't be away for more than 12 months at a time and no more than 90 days in the past 12 months. I worked in Australia on a 457 for about 13 months in 2013, went back to the UK in 2014 but made several short trips for holiday/meetings between leaving in 2014 and when I came back on another 457 in 2016. Been in Australia since March 2016 and on a PR visa for about 18 months now. In March 2019, I would have completed 3 years since I arrived in 2016. And technically, I've never had a continuous period of 12 months that I've been outside Australia. My questions : 1. Can I add up the 13 months (in 2013-2014) + 3 years (2016-2019) to qualify to apply for citizenship in March 2019 and meet the 4 year residency requirement? 2. I tried inputting all the dates I was in and out of the country on the home affairs calculator and it did say I would be eligible to apply in Feb 2019. I understand the calculator is just an estimation tool and can't be used as evidence of eligibility? Thanks in advance for replying! Best wishes for a great 2019! JustUs