Federal Court. Can a person come within the exception under s 22(9)(d) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) "simply by establishing some form of connection with Australia or with Australians or with something that is connected to Australia"? Is the discretion in s 22(9) broad and multifactorial? Is a person's expression of desire to live in Australia an indication of a current connection?
The Federal Court (FCA) said as follows:
2 On 2 April 2020 the applicant made an application for conferral of Australian citizenship. It is not in issue that the applicant could not meet the residence requirements prescribed in s 22(1) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) (Citizenship Act). Rather she sought to meet the exception to the residence requirements set out in s 22(9), which requires, inter alia, establishing that she has “close and continuing association with Australia”: s 22(9)(d).
Some of the questions to the FCA were as follows:
Question 1: Can a person come within the exception under s 22(9)(d) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) "simply by establishing some form of connection with Australia or with Australians or with something that is connected to Australia"?
Question 2: Is the discretion in s 22(9) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) broad and multifactorial?
Question 3: Is a person's expression of wish or desire to live in Australia an indication of a current connection?
The FCA answered those questions as follows: