[AU PR filter] Do they really check the residency requirement for a RRV?
May 30, 2018 1:34 PM Subscribe
Australia expat filter: When applying for a RRV, does the government actually check/enforce the two-year residency rule or are they just happy accepting the fee and granting the RRV, even if you haven't lived in Australia at all in the past five years?
My friend lives in Australia but is a citizen of a different country. He is waiting for his PR to come through. When it does, he plans to return to his home country. He wants to move back to Australia at some future point in his life but he doesn't know when, and ideally he would retain his PR/travel status indefinitely.
PR is forever but travel status is not, and after the initial five year travel visa granted with PR, he will need to apply for a RRV (resident return visa). There is a two-year residency requirement for a RRV, e.g. you need to have lived in AU for two of the past five years in order to qualify for a RRV.
The question is, does the government actually check that you lived in AU for two years or are they just happy accepting the fee and granting the RRV, even if you haven't lived in Australia at all in the past five years?
Ideally he would get an RRV every five years and then eventually move back to AU one day (retirement?) but he doesn't know whether this will work. Thanks!
My friend lives in Australia but is a citizen of a different country. He is waiting for his PR to come through. When it does, he plans to return to his home country. He wants to move back to Australia at some future point in his life but he doesn't know when, and ideally he would retain his PR/travel status indefinitely.
PR is forever but travel status is not, and after the initial five year travel visa granted with PR, he will need to apply for a RRV (resident return visa). There is a two-year residency requirement for a RRV, e.g. you need to have lived in AU for two of the past five years in order to qualify for a RRV.
The question is, does the government actually check that you lived in AU for two years or are they just happy accepting the fee and granting the RRV, even if you haven't lived in Australia at all in the past five years?
Ideally he would get an RRV every five years and then eventually move back to AU one day (retirement?) but he doesn't know whether this will work. Thanks!
Permanent Residency is not forever, it can be revoked. One reason for revoking it is not fulfilling requirements. Staying in the country for two years is a requirement. If they leave the country before the two years is up, the government will know and they will revoke their PR. If they stay for the two years then leave the country for more than three years, they will not receive a RRV (five years minus two years).
Your friend is looking at it the wrong way. Australia does not 'sell' PRs; it's not about the money. They have very strict controls. For example, a friend of mine who is a permanent resident (and has been in Australia since she was two years old), cannot leave Australia for more than three years at a time or she will lose her PR. And another example: my SIL was a PR and even after she separated from my brother and returned to her home country, she returned to Australia at least every three years to maintain her PR which she wanted to keep.
posted by Thella at 2:01 PM on May 30, 2018 [6 favorites]
Your friend is looking at it the wrong way. Australia does not 'sell' PRs; it's not about the money. They have very strict controls. For example, a friend of mine who is a permanent resident (and has been in Australia since she was two years old), cannot leave Australia for more than three years at a time or she will lose her PR. And another example: my SIL was a PR and even after she separated from my brother and returned to her home country, she returned to Australia at least every three years to maintain her PR which she wanted to keep.
posted by Thella at 2:01 PM on May 30, 2018 [6 favorites]
It won't work at all. The application itself asks for details of the time you have spent in Australia over the last five years, including entry and exit dates. There is zero chance of getting an RRV if he tells the truth, and the idea of making up immigration data on a form filed with the immigration department is hilariously stupid.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 2:26 PM on May 30, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by the agents of KAOS at 2:26 PM on May 30, 2018 [6 favorites]
Response by poster: Thella:
my SIL was a PR and even after she separated from my brother and returned to her home country, she returned to Australia at least every three years to maintain her PR which she wanted to keep.
She returned at least every three years and had to stay for a time period of at least three years, right? e.g. it wouldn't be enough to return every three years for a holiday - correct?
posted by sunflower16 at 2:30 PM on May 30, 2018
my SIL was a PR and even after she separated from my brother and returned to her home country, she returned to Australia at least every three years to maintain her PR which she wanted to keep.
