Beanna Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Hello, My Aussie partner and I left Australia in September and my first Resident Return Visa (RRV) expired in December. I was under the impression that I didn't need to apply for a new RRV until I was planning to return to Australia however, today i read something on the Home Affairs website that makes me question whether I should have allowed it to expire. As an Australian Permanent Resident, do you always need a valid RRV? Or are you able to allow it to lapse when overseas and apply for a new one when returning to Australia, as long as you meet the 2/5 year requirement when applying? Or would allowing the visa to lapse, result negatively? Many Thanks for your insights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 It's always best to have your PR status current and get the RRV before it expires to avoid any possibilities that you don't meet the residency criteria e.g. if your stay overseas gets prolonged. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) 6 hours ago, Beanna said: As an Australian Permanent Resident, do you always need a valid RRV? Or are you able to allow it to lapse when overseas and apply for a new one when returning to Australia, as long as you meet the 2/5 year requirement when applying? Or would allowing the visa to lapse, result negatively? You can allow it to lapse but it's probably safest not to. If you want to wait till the last minute, then keep an eagle eye on the calendar and make sure you apply before you lose eligibility. If you get to the point where you no longer meet the residency criteria (2 years out of last 5 years), it's a whole different ball game and it would be awful if you lost your right to live in Australia because you weren't paying attention. Edited January 1, 2021 by Marisawright 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 As above. I also think allowing it to lapse whilst overseas re sets your time for citizenship. I know someone on here a while back thought they qualified for citizenship and couldn’t understand why they were not. Turned out it was a technicality regarding lapsed visa whilst overseas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulhand Posted January 2, 2021 Share Posted January 2, 2021 8 hours ago, rammygirl said: As above. I also think allowing it to lapse whilst overseas re sets your time for citizenship. I know someone on here a while back thought they qualified for citizenship and couldn’t understand why they were not. Turned out it was a technicality regarding lapsed visa whilst overseas. It resets the ‘final 12 months as a permanent resident’ part of the citizenship criteria, so it’s always worth keeping it current where possible, also if urgent travel is a possibility. There is no negative effect in terms of eligibility for a new RRV in most cases. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beanna Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 17 hours ago, paulhand said: It resets the ‘final 12 months as a permanent resident’ part of the citizenship criteria, so it’s always worth keeping it current where possible, also if urgent travel is a possibility. There is no negative effect in terms of eligibility for a new RRV in most cases. Thank you for the advice, I have just applied for it. To be honest, as a Dutch citizen, I had never considered obtaining Australian citizenship because it is not possible to have for the Dutch to have dual citizenship. The Dutch government requires you to give up citizenship if you are a citizen of another country (unless born there). However, I've just become aware that they may be changing this so maybe it will be a possibility in the future and then it would not be necessary to keep applying for the RRV and meet the 2/5 year rule. Since I have unfortunately allowed this RRV to lapse by 1 month, will this impact on my eligibility for citizenship in the future? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulhand Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 6 hours ago, Beanna said: Since I have unfortunately allowed this RRV to lapse by 1 month, will this impact on my eligibility for citizenship in the future? Not in the long term... it currently only affects the way that the final year is calculated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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