These new requirements for Citizenship for Australia citizenship were announced by the Australian government on the 20th of April 2017 and this will apply to all applications received on or after the announcement.

This past Thursday, the government announced that they were going to strengthen the citizenship process by bringing in new reforms to ensure that Australian values were at the heart of the process.

The Minister of Immigration and Border Protection, Peter Dutton, stated in a press release, “Our reforms will ensure applicants are competent in English, have been a permanent resident for at least four years and commit to embracing Australian values.”

He also stated in this release, that membership to the Australian family was a privilege and should be granted to only those who supported the Australian values, respected laws and wanted to work hard by integrating and contributing to an even better Australia.

He is also quoted saying, “Citizenship is at the heart of our national identity. It is the foundation of our democracy. We must ensure that our citizenship program is conducted in our national interest.”

Let’s take a look at the 6 new requirements introduced on Thursday below:

1. Every applicant will be required to pass a stand-alone English test, involving reading, writing, listening and speaking
2. They are changing the requirement of having to have lived in Australia for one year as a permanent resident to AT LEAST 4 years of permanent residency will be required.
3. New and more meaningful questions will be added to the citizenship test to strengthen it. This will show an applicant’s understanding and commitment to Australian shared values and responsibilities
4. As an applicant you will be required to now show steps you’ve taken to integrate into and contribute to the Australian community. This would include, evidence of employment, membership in community organisations and school enrolment for all of your eligible children.
5. Applicants may only fail the citizenship test three times, before you cannot apply again (currently there is no set limit to the number of times you can fail the test)
6. If you are caught cheating on your citizenship test you will receive an automatic fail

ONE derland Consulting has extensive experience dealing with different type of visas and complex cases, to find further information on your options and eligibility for citizenship listed above, please contact our office on (+61) 089477-5831 or email: [email protected]