Citizenship Fastrack for Uni

[Liz95x]

Hi all,

I completed my undergraduate and honours degrees in Australia, and have been accepted for a Masters program, which beings in July this year. As I am currently a permanent resident (and have been since 2011), I do not qualify for any student loans such as HECS or FEE-HELP. This was fine for my commonwealth-supported undergraduate courses, as with the help of my parents I was able to pay upfront each semester. However, my Masters course is not commonwealth-supported, therefore the fees are upwards of $12,000 per semester for 1.5 years, and there is no way I can afford to pay  this upfront. I applied for my citizenship in March this year, and was wondering if anyone knows of any way the dept of immigration would consider speeding this process up? I personally know at least 5 people who were in this situation for their undergraduate courses, and all they said they had to do was to ring the dept. of immigration once their application was submitted and that they were able to be fast-tracked. I tried this, and spoke to two people. The first man told me that I would be able to do it and gave me an email address to contact, but also said he would pass me to his colleague who would have more specific information to me, only for the lady I was transferred to, to tell me that they do no fast-track citizenship for anyone, no exceptions. I emailed the address the first man gave me, and they have not replied despite me emailing twice. I then went to my nearest office in Perth, and was told by the lady at reception there that they could not help me as that centre didn't deal with my issue, but as far as she knew the guidelines may have changed on who they allow to be fast-tracked.

Just feeling extremely confused at the moment, as no one has given me any clear answer.