Citizenship Fee To Be Charged Just Once
May 22, 2007
People applying for Australian citizenship will only have to pay a fee once, even if they fail the new citizenship test numerous times.
The computer-based test will require citizenship applicants to pass an exam testing their knowledge of Australian history, geography, culture and traditions, along with an English language requirement.
The government announced in the budget it was doubling the cost of applying for Australian citizenship, from $120 to $240, to pay for the test, which will be introduced closer to the election.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) told a Senate estimates hearing people who failed the test would be able to re-sit it unlimited times.
‘If you fail the test … there will be unlimited re-sits. If you fail you can sit the test again,’ first assistant secretary Peter Vardos said.
‘There will not be an additional fee for each time you sit the test.
‘You can sit the test five times and you’ll only pay once when you lodge your (citizenship) application.’
DIAC secretary Andrew Metcalfe said only those who passed the test would actually pay the $240 application for Australian citizenship.
‘You take the test before you make an application (and) pay a fee,’ he said.
Mr Metcalfe dismissed media reports containing examples of the questions to be asked in the citizenship test.
‘The questions haven’t yet been framed,’ he said.
The questions - which Mr Metcalfe described as ‘quite realistic’ - will be based on the contents of a resource booklet to be given free of charge to aspiring citizens.
The test is expected to include basic questions about Australia’s flag, Aboriginal inhabitation, and will require applicants to name Australia’s capital city and recognise the Judeo-Christian tradition as the basis of the country’s values system.
The immigration department revealed it was considering making correct answers to two or three specific questions mandatory for a citizenship application to succeed.
Labor has likened the test to the old White Australia policy, with backbencher Daryl Melham describing it as absurd, offensive and obscene.
Mr Metcalfe could not set a firm date for the introduction of the test, saying it depended on the passage of the legislation, which is largely complete.-Ararat News, 22 May, 2007
