Stay for citizenship?

[Que Sera Sera]

I don't think that is quite right - you are not a citizen until the ceremony and you can travel between approval and the ceremony on your existing visa.

 

In reality though staying a year to be eligible and then applying and leaving would mean going back for the interview/test (or staying for that since it's probably only going to be about a month after applying) and/or going back for the ceremony 3-6 months later. Plus you have to prove 'on-going ties with Australia' - so if you've sold up or given up a rental and are actually living in the UK the chances are you would not be eligible for citizenship.

 

Actually no you are right. We were able to fly to England for a two week holiday in between our approval and the ceremony, I stand corrected.:wubclub: A lot of faffing about and costly to do it too.

[Guest]

Maybe it's time to move Citizenship from 4-6 years ? I know it was moved from 2-4 not long ago.

 

I think more people would simply leave without citizenship and potentially leave sooner as a result, the OP for example would not be considering citizenship if they had to wait another 3 years.

 

Australia needs migrants and needs the skills migrants bring - it also needs the children they bring/have. Australia has lost nothing by giving me citizenship - in fact given what it cost in terms of fees and passports it has gained, what it stands to gain in the longer term is my son returning with skills valuable to the Australian economy (okay I'm guessing here, he could be a drop out but that is unlikely).

 

The only reason is was increased to 4 years was to try and stop people leaving, if it was increased to 6 it may have the reverse effect.

[paul1977]

OTE=Que Sera, Sera;1936731623]Try it Paul, that way you may never ever have to set foot here again, even if you wanted too! No need to re-live your nightmare :wink:

Ive already got the only passport i need/want and it isnt blue

[Gbye grey sky]

I suppose people are recommending you stay and get citizenship because so many people change their minds and want to come back again. However it will take longer than 12 months to actually achieve citizenship.

 

You appear to have a poor opinion of the Aust (albeit based on limited experience) and say it is a long way from anywhere or anything you value so I would probably head back sooner rather than later in your position. I can't see any value in having citizenship of a country you think has nothing to offer you.

 

Actually that's a very fair point. Though my OH returned to the UK about 15 years ago it was to do with the breakdown of a LTR and to go back for her elderly mum. She loved her time in Australia.

 

If indeed you hate the place then it will only hold bad memories for you and it is therefore highly unlikely you will ever want to return. In your case bettter to go now but don't look back with regret.

[Que Sera Sera]

OTE=Que Sera, Sera;1936731623]Try it Paul, that way you may never ever have to set foot here again, even if you wanted too! No need to re-live your nightmare :wink:

Ive already got the only passport i need/want and it isnt blue

 

 

Nothing better than being happy with what you already have.

[paul1977]

Ive already got the only passport i need/want and it isnt blue

 

 

Nothing better than being happy with what you already have.

Yep I'm a very lucky lad

[silencio]

Quote Lady Rainicorn:"The only reason is was increased to 4 years was to try and stop people leaving, if it was increased to 6 it may have the reverse effect."

 

The reason behind the increase in waiting time was not stopping people from leaving Australia for good with an Australian passport. There are many overseas Australians living all over the world. That was never the intention of the government as a free democratic country its inhabitants can live wherever they citizens choose to live.

 

No, under the surface the reason was to distinguish '2 year holidaymakers from another 1st world country' from real migrants. A real migrant comes with an intention to stay here anyway whereas many of my fellow German + British people see it more like an experiment/enriching life experience and 2 years waiting time only in the old days was easy to let time lapse away. Nobody I know would stay 4 years in a country they don't like and can't make a living and therefore would leave for good within 2 years. 4 years waiting period, however, is exactly the time where people tend to put down roots. This was the intention of the former government to pick out migrants from holidaymakers on a PR visa.

 

By the way Canada recently increased their waiting time in their citizenship act as well, seems to me after the populations rises in other Commonwealth countries the strategy is always to make it harder for newcomers as the theory is 'the boat is full'. Once the target number for new citizen is reached it will automatically become harder for others due to underpinning govern mechanisms.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if Australia one day will increase the waiting time again to 6 years anyway as too many prosperous migrants valuable + useful for Australia either leaving (for which reason ever) and my 'boat is full' theory (= less useful + less valuable people for Australia staying)

[movingback]

To be fair I don't 'hate' Australia. I've had some good experiences here and enjoyed aspects of my time. It just feels like a chapter of my life that has now ended. However, I don't want to retire at 55 and decide to spend a couple of winters here and NOT have that option. I've made some great Aussie friends. Its about keeping options open I guess. However, some of you are right. I don't feel connected or committed to the country..

