lovesurfing Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 Hi all, A question regarding oz citizenship requirement. I am originally from England, got TSS work visa in Jan-2019, reached Australia in Feb-2019 with family (wifey and son), converted our TSS visa to permanent resident visa in Jan-2021 (subtype 858). Now we all three have PRs. My question is I may have to go back to England soon (ageing parents) though in the long term we want to settle down in Australia. If we all go back to England, qualifying for citizenship may get tricky as we are not sure about return date. My question is can my wife and kid stay back in Australia and apply for citizenship when they qualify in Feb-2023? Are PR visa's linked to the main applicant or independent of each other? thank you, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 Now you've got PR, you each have your own independent PR visa. You could even divorce and it would make no difference. Citizenship is the ideal but it's not essential, depending how long you think you'll be away. To explain: I'm sure you know your PR visa has a "travel facility" that lasts 5 years (the date should be shown on your passport/visa). If you don't get citizenship within that time, you must apply for a RRV before you travel, otherwise they won't let you back in the country. Therefore I'd suggest looking at your dates. I assume your travel facility expires in 2026 (check your passport/visa). Would you have spent at least 2 years out of the previous 5 years in Australia at that point? If so, even if you're not in Australia at the time, they'll give you a new, 5-year RRV, which will take you to 2031. As long as you return to Australia before then, you'll be able to resume your lives in Australia and eventually get citizenship no problem. The difficulty will arise if you're still stuck overseas in 2031, because you won't meet the residency requirements for another RRV, and you may find yourself shut out of Australia altogether (because without the RRV, they won't let you return). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovesurfing Posted March 21, 2022 Author Share Posted March 21, 2022 Fantastic! Really useful info; thanks a ton! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hartley Posted May 9, 2022 Share Posted May 9, 2022 If a PR since 2015, but have been out of the country several times for 6 months plus, but in Oz now since 31st Dec2019, can I apply for citizenship? Do I have to wait until I’ve done 4 years with only 1 year away? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted May 9, 2022 Share Posted May 9, 2022 In effect yes. But you look back from the date of application and the 1year is cumulative. There is a rule about not being out for 90 days or more in the last year though. There is a calculator where you input the dates and the application won’t let you progress if you don’t qualify anyway! We had to wait longer than our youngest son as we travelled more and our eldest even longer as he had lived back in the UK for a while. It looks like you qualify but hard to tell without exact dates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arshinefeed Posted May 25, 2022 Share Posted May 25, 2022 In effect yes. But you look back from the date of application and the 1year is cumulative. There is a rule about not being out for 90 days or more in the last year though. There is a calculator where you input the dates and the application won’t let you progress if you don’t qualify anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pm04sss Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 (edited) Yes. We got ours after 11 months. Pretty easy as far as it went. Edited June 30, 2022 by pm04sss Link not working / helpful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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