Moving back to UK once Citizenship's been approved but before Citizenship Ceremony

[Anna833]

Hey, I'm wondering if anyone has some insight into whether once you have applied for citizenship, sat the test, been approved and just awaiting to attend a citizenship ceremony; whether it would be possible to move back to UK whilst waiting for the ceremony date? Has anybody been in a similar situation like this?

 

I will be able to apply for citizenship in December but I understand it could potentially be 6+ months before completing the whole process and obtaining an Australian passport. We've recently had a new baby and we've been thinking about returning back to UK to be with family whilst the little one is growing up and then move back over in a couple of years time.

We wanted to wait until we could get our Australian passports before returning home but the pull of home is getting a little harder so we were just wondering if once we have sat the test and it's been approved can we move back and then fly out for the ceremony? If there was also a possibility of attending the ceremony in the UK at an Australian embassy or something that would be interesting to know about too.

 

I've done a few searches and research suggests that we can go overseas once we've been approved but doesn't mention if we can move back to uk and wait for the ceremony date from there. I may have to contact the border people.

 

Thank you

Ana

[newjez]

Hey, I'm wondering if anyone has some insight into whether once you have applied for citizenship, sat the test, been approved and just awaiting to attend a citizenship ceremony; whether it would be possible to move back to UK whilst waiting for the ceremony date? Has anybody been in a similar situation like this?

 

I will be able to apply for citizenship in December but I understand it could potentially be 6+ months before completing the whole process and obtaining an Australian passport. We've recently had a new baby and we've been thinking about returning back to UK to be with family whilst the little one is growing up and then move back over in a couple of years time.

We wanted to wait until we could get our Australian passports before returning home but the pull of home is getting a little harder so we were just wondering if once we have sat the test and it's been approved can we move back and then fly out for the ceremony? If there was also a possibility of attending the ceremony in the UK at an Australian embassy or something that would be interesting to know about too.

 

I've done a few searches and research suggests that we can go overseas once we've been approved but doesn't mention if we can move back to uk and wait for the ceremony date from there. I may have to contact the border people.

 

Thank you

Ana

 

 

Are you keeping a residence in Australia ?

 

I wouldn't have thought you would need to wait for the passport, but I would have guessed that you would need to be resident for citizenship.

 

Have you called the office and explained the situation?

[Anna833]

No we wont have residence in Australia when we return back to UK. I'm wondering if we could provide an Australian address of a friend or provide a UK address so that they can notify us about our ceremony date.

I shall have to give the office a call and see what they say about it.

[Bungo]

No we wont have residence in Australia when we return back to UK. I'm wondering if we could provide an Australian address of a friend or provide a UK address so that they can notify us about our ceremony date.

I shall have to give the office a call and see what they say about it.

 

I seriously would not be giving anyone a call about it! To gain citizenship you not only have to complete the backward looking four years of residence but you also are also required to have a forward looking intent to remain in Australia. If you ring the office you are logging that it is not your intent, this would mean you do not qualify for citizenship.

 

You cannot just use somebody else's address, you need to provide your address when you appply for citizenship and they run police checks off the details you provide.

 

Just wait, it is just six months it will fly by.

[Guest]

You are not a citizen until the ceremony, it's like asking if you can skip the wedding ceremony and still be married.

 

As @Bungo said until after the ceremony I would be making no plans to return as your application could be refused on that basis.

 

You can travel between the test and the ceremony, although you do have to advise immigration of the intent on your application form - a couple of weeks or even a couple of months would be no problem but if you do not know your return date then your ceremony would be simply postponed until you returned (& you'd be waiting 3-6 months)

 

Each Shire is slightly different, waiting times vary and notice periods vary. Where we lived it was a 4 month wait but you got less than a months notice as they operated a wait-list system and if someone couldn't attend the next person up was brought forward.

 

Could you get around this? Possibly if you can afford a holiday back in Australia and have good friends to support you.

 

You'd need to change your ID to your friends address, driving licence etc. (check on the passport application page what is acceptable), have your post re-directed to your friends house and get them to advise you when you have your invite to the ceremony. You'd then need to get yourself back to Australia (could be expensive at short notice) and then stay there until you have your passports - this is a week plus after the ceremony.

 

Unless there are pressing reasons to be in the UK, to nurse an elderly relative or something like that then it really doesn't seem worth the stress, expense and risk of losing citizenship.

 

If there is a pressing reason then it may be possible to get your ceremony brought forward but as so many people try it on it needs to be absolutely watertight and if you have a British passport then it's incredibly unlikely.

 

Examples of reasons (not exhaustive) which are considered urgent and the evidence required:

Close family health/travel emergencies and travel documentation not available

If you are visiting a close family member who is seriously ill, a letter on official letterhead, signedby the overseas treating doctor, which states the condition, effects and prognosis of the familymember, is required as an evidence. You must also provide the reason and evidence why you areunable to travel on your current passport or apply for a passport from your country of origin.

A letter from the overseas mission in Australia, which states why travel documents are unavailable(or unreasonably delayed), is required. If you are denied a Certificate of Identity (COI) in Australia,obtain a letter from the Australian Passport Office stating this.

Students applying for Higher Education Loan Program

The Department may consider requests from students who wish to apply for HECS - HigherEducation Loan Program. Preference for these ceremonies will be given to persons who have beenwaiting more than three months for a ceremony and are not scheduled to attend their routine councilcitizenship ceremony prior to the HECS cut off date.

Examples of reasons (not exhaustive) which are not considered urgent:

Please note that reasons like business trips, weddings and other family occasions, airline bookings

and applicants applying for Government jobs are not considered urgent.

A final decision about conferral arrangements will be based on the documentation you provide.

[MaggieMay24]

I've never heard of anyone being refused citizenship due to moving out of Australia before the ceremony and since the wording on the website is "intend to live or maintain a close and continuing association with Australia" I assume that it's not mandatory as long as you intend to maintain a close and continuing association with Australia. However you must attend a ceremony within 12 months of being approved for citizenship or your application could be refused, so you should make sure to either notify DIBP of your new address or have your mail forwarded so you will receive the notification of your ceremony. AFAIK, you can only attend a ceremony in Australia although there may be some unique circumstances where they'd perform one overseas (I assume simply moving out of Australia wouldn't qualify).

[evets]

I have recently sat my citizenship test and mentioned this to the interviewer, as I am going away for work for a number of months. As long as you have your approval letter, he said it would be OK.

 

The citizenship ceremony also can be rescheduled once you have a date. As long as you fulfill the requirements to attend within the 6 or 12 month period. Still not entirely clear on this part myself.

 

Once you do the ceremony, you can apply for your Australian passport and have it fast tracked, I believe it is 2 days. Not sure how long after the ceremony you can apply, as I have read mixed posts about this.

Some people have said they applied next day, others have mentioned you need to wait 2 weeks before you can apply.

[VERYSTORMY]

Some councils will let you pay a small fee to arrange a one off ceremony. Others will fast track ceremonies for certain reasons.

 

As for passports, you can get them in a day. I had my ceremony on a Thursday night and had a passport by the Friday lunchtime.

[silencio]

You can apply for a passport straight after the Citizenship ceremony actually as PR will be ceased immediately.