{"id":593,"date":"2017-04-20T20:38:11","date_gmt":"2017-04-20T20:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/?p=593"},"modified":"2017-04-20T20:38:11","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T20:38:11","slug":"australia-unveils-major-changes-to-citizenship-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/2017\/04\/20\/australia-unveils-major-changes-to-citizenship-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia unveils major changes to citizenship process"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(BCC News)<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">Australia will make it more difficult to gain citizenship in a major overhaul of its migration process.<\/p>\n<p>Aspiring citizens will undergo tougher tests on their English language skills and ability to demonstrate &#8220;Australian values&#8221;, PM Malcolm Turnbull said.<\/p>\n<p>Applicants must also have completed four years as a permanent resident &#8211; three years longer than at present.<\/p>\n<p>The move comes two days after Australia unveiled stricter visa requirements for skilled workers from overseas.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Turnbull said the changes would ensure that migrants were better integrated into the community.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is important that they understand that they are making a commitment to our Australian values,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">What are the changes?<\/h2>\n<p>In explaining what constituted &#8220;Australian values&#8221;, Mr Turnbull said migrants must demonstrate support for religious freedom and gender equality.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Respect for women and children &#8230; that is a key Australian value,&#8221; he said, adding domestic violence would not be tolerated.<\/p>\n<p>Other changes to the citizenship process include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">A more stringent English language test involving reading, writing, listening and speaking;<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Providing evidence of integration into the community, such as employment history, school enrolment or membership of community organisations;<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Having already been a permanent resident for at least four years;<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Allowing applicants to apply only three times, and automatically failing anyone who cheats on a test.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When asked about reports that applicants would be quizzed on whether they supported forced child marriage or female genital mutilation, Mr Turnbull said it was important to &#8220;reinforce our values&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If we believe that respect for women and children [is an Australian value]&#8230; then why should that not be made a key part, a fundamental part, a very prominent part, of our process to be an Australian citizen?&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">Tightening rules<\/h2>\n<p>The requirements would apply to all new applications for citizenship, the government said.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, the government said it would replace a controversial visa scheme to make it harder for foreign nationals to work in Australia.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Turnbull said both announcements had been made in the national interest.<\/p>\n<p>The opposition Labor Party accused Mr Turnbull of making announcements for political gain.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It seems a little odd to me that you would actually ask people whether or not they are going to obey the law when they already pledge to obey the law,&#8221; said Labor senator Penny Wong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(BCC News) Australia will make it more difficult to gain citizenship in a major overhaul of its migration process. Aspiring citizens will undergo tougher tests on their English language skills and ability to demonstrate &#8220;Australian values&#8221;, PM Malcolm Turnbull said. Applicants must also have completed four years as a permanent resident &#8211; three years longer than at present. The move&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/2017\/04\/20\/australia-unveils-major-changes-to-citizenship-process\/\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-analysis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":594,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions\/594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}