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Permanent residency


John R W

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Hi 

I arrived in Australia in 1970 with my parents and brothers as 10 pound poms. 

I would like to know if I have permanent residency status. I have never applied for it, as I always assumed it was automatic. 

I have voted in every election since 1978, have bought and sold property although not recently, have a driver's license etc. 

I just never got around to applying for citizenship, although I want to remedy that now. To do that, I believe that I have to prove permanent residency. 

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I am certain that I do not have Australian citizenship. My parents became citizens in 1977 and my two younger brothers gained citizenship automatically because they were under 16 years of age. I was over 16 at the time and had gone bush to work. 

According to all the information that I can find, I do not qualify for automatic citizenship. What I can't seem to clarify, is if I qualify for automatic permanent residency. 

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18 minutes ago, John R W said:

I am certain that I do not have Australian citizenship. My parents became citizens in 1977 and my two younger brothers gained citizenship automatically because they were under 16 years of age. I was over 16 at the time and had gone bush to work. 

According to all the information that I can find, I do not qualify for automatic citizenship. What I can't seem to clarify, is if I qualify for automatic permanent residency. 

If you are not a permanent resident then you’re living in Australia illegally, there’s no other visa you could be covered by.

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Contact wrussell above and get him to look into it for you. The rules have changed over the years, I worked with someone like yourself, she voted and had a passport but never had a citizenship certificate. She wasn’t in Australia illegally and if you vote then that would suggest you are a citizen really wouldn’t it?

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Just now, Amber Snowball said:

Contact wrussell above and get him to look into it for you. The rules have changed over the years, I worked with someone like yourself, she voted and had a passport but never had a citizenship certificate. She wasn’t in Australia illegally and if you vote then that would suggest you are a citizen really wouldn’t it?

There are still loads of permanent residents who are allowed to vote. British permanent residents who were already on the electoral roll before 1984 (when they changed the rules to only allow citizens to be added to the roll) were permitted to stay on it. 

I was in that situation myself. I got PR in 1981 and was added to the electoral roll then and allowed to vote. I did not become a citizen until 1989.

It sounds like the OP is definitely a permanent resident. How he proves it, though, I don't know. I'm also sure Westly Russell can help. 

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10 minutes ago, NickyNook said:

There are still loads of permanent residents who are allowed to vote. British permanent residents who were already on the electoral roll before 1984 (when they changed the rules to only allow citizens to be added to the roll) were permitted to stay on it. 

I was in that situation myself. I got PR in 1981 and was added to the electoral roll then and allowed to vote. I did not become a citizen until 1989.

It sounds like the OP is definitely a permanent resident. How he proves it, though, I don't know. I'm also sure Westly Russell can help. 

Yeah, I know things have changed over the years. Did you have a passport prior to the official citizenship?

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