The number of naturalization applications awaiting approval has increased to 200000. (photo of the Daily Telegraph)
According to the Daily Telegraph, the number of naturalized applications queued in line with Australia`s immigration authorities has surged to 200000. Today, people are forced to wait for nearly 18 months to get the results of their naturalization applications.
People who first submitted their applications 16 months ago, in April last year, are only now being investigated by immigration officials, sources told News Corp. It is estimated that they will not be able to attend the naturalization ceremony until the beginning of next year.
If new applications are closed now, it will take up to eight years to clear the backlog, the source said.
The huge backlog of naturalization applications has put more pressure on dudun (Peter Dutton), an already troubled domestic minister challenger and the former prime minister`s challenger. Between December 2014 and last month`s change in Liberal leadership, Mr Dutton was in charge of immigration. Now, although Duden reinstates as the home affairs minister, the immigration department has been removed from the Ministry of the Interior. Mr (Scott Morrison), prime minister, has named Mr Komin (David Coleman) a newcomer, minister. In addition, Duden also recently faced Senate investigation for being accused of granting visas to two foreign mutual-beneficial students.
The number of naturalization applications awaiting approval jumped from 22952 in 2014-15 to 242606 at the end of the previous fiscal year, while Dutton was in charge of immigration.
As of July 2018, 75 percent of applications were processed within 15 months and 90 percent within 17 months, according to waiting list figures posted on the immigration department`s website. In April, the waiting period for permanent residents living in Australia for four years ranged from 14 to 17 months to attend the naturalization ceremony.
Faced with the pressure on immigration staff and the "quasi-citizen" being forced to shut down pending naturalization, the government was called upon to take action to address the growing backlog.
In 2017-18, the number of naturalized applications queued (pending approval) reached a record 242606, up from 33634 in 2012-13 and 106384 in 2016-17.
As of April 30 this year, the number of pending applications for naturalization of (Citizenship by Conferral) by way of grant reached 209826.
Government points to a 176.9 percent increase in the number of naturalization applications from 2010-11 to the previous fiscal year. They also said that the increase in naturalization applications, coupled with increased loyalty inspections in the application approval process and an increase in the number of cases requiring complex identity reviews, had led to delays in naturalization approvals.
A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior said the department was taking measures such as 150 additional staff to deal with the backlog. "to ensure the safety of Australians, government has introduced more loyalty measures to strengthen procedures to verify the identity and good character of naturalized applicants," the spokesman said.
At the same time, new immigrants, citizen and multicultural affairs minister Gao Min have also defended the delay in naturalization applications for reasons of safety, and said that "there is unprecedented demand for Australian citizen status." Many people want to live in our country and become one of them.
However, Newman (Lisa Newman), National Vice President of the Community and Public sector Trade Union (Community and Public Sector Union), said the signing and naturalization delays were due to layoffs in the immigration sector and that "people were forced to wait with pain and uncertainty." Often have to wait for up to a year, or even longer.
Woods (Sheila Woods), executive manager of Immigracious, an immigration agency, also said they were shocked when she told clients how long they were waiting for naturalization. "most of them have been here for a long time, and they don`t want it to take so long to get to the end of the journey. Now, we can only regret that it will take 18 months, which is very frustrating. "
