Highlights
- Over 25,000 Australian permanent residents awaiting citizenship ceremonies impacted by COVID-19 restrictions
- Online citizenship ceremonies not available to all city council residents
- Delayed citizenship conferrals continue uncertainty in lives of migrants
For Melbourne resident George Loukas, 23 August was meant to be a life event date.
He was due to take the Australian citizenship pledge, a commitment he had invested in since 2013 when he migrated with his Australian-born wife and two children from Greece.
But COVID-19 restrictions put his “Australian dream” on hold.
“I was notified via email by the Department of Home Affairs that the citizenship ceremony was cancelled due to the Melbourne lockdown.
“To be honest, I was expecting it would still take place online. Someone I know in a nearby suburb had it as scheduled, in the same week as mine. It was online and lasted about five minutes” Mr Loukas tells SBS Greek.
George Loukas migrated to Australia from Greece with his Australian-born wife and their two children Source: George Loukas
Listen to the Podcast in Greek
LISTEN TO
«Σε καθεστώς αβεβαιότητας»: Οι online τελετές υπηκοότητας επέστρεψαν, αλλά όχι για όλους
SBS Greek
04:12
Mr Loukas’ case is akin to the more than 25,000 Australian citizenship applicants impacted by changes to their ceremony arrangements due to COVID-19 restrictions between 1 January and 31 July, according to the Department of Home Affairs.
Over 300 online ceremonies involving these people were impacted across the country.
At the end of March last year, Home Affairs had already started trialling ceremonies over secure video link.
Virtual ceremonies went full swing from April 2020 onwards, with a stated capacity of processing about 750 prospective citizens each day.
Following the gradual easing of COVID-19 restrictions, face-to-face conferrals resumed in compliance with each jurisdiction’s density limits.
But a return to the online pledge this year has not been finalised yet across the board, with areas hit by Delta outbreaks being under stay-at-home orders for several weeks now.
According to the Department of Home Affairs, advice to city councils has been consistent throughout this year, encouraging “councils to move to online citizenship ceremonies where COVID-19 restrictions are in place and in-person citizenship ceremonies currently cannot take place.”
“The Department has provided all local government councils around Australia with detailed guidance on how to host online citizenship ceremonies in line with the requirements as outlined in the Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code (The Code),” a spokesperson told SBS Greek.
(Sept 2020) Then Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Alan Tudge during an online citizenship ceremony in Melbourne Source: AAP Image/James Ross
Lockdown 6 taking longer than expected
Mayte Orellana is also among those Melburnians affected by a cancelled citizenship ceremony last month.
Following the extension of the sixth lockdown in Victoria's capital, she received a notification three days prior to the event.
“I was nervous because I could see lockdowns being extended, so I called the Department of Home Affairs but was pretty much told that I should just wait for an update from them,” she told SBS Greek.
Ms Orellana says it felt “frustrating not being given the option” of taking the pledge online.
“The whole process of applying for citizenship is quite lengthy. There are many periods when you’re not told anything and you’re just waiting," she added.
Mayte Orellana had her citizenship ceremony cancelled in August Source: Anthony Jones
So really, this came as a continuation of the same feeling, of not being in control of a process directly concerning you
The Department of Home Affairs did not provide a response to SBS Greek’s question about whether it is up to city councils to decide on conducting citizenship ceremonies online or cancelling them.
But SBS Greek understands that a number of Victorian city councils proceeded with cancellations in August due to the extension of the lockdown.
Amongst them is the Moreland City Council in Melbourne’s northwest, where more than 200 people took their pledge in online ceremonies throughout 2020.
Though virtual pledge arrangements are said to resume on a weekly basis. But what explains the postponements so far?
“At the time of the scheduled citizenship ceremonies, we were hoping that Lockdown 6.0 would be over quickly (given that lockdown number 5 was relatively short)," a council spokesperson told SBS Greek.
We hoped we could postpone the ceremonies and celebrate with the new citizens in person. As it turns out, Lockdown 6 is taking a lot longer than we all hoped
The cost of uncertainty for citizens in-waiting
“Under normal circumstances,” says Mr Loukas, he would prefer the traditional ceremony to mark his becoming an Australian citizen.
“But we just need to adapt to the new situation … Some city councils went for online [conferrals], but others didn’t and you end up not knowing when you will be able to take the pledge.
"I mean, you’re living, working and paying your taxes in Australia, then you’re waiting for such a long time after your application only to have the ceremony cancelled," he adds.
Just before Sydney's lockdown, the Canterbury-Bankstown city council hosted Australia's largest ceremony with 2,021 new citizens from 90 countries Source: Canterbury-Bankstown City Council
It’s like the wait has now turned into a state of uncertainty
However, Mr Loukas fears that “if something happens to family in Greece due to the pandemic,” and he needs to travel overseas, his citizenship pledge would be delayed indefinitely.
The lack of Australian travel documents is also a concern for Mexican-born Mayte Orellana who cites further delays she could face in the case of urgent travel overseas.
“My brother is in the US and I would need a visa to visit if I have to travel with my Mexican passport. With the Australian one, the process would be easier,” she says.
But Ms Orellana says the cost for her missing out on the pledge for now is mostly psychological.
Attending this ceremony matters to me. It’s like a symbolic act after living 11 years outside my country of birth to have the chance to close this circle
“[The postponement] is simply one more frustration added on top of the hundreds that we all share during these times. Every plan is being cancelled; this is the reality we live in,” she concludes.
