Coupleinoz Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 My partner and I, aged 33 and 29, are originally from the UK and Ireland and have been living in Australia for 4 years. We have recently been granted Permanent Residency in July 2017. We saw this visa as a stepping stone to citizenship, which would then give us the flexibility between UK / Ireland and Australia. The complication for us is the recent change from 2 years to 4 years to apply for citizenship, as we wanted to spend few years back in UK / Ireland to get married and spend time with friends and family. We currently believe we have two options: 1) leave in the next few months and return within the 5 year return visa 2) stay for the 4 years to get citizenship. In order to help us make this decision, we are looking advice on our visa, the resident return visa and conditions for citizenship. Specifically: Detail on how the resident return visa works within the permanent residency visa? Do we need to be living in Australia to extend PR / return visa beyond the first 5 years? Could we apply for extension from UK and then return after 6 - 8 years? If we left and didn't return within our visa conditions, is there any other way of returning to Australia later in life? (e.g. company sponsoring to bring me back over when I'm in mid 40's). Can anyone recommend a good immigration lawyer that won't charge a fortune for a 1hr consultancy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mcguinnessp1968 Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 Haven't you already started a thread on this same subject? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coupleinoz Posted September 12, 2017 Author Share Posted September 12, 2017 No, this question is specifically about visa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collie Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 AFAIK - it is a bit variable and the following may apply (I may be wrong but this is a summary of experiences I have heard about) The idea of PR is that you plan to move to Australia permanently and the are initally given a 5 year travel window to do so. It is not an open-ended option (citizenship is) If you are living overseas when that 5 years expires, you can apply for a RRV. You may get a 1 year visa, a further 5 year visa (unlikely from what I hear) or it may be denied. There is no guarantee. You also may need to show significant ties to Australia and/or plans to move permanently in the immediate future (job offers, plane tickets etc). Given that the trend is to tightening the borders and immigration, it could be a big risk to take. As I said on your other thread, the proposed change in citizenship laws is not yet law and is running into opposition in the senate. If it doesn't pass or is amended, you may only have to do 1 year as a PR (with the other qualifications) to qualify for citizenship (& probably a year to process). Unless there is an urgent reason to move to Europe (seriously ill relative etc), I suggest you postpone your decision until there is clarity on proposed/current citizenship laws (probably early 2018). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 43 minutes ago, Collie said: AFAIK - it is a bit variable and the following may apply (I may be wrong but this is a summary of experiences I have heard about) The idea of PR is that you plan to move to Australia permanently and the are initally given a 5 year travel window to do so. It is not an open-ended option (citizenship is) If you are living overseas when that 5 years expires, you can apply for a RRV. You may get a 1 year visa, a further 5 year visa (unlikely from what I hear) or it may be denied. There is no guarantee. You also may need to show significant ties to Australia and/or plans to move permanently in the immediate future (job offers, plane tickets etc). Given that the trend is to tightening the borders and immigration, it could be a big risk to take. As I said on your other thread, the proposed change in citizenship laws is not yet law and is running into opposition in the senate. If it doesn't pass or is amended, you may only have to do 1 year as a PR (with the other qualifications) to qualify for citizenship (& probably a year to process). Unless there is an urgent reason to move to Europe (seriously ill relative etc), I suggest you postpone your decision until there is clarity on proposed/current citizenship laws (probably early 2018). Just had a read up on this, it's not really clear if you apply/applied after 20th April 2017 what would happen to your application? Is this still under the old rules or is the Government making people hold on until next year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 Just read this on a SBS website http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/punjabi/en/article/2017/06/27/over-81000-citizenship-applications-awaiting-processing "The Department of Immigration and Border Protection says all citizenship applications received on or after 20th April will be processed according to the new citizenship law. " I didn't think you could apply a new law without actually changing a law? I think I've further confused myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coupleinoz Posted September 13, 2017 Author Share Posted September 13, 2017 @Ozzie I got this from an immigration lawyer this morning.... Please note that the situation at the moment with citizenship is very fluid and not certain given the issues that the proposed changes are facing in the Senate and so it is difficult to give you advice. For commentary on the current struggles the government is facing see for example: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/sep/05/peter-duttons-citizenship-overhaul-derailed-by-nick-xenophon-team http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-05/senate-committee-says-citizenship-english-proposal-too-tough/8875926 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 It's very confusing. I just don't understand how applications after the 20th of April 2017 can be assessed under a new law that hasn't been passed as of yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collie Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 I think everything after 20/04/17 is in limbo. They can't apply the proposed laws until they are passed. They are currently held up in the senate, either they will have to be amended, a deal is done and they will fail and the current.old rules apply. they have made a complete mess of the whole thing, mostly with the planned retrospective action which goes against a key principle of implementing legislation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 Thanks @Collie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coupleinoz Posted September 14, 2017 Author Share Posted September 14, 2017 @Collie and @Ozzie some interesting (possibly exciting) news since yesterday. Looks like a decision will be forced by 18th November. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/09/13/greens-labor-crossbench-unite-force-governments-hand-citizenship-bill http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/09/12/greens-gamble-unusual-move-strike-down-citizenship-bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazwilkins Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 I assume you have seen the new laws didn't go through? So it is still only 2 years, not 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 No it hasn’t been two years for some time now. It is 4years residence with no more than one year out of Australia and must be PR for 1 year months prior to applying. The laws they were trying to pass meant 4 years of PR. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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