She returned at least every three years and had to stay for a time period of at least three years, right? e.g. it wouldn't be enough to return every three years for a holiday - correct?
posted by sunflower16 at 2:30 PM on May 30, 2018
IIRC, she stayed for at least two years each time. She did this at least twice before she and my brother reunited permanently; once to get a degree and once to mind my brother's home (and the kids) while my brother worked overseas. But I don't know if it was a requirement that she stay for two years, it's just how it worked out.
posted by Thella at 2:35 PM on May 30, 2018
posted by Thella at 2:35 PM on May 30, 2018
Now that I think about it more, I am pretty sure my SIL had to stay for two years every five years. She eventually took out citizenship. I know that my friend who had been here since she was two, had to spend a large amount of money on a ticket back to Australia when she realised her three years was rapidly running out and she was at risk of losing her PR to the only country she knew as home.
posted by Thella at 2:38 PM on May 30, 2018
posted by Thella at 2:38 PM on May 30, 2018
Response by poster: the agents of KAOS: I wouldn’t lie on an immigration form, either, personally. But if the agency already has that info and is going to check it, why do they bother asking the applicant to fill it out on the form?
posted by sunflower16 at 3:05 PM on May 30, 2018
posted by sunflower16 at 3:05 PM on May 30, 2018
That I don't know. My favorite instance of this is that it is common for people applying for US permanent residency to submit a FoIA request to CBP (a part of the DHS) to get a list of all the dates they entered and exited the country...that they will then submit to USCIS in their greencard application, which is also part of the DHS.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 3:36 PM on May 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by the agents of KAOS at 3:36 PM on May 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
But if the agency already has that info and is going to check it, why do they bother asking the applicant to fill it out on the form?
It's a good way to catch out someone who is lying.
You can't get out of Australia without it being recorded. The various government agencies share information. It was mentioned at a recent work seminar that immigration and the ATO will be sharing info even more explicitly in order to ensure visa compliance. There's no way your friend can do this and not get caught.
posted by kitten magic at 6:10 PM on May 30, 2018
It's a good way to catch out someone who is lying.
You can't get out of Australia without it being recorded. The various government agencies share information. It was mentioned at a recent work seminar that immigration and the ATO will be sharing info even more explicitly in order to ensure visa compliance. There's no way your friend can do this and not get caught.
posted by kitten magic at 6:10 PM on May 30, 2018
Australia’s immigration laws are some of the strictest in the world. And yes, they check everything.
What your friend is planning will not work at all, and I would advise them not even to bother.
(I’m a lawyer in Australia and have done some immigration work.)
posted by Salamander at 7:29 PM on May 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
What your friend is planning will not work at all, and I would advise them not even to bother.
(I’m a lawyer in Australia and have done some immigration work.)
posted by Salamander at 7:29 PM on May 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
For what it’s worth the daycare my daughter went to two years ago in Australia just got a government audit and we were contacted to provide an explanation for why she was signed in to daycare on a day the government had record of her being out of the country.
We’d had an 11 PM flight to the Phillipines that night. There was a good explanation. But the Aussie government does not fuck around with cross referencing. Don’t lie to the Aussie government.
posted by olinerd at 7:31 PM on May 30, 2018 [5 favorites]
We’d had an 11 PM flight to the Phillipines that night. There was a good explanation. But the Aussie government does not fuck around with cross referencing. Don’t lie to the Aussie government.
posted by olinerd at 7:31 PM on May 30, 2018 [5 favorites]
The person currently in charge of immigration matters in Australia is a power-hungry ex-policeman with a boundless lust for control and no shred of genuine warmth or empathy. Peter Dutton has a documented history of taking great delight in visiting as much suffering as humanly and bureaucratically possible upon anybody he even vaguely suspects of taking the piss.
The only time Peter Dutton's immigration officers are slack about paperwork is when they've already decided to screw somebody over and there's some chance that paperwork might actually stop them.
posted by flabdablet at 8:59 PM on May 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
The only time Peter Dutton's immigration officers are slack about paperwork is when they've already decided to screw somebody over and there's some chance that paperwork might actually stop them.
posted by flabdablet at 8:59 PM on May 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
As above. They are incredibly strict. A friend had a great deal of rigmarole to go through because she wished to go and be with her father as he died.
Do not muck around, there's no point, your friend won't get in unless it's by the book. And even then be careful.
posted by deadwax at 3:56 AM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
Do not muck around, there's no point, your friend won't get in unless it's by the book. And even then be careful.
posted by deadwax at 3:56 AM on May 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yeah, if you're going to lie to the Australian government, Reichsführer Dutton's mob is not the place to start.
posted by pompomtom at 4:58 AM on May 31, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by pompomtom at 4:58 AM on May 31, 2018 [3 favorites]
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