New Aussie Immigrants

[khall64au]

Find the pub before citizenship plunge

The Government's security shake-up means a less secure immediate future for many of our immigrants, reports Caroline Overington

September 24, 2005

AT times it seems there's nothing the Government loves more than a new Australian citizen. For four years it paid for television commercials, urging permanent residents to stand up before the Aussie flag and take the citizenship pledge.

Tens of thousands of permanent residents who intended to do just that in the near future may now find their plans disrupted as they become unexpectedly caught in Australia's war on terror.

Under new security rules foreshadowed this month by the Prime Minister, permanent residents will have to wait a minimum of three years in this country before applying for citizenship, instead of the present two. Many are high-skilled Britons and Kiwis, along with refugees from Africa and Chinese migrants who have come to Australia to be reunited with family.

That change may not seem onerous -- the Howard Government says it is modest, reasonable and necessary in the age of terror -- but the three years must be spent in Australia to count, as with the two-year requirement now. Business and holiday trips, or time spent with family overseas, are deducted from the total.

The planned change is likely to affect more than 100,000 people on permanent residency visas. It will apply to all permanent residents who have not already applied for citizenship, irrespective of how they have organised their lives for the present rules.

A permanent residency visa can be cancelled by the Government and, unlike in the US, requires a new re-entry visa after five years for overseas travel.

Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Minister John Cobb says the change is necessary because it will give new migrants time to "make mates and go to the pub". He tells Inquirer new immigrants are particularly vulnerable "to falling in with dangerous groups".

"Many people who arrive, they are alone, they are outside their own country, they don't know people, and they are very likely to be prey to extreme views, and extreme groups can recruit them," Cobb says.

"If somebody has been here only two years, they are not as likely to be settled. This extra year will give them time to get a job, get settled, give them time to make mates and go to the pub. If they have come into contact with some extreme group, they'll be capable of saying, 'No mate, that's not what life is about in Australia', and they are not going to be anywhere near as vulnerable."

Cobb, who is doubtless not referring to newly arrived Muslims with his recommendation to go pubbing, says he cannot readily give an example of a person who has fallen by the wayside in their third year of residency after being granted citizenship. But he says most Australians will welcome the changes, "as it gives us an extra year to ensure they [new arrivals] don't fall in with unsavoury characters".

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/commo...5E28737,00.html

[coldcrush]

I thought Australia was full of unsavoury characters, being an English Jail and all....

jk

Find the pub before citizenship plunge

The Government's security shake-up means a less secure immediate future for many of our immigrants, reports Caroline Overington

September 24, 2005

AT times it seems there's nothing the Government loves more than a new Australian citizen. For four years it paid for television commercials, urging permanent residents to stand up before the Aussie flag and take the citizenship pledge.

Tens of thousands of permanent residents who intended to do just that in the near future may now find their plans disrupted as they become unexpectedly caught in Australia's war on terror.

Under new security rules foreshadowed this month by the Prime Minister, permanent residents will have to wait a minimum of three years in this country before applying for citizenship, instead of the present two. Many are high-skilled Britons and Kiwis, along with refugees from Africa and Chinese migrants who have come to Australia to be reunited with family.

That change may not seem onerous -- the Howard Government says it is modest, reasonable and necessary in the age of terror -- but the three years must be spent in Australia to count, as with the two-year requirement now. Business and holiday trips, or time spent with family overseas, are deducted from the total.

The planned change is likely to affect more than 100,000 people on permanent residency visas. It will apply to all permanent residents who have not already applied for citizenship, irrespective of how they have organised their lives for the present rules.

A permanent residency visa can be cancelled by the Government and, unlike in the US, requires a new re-entry visa after five years for overseas travel.

Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Minister John Cobb says the change is necessary because it will give new migrants time to "make mates and go to the pub". He tells Inquirer new immigrants are particularly vulnerable "to falling in with dangerous groups".

"Many people who arrive, they are alone, they are outside their own country, they don't know people, and they are very likely to be prey to extreme views, and extreme groups can recruit them," Cobb says.

"If somebody has been here only two years, they are not as likely to be settled. This extra year will give them time to get a job,

get settled, give them time to make mates and go to the pub. If they have come into contact with some extreme group, they'll be capable of saying, 'No mate, that's not what life is about in Australia', and they are not going to be anywhere near as vulnerable."

Cobb, who is doubtless not referring to newly arrived Muslims with his recommendation to go pubbing, says he cannot readily give an example of a person who has fallen by the wayside in their third year of residency after being granted citizenship. But he says most Australians will welcome the changes, "as it gives us an extra year to ensure they [new arrivals] don't fall in with unsavoury characters".

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/commo...5E28737,00.html

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Chang_paarp]

Given what they are spending telling us to not drink, one would be better off joining a political party.

You will meet all the right people to further your time in Au. Just don't think of going into politics untill they give you the piece of paper.

Still you can do it.

How long does it take in Thailand?

CP