NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 06/24/2007 - The Australian Government’s plans to make it tougher to become an Australian Citizen have prompted a surge in applications from people trying to beat its introduction in September .

There is a surge in applications to become Australian Citizens has people hope to avoid the introduction of a new Citizen test.

Citizen applications were up 44 per cent compared to the same month last year, with Victoria was more than 60 per cent higher, and this year has seen more people becoming citizens than in the whole of 2005-06.

The rush of new applicants comes with the continuing debate over the merits of the new test, which will involve applicants demonstrating their knowledge of Australian history, traditions and values. The cost of the citizenship is also due to double to $240.

The Australian Government is planning to spend $29m over the next five years to advertise the new changes, which is on top of recent advertising campaigns promoting Australian Citizenship.

Criticism of the new Citizen Test has come from the prominent Liberal backbencher Petro Georgiou, who said the new tests will discriminate against non-English speaking arrivals who still could be model Australian Citizens.

Under the current system, applicants need to have been permanent residents for a minimum of two years and understand “basic English”. Under the new provisions, applicants will be given a Q&A test of 30 questions drawn from a list of 200.

The UK is following Australia's lead and is now also talking of a similar test for new immigrants to the UK.

The website Immigration2australia.com has information on Australian Immigration, Australian Immigration News, Visas and for jobs or studying in Australia.

Agency / Source: Immigration2Australia.com

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