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Potential good news for those seeking citizenship

For everyone who is hoping to apply for Australian Citizenship now or in the near future, there could be some good news on the horizon, with the processing times decreasing.  However, it must be stressed that if you in any way fail to include in your application something that later proves important (i.e a conviction of any kind, no matter how minor it may seem or how long ago it was) you run a very strong risk of getting your application refused.  We do recommend getting one of our TranQuill migration agents to assist you with you application to ensure you have covered all bases.  

According to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, David Coleman, the processing times for Australian citizenship applications are reducing with the department throwing in more resources following criticism in the face of a mounting backlog of applications.

David Coleman, who took over the role of Immigration and Citizenship minister after Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was stripped off the portfolio, says there has been a significant increase in the processing of citizenship applications.

“We have seen in the last couple of months this financial year some significant increases in the processing of applications with citizenship applications in the first two months of this financial year- in July and August we saw about 21,000 approvals compared to about 9000 last year,” Mr Coleman told reporters in Melbourne.

He said the department put additional resources – about 150 people – in the calendar year, to process applications. He also claimed that processing time for some visas, including student visa and the economic visa has also improved.

The Department copped some criticism for a huge backlog of citizenship applications that mounted to over 200,000 in April this year with waiting times currently between 16 and 19 months.

Mr Coleman attributed the delays in the processing of Australian citizenship applications to an increased vetting and enhanced security measures.

 “We did see last year, the impact an increased security process had. We also had an issue with the system that people who are applying for citizenship are applying with limited documentation,” he said. “It is absolutely fundamental that we in no way absolutely compromise on security. We are not going to do that. We are going to be very careful.”

The application backlog ballooned from 81,000 in June last year to over 200,000 this year after the Government announced an overhaul of the citizenship legislation, proposing an increase in the general residence requirement and a stand-alone English language test, in April 2017.

Do not hesitate to get in touch with us today should you wish to discuss the citizenship process. 

SOURCE for the main story: SBS News 

 

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