Australian Citizenship Amendment Regulations 2008 (No.1)
1 July 2008 - Legislation Change
Client summary
From 1 July 2008, the Australian Citizenship Regulations 2007 ('the Regulations') are amended to ensure that a person applying for Australian citizenship under subsection 21(2) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (the Act) will not need to pay a second fee to sit the citizenship test. This amendment will apply to applications made on or after 1 October 2007, when the Australian Citizenship (Citizenship Testing) Act 2007 commenced, to ensure applicants are never required to pay a second fee for the test.
Affected legislation
The following provisions of the Regulations are affected:
Schedule 3, items 14A and 15
New items 15C and 15D are inserted.
Additional information: This amendment has the effect that where an applicant made a previous application under subsection 21(2) of the Act for Australian citizenship by conferral, and paid a fee that included a component that relates to the sitting of a citizenship test, they will not be required to pay the test fee component a second time when making a subsequent application, only the administrative fee component in relation to their application.
For example, when making an application on a form 1300t for Australian citizenship by conferral (that is, a person required to sit the citizenship test), an applicant must pay a fee which includes a test fee component ($120, or $20 for concessions) and an administrative fee component (another $120, or $20 for concession), making the complete fee for this application equal $240 (or $40 for concession). This amendment allows for an applicant to only pay the administrative fee component (that is $120, or $20 for concession), where that applicant is making a subsequent application and has already paid a test fee component with a previous application.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has identified the small number of applicants who have paid the test fee component twice, and will contact these applicants to organise a refund once these amendment Regulations commence.
Transitional provisions: The amendment is retrospective and applies to applications made on or after 1 October 2007.
Forms: Nil
Instructions: Australian Citizenship Instructions (ACIs) will be amended to reflect these changes by 1 July 2008.