AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

Australia looks to strengthen citizenship laws

Tuesday, 13 March 2007

New immigration legislation designed to strengthen Australian security was passed through the Senate on 25 February 2007.

The key motivation behind the proposed changes was for security purposes. Under the bill, Australian immigrants can have their Australian citizenship applications vetoed by the national spy agency.

Also under the new legislation, migrants to Australia will now be required to spend four years in Australia before becoming eligible for citizenship, adding two years to the previous residency requirement. However it is expected that periods of lawful temporary residence may also be included when accumulating the four year period.

Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Kevin Andrews said the Government believes that by increasing the minimum time migrants must wait before they can apply for citizenship, they will have come to understand Australian values better.

“The effect of the legislation is that in the future people will have to spend a period of four years of lawful presence in Australia in order to become a citizen of this country,” the Minister said.

“That’s a change in terms of the time but also a change in that previously there was a reference to permanent residence rather than lawful residence. This is important because the Government believes that immigration is a process which should lead to citizenship of the Commonwealth of Australia.

“It’s not just an event as signified by the citizenship ceremony, but a process in which we hope that people coming to this country will come to know and understand and share in the values that we commonly share in this country. And a period of four years is an appropriate time; it’s hard to think that having been here for four years people wouldn’t understand generally the process and the values which are involved.”

The law will also introduce an increase to the age at which immigrants become exempt from a basic English language test for citizenship, from 50 to 60 years and will make it easier for anyone who renounced their Australian citizenship to regain it, providing they are of good character.

Further debate on citizenship will take place in the Parliament later this year when the government attempts to strengthen citizenship rules even more by requiring immigrants to pass general knowledge tests about Australia.

Once the above legislation is passed and enacted, migrationexpert.com will provide a further update to ensure you are aware of how this legislation may affect you.