Some migrants have been waiting for naturalization approval for 17 months. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Since Mr Tan came to power, the number of residents waiting for naturalization has almost tripled, leaving many immigrants living in Australia for years without access to student loans, Australian passports and the right to vote in the next election.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the number of residents awaiting naturalization approval has soared from 27,000 to as many as one hundred and eighty eight thousand nine hundred and ninety nine since the Unionparty took office, according to the Ministry of the Interior. More than one hundred and forty thousand of them lined up after Mr Tan became prime minister.
Immigrants said the delay in granting naturalization applications created problems for their lives, causing them to apply for student loans, and plans for guarantee families to come to Australia or apply for government jobs were shut down.
Fijians 31-year-old Vihata (Atul Vidhata), who emigrated to Australia more than a decade ago, is now a lawyer and has been awaiting naturalization approval for 17 months. He says the authorities` delays in approval and some anti-immigrant rhetoric are a source of anxiety in immigrant society.
Under Australian law, even permanent residents do not have the right to vote, cannot apply for a job in the government sector that requires safety checks, apply for higher education student loans, or give preference to guarantee family members to come to Australia. The long delay has also raised concerns among some applicants that if they leave Australia while they are waiting, they will have to start from scratch.
The backlog of naturalization applications and the shelving of citizen naturalization reform also have something to do with it. The government wants to test naturalists` English proficiency and Australian values, but the bill was banned by the Senate in October. But government now wants to take a back seat, including a simplified English conversation test to screen immigrants.
Citizen transaction minister Tucci (Alan Tudge) said there were many reasons for the backlog of naturalization applications. "first, there is unprecedented demand for naturalization; second, the current national security threat is much larger than it used to be; and third, the authorities have to deal with the 50, 000 people who came illegally by boat in the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd era."
