Australian immigration lowers visa requirements for top athletes
September 01 2009 by Matt Jones
Chris Evans lowers Australia visa requirements
Australian immigration Minister Chris Evans has made it easier for elite Olympic athletes to gain an Australia visa and citizenship by lowering the residency requirements.
In light of the upcoming Vancouver Winter Olympics top athletes will now only need to have had two years of Australian permanent residency instead of the previous four in order to gain citizenship. This will allow more athletes who wish to represent Australia to do so. At least six months must still be physically spent in Australia.
The citizenship act of 2007 extended the required permanent residency period up to four years. But it is thought to be unfairly preventing athletes from becoming Australian citizens because many have to travel frequently as part of their jobs preventing them from making the move to Australia long-term.
The reversal may seem generous but a sudden influx of top athletes is not expected.
Australian Olympic Winter Institute boss Geoff Lipshut said: "These conditions now will make it very realistic for an athlete to come here if they have serious intentions. But they still have to make the move, and they have to exist outside the system until they get permanent residency and become eligible for funding support.”
Tennis players Anastasia Rodionova (Russia), Jarmila Groth (Slovakia) and Siberian-born ice racer Tatiana Borodulina all want to represent Australia at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in February. Once these changes are officially in place they will be able to do so, because they have all spent two years as permanent residents.
Australian immigration for athletes has influenced Australian Olympic performance before. In Turin 2006 Australia’s only gold medallist was immigrant Olympic moguls champion Dale Begg-Smith.
The US gained gold from a former Australian in Beijing last year when Dual Olympic equestrian gold medalist Phillip Dutton became a US citizen. But his replacement, former UK citizen Lucinda Fredericks, won a silver medal for Australia.
See the latest Immigration News
