Australian permanent residents are residents of Australia who hold a permanent visa but are not citizens of Australia. A holder of a permanent visa may remain in Australia indefinitely. A 5-year initial travel facility, which corresponds to the underlying migration program, is granted alongside the permanent visa. Until the travel facility expires, the visa holder may leave and re-enter Australia freely. After that period the visa holder needs to re-apply for the travel facility. However, holders of a permanent visa who are already in Australia with an expired travel facility may remain in Australia indefinitely.
Permanent residents enjoy many of the rights and privileges of citizens, including access to free or subsidised legal, education and health services. They do not have the right to vote in federal or state/territory elections, unless they were registered to vote prior to 1984, but may vote in some local government elections. Permanent residents are not entitled to an Australian passport.
Most permanent residents are eligible to become citizens after a waiting period. [1] When the waiting period is complete, the process of sitting the citizenship test and attending the ceremony may add up to two years to gaining citizenship. [2]
There are a number of programs under which a person may enter and obtain permanent residency in Australia, including:
Citizens of New Zealand are allowed to enter Australia to live and work indefinitely under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement, without applying for a visa but instead are automatically granted a Special Category Visa (SCV) on arrival. Though able to reside with no time limit, SCV holders are not considered as having permanent resident status, and the SCV is a temporary visa. Between 2001 and 2023, SCV holders who wanted to become Australian citizens first needed to apply for and obtain a permanent visa under one of the migration programs. On 1 July 2023, new legislation was introduced to consider SCV holders permanent residents for the purposes of Australian citizenship, allowing them to apply directly for citizenship. [5]
Benefits of permanent resident status include:
Permanent residents do not have the right to vote in federal, state or territory elections, unless they were “British subjects” and registered to vote prior to 1984, but may vote in some local government elections. Permanent residents are not entitled to an Australian passport.
A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. Green card holders are formally known as lawful permanent residents (LPRs). As of 2023, there are an estimated 12.7 million green card holders, of whom 9 million are eligible to become United States citizens. Approximately 18,700 of them serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) is an immigration status granted to a person who does not hold the right of abode in the United Kingdom (UK), but who has been admitted to the UK without any time limit on their stay and who is free to take up employment, engage in business, self-employment, or study. When indefinite leave is granted to persons outside the United Kingdom it is known as indefinite leave to enter (ILE).
Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with such legal status is known as a permanent resident.
The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement (TTTA) is an arrangement between Australia and New Zealand which allows for the free movement of citizens of one of these countries to the other. The arrangement came into effect in 1973, and allows citizens of each country to reside and work in the other country indefinitely, with some restrictions. Other details of the arrangement have varied over time. From 1 July 1981, all people entering Australia have been required to carry a passport. Since 1 September 1994, Australia has had a universal visa requirement, and to specifically cater for the continued free movement of New Zealanders to Australia the Special Category Visa was introduced for New Zealanders.
In law, an alien is generally any person who is not a citizen or a national of a specific country, although definitions and terminology differ across legal systems.
The right of abode is an individual's freedom from immigration control in a particular country. A person who has the right of abode in a country does not need permission from the government to enter the country and can live and work there without restriction, and is immune from removal and deportation.
Australian nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of Australia. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is applicable in all states and territories of Australia.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport is a passport issued only to permanent residents of Hong Kong who also hold Chinese citizenship. In accordance with the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, since the handover in 1997, the passport has been issued by the Immigration Department of the Government of Hong Kong under the authorisation of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China. As the official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English, the passport is printed bilingually in both Chinese and English. In addition, unlike Chinese passport which can be issued by Chinese diplomatic missions abroad, the Immigration Department of Hong Kong is the only issuing authority for HKSAR passports.
New Zealand nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of New Zealand. The primary law governing these requirements is the Citizenship Act 1977, which came into force on 1 January 1978. Regulations apply to the entire Realm of New Zealand, which includes the country of New Zealand itself, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, and the Ross Dependency.
A UK Ancestry visa is a visa issued by the United Kingdom to Commonwealth citizens with a grandparent born in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Ireland who wish to work in the United Kingdom. It is used mainly by young Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans of British descent coming to the UK to work and as a base to explore Europe.
A Commonwealth citizen is a citizen of a Commonwealth of Nations member state. Most member countries generally do not treat citizens of other Commonwealth states any differently from foreign nationals, but do grant limited citizenship rights to resident Commonwealth citizens. For example, in 14 member states, resident non-local Commonwealth citizens are eligible to vote in elections. The status is most significant in the United Kingdom, and carries few or no privileges in many other Commonwealth countries.
Parole, in the immigration laws of the United States, generally refers to official permission to enter and remain temporarily in the United States, under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), without formal admission, and while remaining an applicant for admission.
A Special Category Visa (SCV) is an Australian visa category granted to most New Zealand citizens on arrival in Australia, enabling them to visit, study, stay and work in Australia indefinitely under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. Currently, there are two categories of SCVs: protected SCV and as non-protected SCV. New Zealanders who had entered Australia before 26 February 2001 are classified as protected SCV holders, and after that date as non-protected SCV holders. The rights of the two categories are somewhat different.
The visa policy of Australia deals with the requirements that a foreign national wishing to enter Australia must meet to obtain a visa, which is a permit to travel, to enter and remain in the country. A visa may also entitle the visa holder to other privileges, such as a right to work, study, etc. and may be subject to conditions.
A Permanent Resident of Norfolk Island visa was a type of Australian immigration visa granted on arrival in Australia to a non-citizen who is a permanent resident of Norfolk Island.
New Zealand Permanent Residents are residents of New Zealand, who hold a residence class visa, which – superficially seen – makes them equal to New Zealand citizens. Both resident visas and permanent resident visas give the holders the permanent right to be in New Zealand. However, they have different travel conditions.
Immigrant investor programs are programs that allow individuals to more quickly obtain residence or citizenship of a country in return for making qualifying investments.
Non–New Zealand citizens wishing to enter the Realm of New Zealand must obtain a visa unless they are
Multiple citizenship is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one country under its nationality and citizenship law as a national or citizen of that country. There is no international convention that determines the nationality or citizenship status of a person, which is consequently determined exclusively under national laws, that often conflict with each other, thus allowing for multiple citizenship situations to arise.
New Zealand Australians refers to Australian citizens whose origins are in New Zealand, as well as New Zealand migrants and expatriates based in Australia. Migration from New Zealand to Australia is a common phenomenon, given Australia's proximity to New Zealand, its larger economy, free movement agreement and cultural links between the two countries.