Nora

1 hour ago, jpp said:

Those from Monash, VIC I raised FOI about citizenship backlog and  as of 16th July 2021 there are 948 people whose application is approved and are awaiting for ceremony. Considering only 6 ceremony are planned for balance of 2021 and covid restrictions on number it does not look good unless council plans more ceremony to clear backlog 

• 2021 citizenship ceremonies (Monash)

• 16 August
• 13 September
• 20 September
• 27 September
• 11 October
• 6 December 

Hello, may I ask how to ask for  FOi? What do you write to inquire about the backlog?

Kindly,

Hi! 

Anyone here from Moreton Bay City Council still waiting for their ceremony? 

1 hour ago, Amy.K said:

I Have silently been observing this forum for a while. 

My Timeline:

Came to Aus on a student visa: 2012

Applied for PR via Spouse: Aug 2017

received TR: May 2019

Received PR: March 2020

Applied for Citizenship: 12 May 2021

Invitation for Test and Interview received on 15 June 2021 for 15 July 2021

Rescheduled myself to 25 June 2021 

Approved 25 June 2021 Same day - received my official letter by mail a few days after 

Awaiting invite from Moreton Bay Council 

Also waiting in Moreton Bay. Hopefully we hear from them soon. We've been waiting since late Feb 2021, still within their wait times though. Congratulations!

59 minutes ago, Melbournian said:

Are u from QLD or MELBOURNE CBD.

Applied in Vic, sat test and approved in Melbs, and recently moved to Qld. I know I need to update my signature. 

Hello!!

Anyone waiting in Moreton Bsy, Qld for ceremony?

Cheers

Australia: the place to be. 

Very admirable of you and your family to make the big move during these crazy times. Wishing you all the best, you guys will do just fine.

Welcome back to the Sunny State.

On 14/05/2021 at 02:55, AndrewCM said:

My follow up email: 

Dear ma'am/sir,

You say:
"However, some applicants may depart Australia for an extended period, and this may affect their ability to meet the requirements for Australian citizenship."

However, as far as I know, nowhere on your website or during the application process did it say that applicants are prohibited to leave Australia for extended periods of time during their application process.

What is stated clearly on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au is that one of the requirements for citizenship is that "you must intend to live in Australia or maintain a lasting link with Australia while overseas"

As someone who is married to an Australian; has lived 6 years in Australia; have friends and family in Australia etc. it is obvious that my Australian wife and I "intend to maintain a lasting link with Australia" even though we currently find ourselves semi-permanently overseas. 

"Generally, it is expected that if an application for conferral of Australian citizenship is lodged onshore, the entire process will be carried out onshore."

I understand that *generally* you expect the entire process to be carried out onshore but as you yourself have said: This is what you *generally* expect hence why I am requesting an exception, not to a rule, but to this expectation of yours.

I am happy to do the citizenship ceremony in Australia as my wife and I are planning to come back to Australia at the end of this year anyway, once things hopefully somewhat return back to normal.

Once again, all I am requesting is that in light of this worldwide pandemic I would be afforded the opportunity and ease of attending my test and interview at an Australian embassy closer to where I am currently residing rather than forcing us, my wife and I, to go through the anxiety and stress and danger to ourselves and others that would be involved in travelling back to Australia to sit this interview during this covid age.

Once again I request you to please consider this exception and I look forwards to hearing from you.

Andrew

P.s. Even if your answer is "no" I would really appreciate a personal response to my request rather than a confusing-copy-paste-email-response that doesn't entirely relate to my situation.

Hope everthing goes well for you. Not sure how they will take your follow-up email.

Hi guys, for those asking what to do after you have had your application approved, and then moved interstate or changed address, what I was told to do was to ring the Department and notify them so they can allocate my approved application to my new city council. I was told this during the test/interview. Firstly, I updated my address via immi account  and then requested the change via telephone , it took them a good 25 minutes to assist me. They asked for passport number  old address and new address. 

Hope this helps for anyone wondering.

N

1 hour ago, Angelo3131 said:

 

Dear forum users I need your help.

I’ve been living in Sydney for the past 9 years. I’m currently on a 457 Visa as a welder and can apply for permanent residency in about 6 months.