[Freckleface]

To be fair I don't 'hate' Australia. I've had some good experiences here and enjoyed aspects of my time. It just feels like a chapter of my life that has now ended. However, I don't want to retire at 55 and decide to spend a couple of winters here and NOT have that option. I've made some great Aussie friends. Its about keeping options open I guess. However, some of you are right. I don't feel connected or committed to the country..

 

You would be able to get a tourist visa to do that

[barbaitch]

Hello. I have a 'first world' dilemma. Wondering if anyone has any advice.

I've been in Australia (Sydney) for about 3 years now. I'm now 31 and want to go home. I have PR. I loved it for about a year but am now sick of living here. Little things - expense, arrogance, traffic, sun etc are all getting to me. In short I'm over it and want to go home.

I'm in a stable but moderately low paying job (for Sydney). I'm single. I want to move on with my life, meet someone, buy a house. I can't see myself doing that here. Its just too expensive and a long way from anywhere and anything I value in life. Every week I look at one way flights home and wish I could just book.

However I'm a year away from citizenship. Do I stay for it or not?? Its the one thing holding me back. I can't see myself living here again, but who knows. Maybe when I'm 60 a few winters in Oz will look appealing again. Grr my heads all over the place!! Any advice??

 

NO QUESTION: STAY FOR YOUR CITIZENSHIP! You'll be glad you did. That's a promise from one who knows!

[Gbye grey sky]

To be fair I don't 'hate' Australia. I've had some good experiences here and enjoyed aspects of my time. It just feels like a chapter of my life that has now ended. However, I don't want to retire at 55 and decide to spend a couple of winters here and NOT have that option. I've made some great Aussie friends. Its about keeping options open I guess. However, some of you are right. I don't feel connected or committed to the country..

 

Maybe you dont 'hate' Australia but if you spend the next 18 months there pending citizenship viewing your time there like some kind of prison sentence then you are going to retain a pretty negative view of the place. Freckleface is right. You could always come back as a tourist.

[Miley123]

Stay for citizenship, a year will go by quickly if you keep yourself busy. I wanted to go 2 years ago but stayed to get citizenship and now find myself going back in 6 weeks time!

 

Good luck Huggy75, all the best with the move, let us know how you get on

[VERYSTORMY]

Why can't you do it all from the uk...? If you qualify I can't see a problem

 

Because of the time out of the country rule. You can only be out of Oz for a maximum of 90 days in the year preceding application. So, if the OP went now, they would fail the rule. But, he could go 89 days prior to being eligible to apply.

[Jacaranda]

Do what makes you happy!

[Chortlepuss]

I would advise to stay as you may change your mind later on - but do take advantage of being here if you can to enjoy what the country has to offer outside of Sydney. A year is no time at all (it's my timescale to leave) and I am busy planning all the Oz experiences (Great Ocean Road, Darwin, Platypus watching in Tassie etc) that I can afford. Sydney is a rich person's playground but not much fun on average wages...

[CaptainC]

Hello. I have a 'first world' dilemma. Wondering if anyone has any advice.

I've been in Australia (Sydney) for about 3 years now. I'm now 31 and want to go home. I have PR. I loved it for about a year but am now sick of living here. Little things - expense, arrogance, traffic, sun etc are all getting to me. In short I'm over it and want to go home.

I'm in a stable but moderately low paying job (for Sydney). I'm single. I want to move on with my life, meet someone, buy a house. I can't see myself doing that here. Its just too expensive and a long way from anywhere and anything I value in life. Every week I look at one way flights home and wish I could just book.

However I'm a year away from citizenship. Do I stay for it or not?? Its the one thing holding me back. I can't see myself living here again, but who knows. Maybe when I'm 60 a few winters in Oz will look appealing again. Grr my heads all over the place!! Any advice??

I'd say stay for citizenship, I think with time you'll regret it if you don't. FYI I didn't particularly like Sydney either. Can't put my finger on any one reason. Maybe try a new town, city, state, as an earlier poster suggested. You might fall in love with Australia all over again.

