[notsure]

Apologies if this has already been answered, I tried to search but didn't see anything relevent.


Having been in Australia for 4 years now, and with Norway finally passing a law this month to allow dual citizenship, my husband has started to think about applying for citizenship.

His timeline is below


Dec 2014 - Arrived in Australia on eVisitor Visa
Mar 2015 - Granted Bridging Visa
Apr 2016 - Granted both 820 & 801 visa.


From which of those dates does his required residency period start.

Ultimately it's not going to matter too much, as the Norwegian legislation wont become law for at least 12 months, so we wouldn't be applying until mid-late 2019 anyways, to allow that to come into effect prior to his application being processed.


Thanks

 

[zol]

You can use this calculator to let you know when he will be eligible

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/tools/residence-calculator

 

[notsure]

Thanks for the link - however it does return me to my original question...which of the above would be the lawful residency date - when granted the eVisitor, the bridging visa or his TR/PR (granted same day).

I'm assuming it will be one of the first two (ultimately doesn't matter which for our purposes), but if the latter will cause a 6-9 month delay in his application.

 

[paulhand]

Thanks for the link - however it does return me to my original question...which of the above would be the lawful residency date - when granted the eVisitor, the bridging visa or his TR/PR (granted same day).

I'm assuming it will be one of the first two (ultimately doesn't matter which for our purposes), but if the latter will cause a 6-9 month delay in his application.

As things stand, the first date.

 

[zol]

As things stand, the first date.

That's interesting, I would have bet on the BV date. Does stay under a visitor visa count?

 

[paulhand]

That's interesting, I would have bet on the BV date. Does stay under a visitor visa count?

"To meet the general residence requirement (s22) a person is required to have been lawfully present in Australia for a period of four years immediately prior to making their application, including the last 12 months as a permanent resident.

All periods of lawful residence in Australia, such as temporary visas, visitor visas, student visas, all classes of bridging visas etc., are taken into account when calculating the four year lawful residence period."

 

[notsure]

Thankyou for the information Paul. Much appriciated. This would mean my husband became eligible a few weeks back. That said we'll need to wait a few months to allow time for the Norwegian legislation to come closer to becoming law (which will happen in 12 monrhs time), just in case the citizenship application is processed quicker than expected.