Heymanse Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Impatiently waiting to receive our invitation letter from our local council to attend the citizenship ceremony so that we can finally apply for our Aussie passports. It's been more than 3 months now and I know for sure that I will not be invited to the next ceremony mid November. Friends of ours, also living in our area (i.e. will also receive an invitation from the same council) wrote their tests in May and still haven't received invitations so I'm really freakin out here as it looks like we won't be receiving an invitation any time soon If we're lucky maybe mid next year by the looks of it....Other friends wrote their test a month after we did and already received their invites, BUT, they live in Brisbane (lucky fishes!!)So I was wondering, how long did you have to wait after writing your citizenship test to attending the ceremony? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OubaasDik Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Took our lot 6 months.I think it depends on number of people, size of venue, etc. They try to make it memorable, and special, which it wouldn't be if 300 people had to crowd into someone's lounge and get issued with certificates, and told "That's it" see you at Centerlink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordy Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Ours took 3 days. We phoned the council and asked to speak to the person who does the ceremonies. She told us which dates were available and we then requested Australia Day 2013.Have you phoned your local council and perhaps ask for a private ceremony?Thinking about this some more - six months or more wait is not on. The standard set by DIAC is 3 months for councils. I would call the council or email DIAC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted October 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Yep, phoned the council and was told that they receive the letters from DIAC and can only then send out invitations. Contacted DIAC and was send a form that I must complete and attach docs (i.e. medical certificates, flight bookings) that would warrant the necessity for an earlier citizenship ceremony. This extract I found:Wait for a letter from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to advise when you will be allocated to a ceremony. The current waiting time is 6 – 9 months after you have received your approval. This letter is usually provided 6 – 8 weeks prior the ceremony.All client information is handled by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship NOT Council.The Department of Immigration are the only ones who can allocate clients to attend a ceremony NOT Council.The Department of Immigration under no circumstances will move clients forward on the list or give preference to clients to attend a ceremony.If you are invited to attend a ceremony and do not attend you are required to wait until you are invited to a new ceremony. Failure to attend further ceremonies can result in forfeiting your Australian Citizenship.Thus, not as easy anymore to ask for an earlier ceremony date..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordy Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Wow that is very different from the way our local council works. Ours is managed and arranged by the Mayor's PA. She was friendly as anything and although she couldn't book us in till she received the official letter from DIAC she gave us a choice of 3 dates, one of which was Australia Day. I chose Aus day and she made a note. She said that once she gets the letter she will respond. and literally 3 days later we got a letter from her in the post with the date we requested.A friend of ours needed an earlier date because of their son attending uni, and she gave him a private ceremony alone with no one else except for his family present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted October 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Yep, if your kids need to apply for HECS then you have a valid reason to request for an earlier ceremony.I tried calling the council once but they weren't very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OubaasDik Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Would have loved to have had it on Australia day.However we just took it as it came.I did ask that my son and I be given an earlier date, because I was applying for a job in Canberra and needed Citizenship and my son was starting at Uni - no dice - turned down both of us.Then they came back 3 months later and offered my son a place in a "special ceremony" for the HECS / Uni thing - it was actually 2 days after we were going to get it under normal circumstances, so I thanked them kindly anyway - no sense upsetting someone who's just doing their job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janetd1 Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 It might be in January on Australia day if it is Castlehill council Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted October 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 I wouldn't mind if it was on Australia Day next year but when I heard that our friend who wrote in May still haven't received their invite, I knew our chances would be really slim to get the invite for January 2013. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rozellem Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 My husband wrote on the 7th of Aug and me on the 9th. We asked if we could have our ceremony together. He got his letter of invitation on Friday, mine still m.i.a. His date is for the 12 Nov, we are in Warringah Council. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OubaasDik Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 My husband wrote on the 7th of Aug and me on the 9th. We asked if we could have our ceremony together. He got his letter of invitation on Friday, mine still m.i.a. His date is for the 12 Nov, we are in Warringah Council.It's a pity you're not going together - although I suppose he could ask to be put off till later.But if he gets his citizenship, at least one of you is a citizen, in case anything (God forbid) untoward happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 I called immigration just two weeks ago to confirm the date we can send our applications in. They advised me that in Perth, the expected timeframe at the moment from application to citizenship is between 6 and 9 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted October 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 My husband wrote on the 7th of Aug and me on the 9th. We asked if we could have our ceremony together. He got his letter of invitation on Friday, mine still m.i.a. His date is for the 12 Nov, we are in Warringah Council.Glad for you that at least your hubby got his invitation letter. I'm sure that you can call them now and ask them about yours especially because you did ask to do the ceremony together. But this is what I cannot understand. If the invitations are not up to council but DIAC how do they send invitations out to you when you wrote in August and we wrote in July and our friends wrote in May and neither of us have received our invitations yet? Just so frustrated at this whole process Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rozellem Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Yes, I will give them a couple of days and will then ring to ask about mine. I was under the assumption that it is in fact your council and how many people they have to accommodate at these ceremonies, that will determine when you get a date. You have to go to your local ceremony and if there is more people ahead of you in the Q that will push you down the list. Hey, but I can be wrong. Are you in a particular rush for it? My niece got a letter for them confirming that she is just waiting for the "formality" of the ceremony and could therefore enrol for Uni in the meantime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted October 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Only rush I'm in to get it is that I really just want this final step in our immigration process to be done with. We (or at least my daughter and my husband) will be travelling to South Africa during Easter next year and of course I would prefer that they travel with Ozzie passports (at least to minimise costs - rather than to have to apply for Resident Return Visa and then have to anyway apply for the passports again after citizenship ceremony).I called the council today and was again informed that it is not up to them when our ceremony will take place and that I should wait for my letter that DIAC will send to us. Called DIAC as well and not very helpful telling me what I basically already knew - depending on the council and how many ceremonies they hold and the number of people each ceremony can accommodate, that will determine how long we wait for our invite from DIAC. If your council has more ceremonies that can accommodate more people you'll get helped a lot quicker. In our case, our council only holds ceremonies every 2 months and probably cannot accommodate too many people at a time.... I was told that if we have waited for 6 months and still haven't heard anything then I can call them and they will investigate why we haven't received our invites. So, not much to do except wait I quess..