Unfortunately my girlfriend is currently in Japan she’s Japanese and we have been waiting for the borders to open since the pandemic started and it just doesn’t seem to happen anytime soon. Today they said in the news the borders likely not return to normal until 2024 we obviously can’t wait for that long so we want to see what options we have.

Shes 30 now and worked in Europe as a professional ballet dancer until the beginning of 2020. When the pandemic started she wanted to retire from professional ballet and start a new life with me in Australia and work here as a ballet teacher. She moved beginning of 2020 to Japan in hopes she could come to Australia sometime soon.

We have been in a relationship for over 2 years now. We have traveled together have heaps of pictures and phone call logs since then. We traveled around Europe a few times and I visited her in Japan as well before the pandemic.
But we never lived together. That’s what we planned to do since the pandemic started.

We are desperately trying to find a way for her to finally come to Australia and live with me.

I’m not really sure which way or visa would give us the highest chances for her to enter Australia.

Any help or advice would be highly appreciated.

Hi Angelo,

Go to the immi website and find the type of visa your partner will need. There is a section that says something like "Find a Visa" and it will ask you questions and then show you the options you have.

As far as I understand, you are only able to bring your girlfriend when you become a Permanent Resident,(and you have mentioned you are 6 months away from applying plus another +12months of waiting for an outcome), and/or Au Citizen. Otherwise, your partner has to come on a skilled working visa or as a student, but as a student there are many conditions, i.e. not able to work full time, must be enrolled to a course, etc.

Try contacting a registered agent for advise. There are many here on this forum. 

Wish you and your girlfriend the best. Hopefully you can reunite sooner rather than later.

Hello!

So we applied in Melbourne and sat test in Melbourne, and recently moved to Moreton Bay Council in Qld. Would anyone have dates for the Citizenship ceremony? I have seen that several city councils do post their upcoming dates, but Moreton Bay Council hasn't. 

Anyways, we'll just wait and see when the ceremony here will be held. I am still within their waiting times. Nearly two months ago our applications got approved. 

We'll keep you guys posted. 

Cheers,

20 hours ago, Sigemup said:

Thank you Nora ! 

What document did you give as address proof for the new address ? 

 

Regards

I brought with me our future rental agreement.

And I've just checked now, you can update residential address/post address via immiaccount. 

Cheers 

49 minutes ago, MMarie said:

Hi guys. I just want to ask on how to reschedule the test appointment? Do you have to check all the time to see if there's any available slot? Thanks!

Yes, keep checking every day the calendar. Days do become available.

6 hours ago, Sigemup said:

Thank you Nora for the reply ! 

Do you in what scenario it would delay and in what scenario it would speed up the ceremony appointment ?

Could you please let me know what you mean by this "he only mentioned to use the form to update details to change our postal address." - which form is this about ? 

Also why only postal address ? Is it not also residential address ? 

Also, did you update the address before you moved to that new address ? is it like a friend's place or a place you already own / lease started at the point of updating the address ? Or is it updated on basis that you know you are moving to that address ?

 

Should we send a form ? Or can we update it immi account itself ? 

Ah, I gave the case officer or interviewer our future residential address. And he asked where will we be before the move date, and I said we would still be in the here in Melbourne. So he went in to update our residential address, and left the current so we can receive the approval letters. That is why he said that once we have moved we should update our postal address. I believe you can do so via online through the immi account  I haven't done it yet as we are still living in Melbourne but as next week we move interstate and will try until then.

In regards to delaying or speeding, well..it may delay if there are more applications awaiting  ceremony or speed if there are less in the new council. I was told this during my interview, but he said that it is within 6 months to do not stress. 

Hope this gives you an insight.

:)

3 hours ago, Sigemup said:

Hi guys,

Is it ok to move to another council after approval while you are waifing for ceremony ? Is there any impact of this ? 

Thank you

Hi!

It may delay or speed up your ceremony invite.

We are moving interstate and I told the case officer during the interview and he mentioned that he will allocate us on the list of the new council we are going to. 

We gave him our new address, and he only mentioned to use the form to update details to change our postal address.

