Former Resident visa (subclass 151)

Conditions

As the visa applicant, you must,

• meet our age and long residence requirement or defence service requirement
• apply on paper

151 Visa Eligibility

• You must meet the long residence requirement, if applicable, by meeting all these criteria;
  • if you are 18 years or older, spent at least nine years in Australia as a Permanent resident before you turned 18 or if you are younger than 18, spent at least half of your life in Australia as a permanent resident
  • younger than 45 years of age at the time you apply
  • have never been an Australian citizen
  • kept close business, cultural or personal ties with Australia (after you were no longer a permanent resident), including any regular contact with relatives or friends, frequent visits, owning property or having active business interests
• You must be able to meet the defence services requirement, if applicable, by meeting all of these criteria;
  • completed at least three months of continuous Australian defence service
  • discharged from the Australian Defence Force before three months of service because you were medically unfit because of your Australian defence service
• You must be younger than 45 at the time of application.
• You might be asked to provide an assurance of support. An assurance of support assures us that you will not have to rely on government assistance after you enter Australia on this visa. The assurance is for you and any family members who come to Australia with you on this visa.
• You must meet all the health and character requirements.
• You must not have any debt to pay to the Australian government.

Note: If you have had a visa cancelled or previous application refused, you may not be granted a visa.

151 Visa Benefits

• stay in Australia permanently
• work and study in Australia
• enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare
• sponsor your relatives to come to Australia
• travel to and from Australia for up to 5 years from the date of grant as long as the travel facility remains valid
• apply for Australian citizenship, if eligible

General Notes

• You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa but not in immigration clearance.
  • If you apply in Australia, we can’t grant you the visa if you are outside Australia when we make our decision.
  • If you apply outside Australia, we can’t grant you the visa if you are in Australia when we make our decision.