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rozellem Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 I know what you mean. After years of applying for this type of thing, hopefully this would have been the last time I had to write stuff like my parents ID numbers, place of birth, marriage, etc. I am so sick of this kind of "admin". We also had to pay the RRV fees in Dec and it was a so unnecessary. Fingers crossed for you letter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted October 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 I know what you mean. After years of applying for this type of thing, hopefully this would have been the last time I had to write stuff like my parents ID numbers, place of birth, marriage, etc. I am so sick of this kind of "admin". We also had to pay the RRV fees in Dec and it was a so unnecessary. Fingers crossed for you letter.Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kangabok Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 I find that gaining citizenship is very important for us South Africans which is of course understandable !! If I look at my colleagues, mostly from Europe who are all still contemplating "going back or not"...they are not in the least bothered about gaining citizenship. They also dont know how it is to travel on a SA passport and at times been treated like a prospective criminal. They also never had to pay ridiculous fees for visas and all the forms it take etc. Also their precious money from back home does not need to be divided by 8 or more when they arrive here and try to start a new life.Then you know...we are here for survival, they are here to enjoy the sunshine and the lifestyle, while they always keep the backdoor for one day if they miss family and friends too much. We also miss family and friends, BUT we do not have that backdoor and just have to make it work! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OubaasDik Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Well, we COULD get citizenship and go back and get jobs at Homecoming Revolution and run down Aus over there, and we'd have our back-door to Aus ...... In case anyone is incensed and enraged at what I wrote, it's irony. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I find that gaining citizenship is very important for us South Africans which is of course understandable !! If I look at my colleagues, mostly from Europe who are all still contemplating "going back or not"...they are not in the least bothered about gaining citizenship. They also dont know how it is to travel on a SA passport and at times been treated like a prospective criminal. They also never had to pay ridiculous fees for visas and all the forms it take etc. Also their precious money from back home does not need to be divided by 8 or more when they arrive here and try to start a new life.Then you know...we are here for survival, they are here to enjoy the sunshine and the lifestyle, while they always keep the backdoor for one day if they miss family and friends too much. We also miss family and friends, BUT we do not have that backdoor and just have to make it work!You are so right. I do have the extreme urgency to finally be able to say that I'm Australian holding an Australian passport. Not everyone will feel the same way I do and I respect that but it is quite important to me, thus the frustration at having to wait sooo long to complete the final step in this entire immigration process.For instance, I've just had enough of my current employer and in the heat of the moment decided to apply for a new job. One of the questions in the application was Nationality. Wouldn't it have been great to have jotted down "Australian" instead of "South African". I know it isn't generally the case, but it could make or break my application - especially if the manager wanting to fill the position has a grudge against non-Australians or feel that he would rather give the opportunity to an Australian first. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronwyn&Co Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I find that gaining citizenship is very important for us South Africans which is of course understandable !! If I look at my colleagues, mostly from Europe who are all still contemplating "going back or not"...they are not in the least bothered about gaining citizenship. They also dont know how it is to travel on a SA passport and at times been treated like a prospective criminal. They also never had to pay ridiculous fees for visas and all the forms it take etc. Also their precious money from back home does not need to be divided by 8 or more when they arrive here and try to start a new life.Then you know...we are here for survival, they are here to enjoy the sunshine and the lifestyle, while they always keep the backdoor for one day if they miss family and friends too much. We also miss family and friends, BUT we do not have that backdoor and just have to make it work!Ummm. That's divided by 9 now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaL Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I can agree with everything that has been said. For me it was the final hoop we had to jump through in terms of producing that amount of paperwork and payment of a fee to a country we had ( at that stage) been taxpayers in for 6 years. It was the final piece of protection in the business of migration......the more I've watched the goalposts shift and seen talk of increased powers of extradition ( obviously if one has committed a crime) for people who are residents but not citizens, by the immigration Minister, meant that citizenship became an important goal and perhaps even a nessecity depending on which job my kids hoped for in the future.We are British citizens, and I suppose that little luxury, or back door has always been in the back of my mind ( although I don't think we would want to live there again) but I wanted to be able to vote, to be able to say, " mate, I'm Australian", when asked where I'm from, and to honestly feel a member of the country I've grown to love.Your frustration is quite valid and I would have been having the most massive whinge if I'd had to wait so long. I can only think that those of us who live in smaller towns are luckier in that the process seems to take much quicker. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronwyn&Co Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I really, honestly don't care about Citizenship and I deferred my ceremony to give my spot to somebody who does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I got great news last night - my friend who also lives in our council area who wrote their tests in May received their invites yesterday to attend the ceremony in November. So if all goes well, we should be getting our invites for Australia Day next year! Whoop-whoop!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandylee Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Hi Gizmo,We wrote our citizenship test on the 13 July and had our ceremony on 3 October. Not even 3 months and we are now citizens. And that was at Joondalup Council. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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