But if you havent notified the department on your new address, you should by sending them the Changes of acircumstanced form to update your residential/postal address. 

For those asking how long one should wait after approval, the approval letter says "within 6 months from the approval date you will receive an invite, time may vary''

N

10 hours ago, Melbournian said:

Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond  is now available in 40 community languages. You should be aware that your Australian citizenship test will be conducted in English only.

• Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond - Testable - English (12MB PDF)
• Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond - Non-testable - English (5MB PDF)

 

My Concern is :

Can we ONLY Study the first one i.e. " Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond - Testable - English (12MB PDF) " and ignore the second one. 

Yes, study only the testable, so ignore the non-testable. 

We did our tests yesterday at different times. Mine got approved 3 hrs later I sat my test/intergiew, but hubby's still showing ''Received''. I wonder what info they take into consideration to approve on the spot, etc.? 

Both applications were presented complete and interviewers said to both positive comments about our documents/application.

Anyways...good luck to those sitting the test. 

17 hours ago, Gaurav99 said:

Hi Nora,

 

Any idea on timelines between approval to getting the invite for the ceremony

They say it can take upto 6 months. 

53 minutes ago, Kamila said:

Not sure why they asked tho. No one in the family has any military background. 
could it be due to our visa condition? We were on skill visa. 

No idea. Don't think so, as most of us have a skilled PR visa. The questions on the form would be different if it were relating a skilled visa hey.  I would write " not applicable" for the open questions or where it doesn't ask for a 'yes' or 'no' answer.

What is the status of you application? Still 'recieved'?

1 hour ago, Kamila said:

Hi all, 

i had my test yesterday and passed with 100%. They asked me to fill out the form 1399 and email it to them. It asks about military history of myself and my family and no one in my family has any military history. What should I do? Should I leave it blank? Any help is appreciated 

thanks

Why would they ask you that? Did you do military service or was part of a liberation group or worked for the government? 

If you or family haven't, is sure is odd hey.

2 minutes ago, Emilio said:

Park at little Lonsdale street and cross through the lanway behind the building 

the parking is 7$ an hour max 3 hours which should be fine.

 

Great! How long did it take you from the start to finish?

12 minutes ago, Gaurav99 said:

Hi All,

 

Here is my timeline:

 

Application Date: 5th Jan 2020

Test & Interview: 22nd Feb 2021 (Passed and Application approved in immi on 22/2)

Waiting for the citizenship ceremony

Location: Knox council, Melbourne

Does anyone know how long its taking at the moment for a ceremony invite? Has anyone recently passed the test and had their application approved? If you could share how long it took from application approval to the invite for the ceremony that would be very helpful.

Were you able to find parking around Lonsdale St? We have our test on Monday

Hi guys,

Our appointment was schedule for the 19/March in Melbourne CBD and today we manage to bring it forward to this Monday 1st March. 

I will keep you posted how it went.

Cheers!

N

Hey Melbourne!

We just received the letters to sit the test/interview at the Melbourne CBD office for 19 of March Finally! I will check if I can schedule it before.

Hang in there! After a year of applying we finally hear from the Department.

Cheers 

N

8 hours ago, mujtaba123 said:

Hi guys. Could anyone help me with this? Do you get your citizenship certificate posted to you after approval on immi and before your ceremony? For ex. If you are approved after your test, would they send it within 10 days? Or is it just a letter of approval or something? 

12 hours ago, gui said:

Thanks,

What about having to tell them that circumstances have changed? Would the evidence of citizenship be enough for that?

Hi, and Congrats on your newborn! What I did was to apply for Evidence of Citizenship, once that has been approved you may want to add the baby on your information, there is a section of the actual Citizemship Application where it asks if you have any other children who are not applying for conferral citizenship. You can add this on by using the Change of Circumstances form (which is used to notify the department of pregnancy, birth, change of personal details, etc) Just Google the name of this document and you can find/download it. 

The evidence of Citizenship took us 4 business days to get approved (they will ask for parent's PR). And 7 business days to get the actual Aus Citizenship certificate to get posted. After this, there is no further action required for your newborn. 

All the best!