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

This matter concerned an application for Australian citizenship by Mr Dalton, a New Zealand citizen, who sought review of a decision affirming his ineligibility. The dispute centred on whether Mr Dalton met the criterion of being a "permanent resident" at the time he lodged his citizenship application in November 2017. The decision was made by Dr N A Manetta, Senior Member, of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was to determine whether Mr Dalton was a "permanent resident" as defined by Australian law at the specific time he applied for citizenship. The Tribunal was required to assess his status under the *Australian Citizenship Act 2007*, specifically section 21(2)(b)(i), and was constrained to consider only his status at the date of application, not any subsequent changes in his immigration status or his potential eligibility for a permanent visa at a later date.

The Senior Member reasoned that despite Mr Dalton holding a Special Category visa (subclass 444) which allowed him to remain in Australia indefinitely and access social welfare and Medicare, this visa did not confer "permanent resident" status as defined for the purposes of the citizenship application. The Tribunal noted that Mr Dalton had been outside Australia on 26 February 2001, a date significant in the context of permanent residency definitions. The Senior Member concluded that Mr Dalton was not a permanent resident at the time of his application and therefore affirmed the decision under review.