[louisella]

Personally I'd say stay for your citizenship just to keep your options open for the future. Like others have said, could you travel around a bit? I'm not if you've only stayed in Sydney during your time there, if so there's a whole lot of country to explore which is very different to Sydney. Kind of like someone coming to London and thinking that's what the whole of the UK is like. Perhaps planning some smaller goals will help with your mindset - I think having that 12 month date in your head won't help as it will make it seem like a long time away - perhaps plan a new experience (even if it's just something small and cheap) for each month and just work month by month. Good luck

[Sarah Louise Heath]

Hiya, I am in a similar position to you. I can apply for my citizenship Dec 16 but do have an Aussie partner. I've now convinced him to move to UK as he's over living in Perth and likes the UK (!).

ive been here two and a half years and have been home twice and going home twice this year....

i don't want to keep putting things off and when someone on the thread mentioned you still have to wait another 6 months before you even get it, I don't want to feel I'm wasting my life in this limbo -like u said- rather than just getting on with life. You are closer than I am but I don't think I'm going to stay on for it. X

[Diane]

Hiya, I am in a similar position to you. I can apply for my citizenship Dec 16 but do have an Aussie partner. I've now convinced him to move to UK as he's over living in Perth and likes the UK (!).

 

Just checking you are aware that the UK immigration rules now make it very difficult for an Aussie partner of a UK citizen to get residency in the UK?

[bencrom81]

Im in almost an identical boat movingback.. I can apply for citizenship in December, have been here over 5 years and have become disillusioned with Sydney.. im over the peter pan lifestyle (im 33 and still have a student lifestyle here), the expense, the isolation of the city and more than anything else, the transiency of the place.. I play soccer/footy here and the amount of mates who've left has actually resulted in my social circle dwindling, with mates that have stayed moving and settling far far from the city..

that said, there are enough things to keep me here til I get my passport - the fact im nearly there, the thought of getting back to the UK and it not feeling quite right; the breakfasts and coffee!; the sense im still on an adventure, planning trips home and better work opportunities here..

I absolutely feel your pain and it makes you feel guilty as it seems a nothing issue; but one that gradually impacts on your thoughts..

ive found Sydney is quite a soulless place behind the beauty, very much a kim Kardashian city.. but the fact I know I wont be in Sydney forever and that home (Manchester) is just a flight away if it all gets a bit much gives me a bit of comfort. although the horizontal rain today in the CBD reminds me of a winters day on deansgate.

stick it out til December, ill do it if you do!

[CaptainC]

ive found Sydney is quite a soulless place behind the beauty, very much a kim Kardashian city........

 

 

Love this analogy! Hits the nail right on the head.

[movingback]

Haha you're on bencrom81! My family is from Yorkshire and I'm actually looking at heading back to either Leeds of Manchester on return. Absolutely cannot wait for pubs, open fires, real genuine conversations and a feeling of 'home.' After my time in Sydney I can definitely see why people compare it to Los Angeles. Thinking I will likely stick it out to get the passport now, and busy planning lots of small trips; I don't think I have the energy to up and move somewhere else in Oz where I know no-one for a few months, but a few holidays will be ideal.

[movingback]

Oh and agreed, I will miss the coffee and breakfasts!

[wakeboard1980]

Haha you're on bencrom81! My family is from Yorkshire and I'm actually looking at heading back to either Leeds of Manchester on return. Absolutely cannot wait for pubs, open fires, real genuine conversations and a feeling of 'home.' After my time in Sydney I can definitely see why people compare it to Los Angeles. Thinking I will likely stick it out to get the passport now, and busy planning lots of small trips; I don't think I have the energy to up and move somewhere else in Oz where I know no-one for a few months, but a few holidays will be ideal.

 

What do you mean by real genuine conversations? Is it because you don't have any/many friends in Sydney?

[pommekate]

I don't think it is an option to apply from the UK as you are not allowed to be out of Australia longer than 90 days in the year prior to gaining citizenship. I did live in sydney for 4 years from 2002 till 2006. I then moved to the central coast and met more people in the first two months than I did in 4 years in Sydney. I now live in Port Macquarie which is beautiful, friendly town. Could never live in Sydney again, it is only when I left Sydney I realised how miserable I had become. I .look back now and have lots of aussie friends none of whom are from Sydney.