Does your character fit the bill?

The Australian Government insists that all successful visa applicants meet certain character requirements. Like all governments, Australia is seeking to protect itself and its citizens from becoming a target of known criminals likely to cause hardship, disruption or worse. For that purpose, the country has introduced various character requirements that all applicants must meet in order to be granted a visa.

Police checks

Visa applicants will have to provide police checks for all countries they were resident in for 12 months or longer either in the last 10 years or since their 16th birthday. You will need to submit these checks with your paperwork if resident in Australia at the time of your application. Do not submit them until they are requested by immigration if you are resident abroad.

Citizenship test

The government introduced a citizenship test in 2007, which you may be obliged to sit if you decide to apply to become an Australian citizen. The test can be taken at a venue in Australia or overseas.

The test pass mark is 60%, and consists of 20 multiple choice questions including three which must be answered correctly in order to achieve a pass. You are allowed 45 minutes to complete the computer-based test, which is only available in English. In addition to learning about Australia, you should also ensure that your level of English comprehension is high enough to understand the questions.

Good character

You will also need to meet ‘good character’ requirements. Obvious examples of those that would fail this requirement would be people convicted of murder, even if they have served their sentence. In fact, if you have been in prison for longer than 12 months you are likely to fail.

If you have been sentenced to more than it is highly unlikely your application will be approved. If you have been judged as being of unsound mind and spent time in an institution, you are also likely to be declined.

Some applicants may also be declined under the good character rules without having been in prison or convicted of a terrorist offence. These people are likely to be known associates of members of illegal international terrorist organisations.

If your visa is declined

There is an appeals process available, but you would need to show compelling reasons why the original decision should be overturned. Any person declined a visa for any of the above reasons is permanently excluded from Australia. Applicants cannot reapply under a different category of entry, nor at a later date.