Do I pass the Residency test or not?!

[Tommy1990]

I hope someone can help me with this complex situation. 


I visited Australia as a tourist for the first time in my life for two weeks in FEBRUARY 2019 (visa 651)
Then I went back to the UK for 9 months, where I resided for those 9 months.

I then went again to Australia with the same VISITOR visa 651 on November 2019 and applied for PR onshore.

I am currently holding a PR visa.

Therefore being absent from Australia for a total of 9 months as of today.

Does this mean I can apply for citizenship in February 2023? 

Or will it not be guaranteed since I only came to Australia with a visitor visa for 2 weeks only, and that was basically
a holiday trip meant to explore the possibility of living in Australia, I did not actually reside here until November 2019, when I got a rental lease and applied for a permanent visa.

I did the official calculation residency test and I passed: Yes, meets residency requirement test.

However, Could the migration officer examining my citizenship application potentially say that I do not qualify,
since in February 2019 I was in Australia only for 2 weeks and I was residing in Europe until November 2019?

I don't want to apply in February 2023 just to have the application manually denied because of this... and I'd rather wait
November 2023, but if there is nothing wrong in applying in February 2023 and the application gets automatically
approved by the system then applying in February 2023 would be a good choice? 

[Gee!]

You would of had to reside in the country for 4 full years, and anytime during those years if you went out of Australia, even for one day, that would be deducted from your 4 year requirement. The 9 months you spent in Europe does not count.

But also, when you apply online through Immi you have to put all the dates you entered and left the country, so you wouldn't even be able to put the application through if Immi doesn't think you meet the 4 year requirement. I hope that info helps

After you came back to Australia on the visitor visa in November 2019 is when your residency would start. Since Nov 2019, did you leave the country at all and if so, how long?

[Tommy1990]

6 minutes ago, Gee! said:

You would of had to reside in the country for 4 full years, and anytime during those years if you went out of Australia, even for one day, that would be deducted from your 4 year requirement. The 9 months you spent in Europe does not count.

But also, when you apply online through Immi you have to put all the dates you entered and left the country, so you wouldn't even be able to put the application through if Immi doesn't think you meet the 4 year requirement. I hope that info helps

After you came back to Australia on the visitor visa in November 2019 is when your residency would start. Since Nov 2019, did you leave the country at all and if so, how long?

I get what you mean, but on the website of immigration, it states: "You need to live in Australia on a valid visa (tourist visas are included) for 4 years, and not be absent from Australia for more than 12 months". 
 I have been absent from Australia for 9 months only, this is why the residency calculator says I meet the requirement to apply in February 2023.

However, my question is, would the officer examining my application consider the application not valid since I didn't have a home/rental lease or any other ties here in Australia between February 2019 and November 2019? (other than my Australian wife). 

[welljock]

31 minutes ago, Gee! said:

You would of had to reside in the country for 4 full years, and anytime during those years if you went out of Australia, even for one day, that would be deducted from your 4 year requirement. The 9 months you spent in Europe does not count.

But also, when you apply online through Immi you have to put all the dates you entered and left the country, so you wouldn't even be able to put the application through if Immi doesn't think you meet the 4 year requirement. I hope that info helps

After you came back to Australia on the visitor visa in November 2019 is when your residency would start. Since Nov 2019, did you leave the country at all and if so, how long?

That's not correct. You can be out of the country for a total of 12 months in that 4 year period (less than 90 days in the last year). I "qualified" three years after coming here permanently because I had arrived on a valid visa before that and continuously held it. 

I think, Tommy1990 would qualify in Feb 2023, (ties are irrelevant in this case) subject to not leaving again for more than 3 months.

[Gee!]

51 minutes ago, Tommy1990 said:

I get what you mean, but on the website of immigration, it states: "You need to live in Australia on a valid visa (tourist visas are included) for 4 years, and not be absent from Australia for more than 12 months". 
 I have been absent from Australia for 9 months only, this is why the residency calculator says I meet the requirement to apply in February 2023.

However, my question is, would the officer examining my application consider the application not valid since I didn't have a home/rental lease or any other ties here in Australia between February 2019 and November 2019? (other than my Australian wife). 

Ahh my bad, I see where I misunderstood the rules, I'm sorry about that. If I can find a way to delete my previous comment so I don't give anyone else the wrong info then I will

 

In that case, since you had a valid visa, you can use your passport as proof of when you first entered the country in Feb 2019. It was most likely electronically scanned so it's in the government's system, as well as the valid visa. That is what I used to prove when I entered as well

[rammygirl]

Yup Feb 2023 as the tourist visa was still active whilst you were in the UK.  Just be aware of any time you spend out of Australia before then. Anything over the twelve months will add time on before you can apply.

For instance we had to wait an extra 4 weeks as we had spent 16 months in total outside Australia, it doesn’t re set just delays.

[Tommy1990]

9 hours ago, rammygirl said:

Yup Feb 2023 as the tourist visa was still active whilst you were in the UK.  Just be aware of any time you spend out of Australia before then. Anything over the twelve months will add time on before you can apply.

For instance we had to wait an extra 4 weeks as we had spent 16 months in total outside Australia, it doesn’t re set just delays.

Did you mean you were away for 16 months so you had to wait further 4 months? 


Oh I see... so let's say I go abroad for 4 months tomorrow, that would be 13 months out of Australia in total, does that mean I will have to wait a further 4 months from Februry 2023 hence only can apply in June 2023? 

I thought it would reset it 

[rammygirl]

No just the extra month. Look back from date of application at the previous 4 years. 

[Canada2Australia]

I would have never thought time on a tourist visa counted towards the four year golden rule. That seems like a fairly large loophole to allow many more people to gain citizenship on a far less stringent pathway than most of us had to follow.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Canada2Australia

[Tommy1990]

4 hours ago, Canada2Australia said:

I would have never thought time on a tourist visa counted towards the four year golden rule. That seems like a fairly large loophole to allow many more people to gain citizenship on a far less stringent pathway than most of us had to follow.

Not really.

 

A visa is a visa, if the end goal is to live here permanently, then what’s the problem? 

[JetBlast]

7 hours ago, Canada2Australia said:

I would have never thought time on a tourist visa counted towards the four year golden rule. That seems like a fairly large loophole to allow many more people to gain citizenship on a far less stringent pathway than most of us had to follow.

You still have to be on PR for 12 months. It's not like you can keep extending tourist visas and then get a passport.