Budhiraja and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs (Citizenship)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviewed a decision by a delegate of the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to refuse Mrs Budhiraja's application for Australian citizenship by conferral. Mrs Budhiraja, an Indian citizen married to an Australian citizen, sought citizenship after holding a permanent visa since 2015. She and her Australian citizen husband, along with their two Australian citizen children, resided in Singapore due to his work commitments, though they owned property in Australia. The delegate's refusal was based on the applicant not meeting the general residence requirements and the delegate not being satisfied of a close and continuing association with Australia.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the applicant satisfied the general residence requirements under section 22(1) of the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007* (Cth). If she did not, the Tribunal also had to consider whether the discretion under section 22(9) of the Act could and should be exercised to treat periods of absence from Australia as periods of presence as a permanent resident.

The Tribunal affirmed the delegate's decision, finding that the applicant did not satisfy the general residence requirements. The applicant had been present in Australia for 618 days and absent for 843 days in the four years immediately preceding her citizenship application. Section 22(1A) of the Act permits an aggregate absence of no more than 12 months within that four-year period for an applicant to comply with the general residence requirement. As the applicant's absences exceeded this limit, she failed to meet the statutory threshold. The Tribunal noted that residency is of paramount importance in determining citizenship applications, and the legislative intent is for applicants to have spent a reasonable period living in Australia to be familiar with its way of life and the commitment of citizenship.