Ang Kalatas October 2017 Issue | Page 7

IMMIGRATION FEATURE Impact on Australian citizenship amendment THE proposed Australian Citizenship Legislation Amendment (Strengthening the Requirements for Australian Citizenship and Other Measures) Bill which was tabled on the Parliament on June 15, 2017 will amend the present Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (the Act) which according to the government will strengthen the requirements to become an Australian citizenship. The bill is now on its 3rd reading at the House of Representative. Some of the important amendments of the bill includes: Requirement for competent English The amendment will require applicant to pass a competent English examination with a score of 6 in IELTS or its test equivalent for listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. At present, applicant’s basic English is assessed when they sit for the citizenship test. This requirement will mean few applicant will pass if approved as to get a score of 6 will require education at the tertiary level to pass the four components of the examination as native English speakers have even difficulty understanding the examination. www.kalatas.com.au By ATTY. JESSIE ICAO CHILDREN BORN IN AUSTRALIA Under the present law, children born in Australia will be conferred Australian citizenship upon reaching the age of 10 years old, regardless of whether their parents have a valid visa or not. Put simply, children born to illegal parents will become Australian citizen on their 10th birthday. With the proposed amendment, only those children born to parents who live in Australia with valid visa can be conferred Australian citizenship when they are 10 years old. This will close the loop hole of parents getting a child born in Australia to be conferred Australian citizenship upon reaching the age of 10 years old. AUSTRALIAN VALUE STATEMENT new citizenship amendment requires applicant to sign an Australian value statement and undertake to integrate in the Australian community and recognise freedom of religion, rule of law, democracy and adherence to equality of men and women. Under the old Citi zenship Act, there is no express edict on integration. What it means here is that the applicant will endeavour to find a job and for him/her to contribute in terms of his skills and talents to the community. I suppose there will be more stringent policy requirements if the amendment is approved which will likewise aim at tightening the Centrelink benefits. POLICE CHECKS BROADEN With the new amendment, the applicant will have no record or issue with domestic or family violence, criminality including female genital mutilation and involvement in gangs. Any applicant convicted with these offences will surely be refused of Australian citizenship. Further, children under 18 years old will be required to secure an Australian Federal Police clearance as there are cases now where minors have committed serious crimes. MINISTER’S POWER The amendment if approved, gives the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection the power to cancel the Australian citizenship previously issued if the citizen has become a risk to national security. This is a situation for example, where an Australian citizen will return to their former country of citizenship and fight against the duly established government or what we are reading in the papers where Australian citizens return to their country to fight along side with terrorist. Further with the amendment, the Minister has the power to set aside the decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) granting citizenship to an appellant if the Minister decides that it is in the public interest that the applicant’s application be refused, notwithstanding the AAT’s decision to reverse the decision of the Immigration Department. This is not the rule with the present Citizenship Act 2007 as full respect is accorded to AAT as merits review Tribunal. The Minister under the amendment has power to revoke the citizenship of a person even if he is a citizen for a long number of years if the Minister discovers that the person was conferred Australian citizenship by fraud or misrepresentation. An example to this revocation, is a case where the person was conferred Australian citizenship on alleged marriage to an Australian sponsor which was discovered later to be a contrived relationship or a situation where the sponsor was paid to enter into a spurious relationship. n AK NewsMagazine, Vol 8 No 1 | OCTOBER 2017 07