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
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