Chief Immigration Officer Katrina Yearwood is urgently calling on individuals who participated in the 2022 Immigration Amnesty Program to return to the department and complete their applications, warning that many may have misunderstood the process and could now need another amnesty opportunity.
“So we’re asking those people who have the cards to come in and see our citizenship and residency unit,” Yearwood said to Observer, emphasizing that immediate action is needed to prevent further legal complications for applicants.
The 2022 program received over 3,000 applications, with participants receiving acknowledgment cards during the registration process. However, Yearwood revealed that widespread confusion about the purpose of these cards has left many applicants in precarious legal situations.
According to the Chief Immigration Officer, many participants incorrectly believed that receiving the acknowledgment card automatically granted them legal status in the country. “They thought that when they received the card, the card automatically gave them a passport or automatically gave them residency,” Yearwood explained.
She noted that this fundamental misunderstanding has proven highly problematic, as applicants treated the acknowledgment card as final approval rather than recognizing it as merely the first step in the regularization process.
“They did not take it to mean that they had to come back in to lodge the application for citizenship or residency. They assumed that the little card that we gave them to acknowledge that they lodged their amnesty was sufficient to say, Look, I’m a citizen now or I’m a resident now,” Yearwood said.
The CIO expressed serious concern that some amnesty participants may now find themselves requiring another amnesty opportunity, having remained out of legal status for extended periods while believing they were protected.
“So … that misunderstanding left a few back in a situation where they now need amnesty. Because they were out for so long, they’re out maybe for a year, a year and a half now. They haven’t come back into the department to regularize their status and or lodge the application for either residency or citizenship,” she explained.
The Immigration Department has made it explicitly clear that the acknowledgment cards serve only as proof of participation in the amnesty program and do not represent approved legal status. “The little card that they received does not mean that they’re a citizen. They still have to lodge their application,” Yearwood stated firmly.
She warned that those who continue to delay completing the regularization process may find themselves needing another amnesty opportunity, having allowed their legal status to lapse for what could now be “maybe a year, a year and a half” according to her estimates.
She also noted that no new applications are being accepted.
When would it be a new amnesty?
Well all that should have been explained in the amnesty sensitization program. Its three years later and now we are hearing of this problem. I would think to myself I’m in good standing as well after so long
If over 3,000 people applied and many of them misunderstood the process, then clearly the communication wasn’t clear enough. Immigration should take some responsibility too
The amnesty was a golden opportunity, and people dropped the ball. At the same time, government could have done more follow-up instead of letting folks fall through the cracks.
Hopefully the government ensures the process is smooth and accessible. Some participants might struggle without proper guidance or support
Maybe they no longer have interest in becoming citizens. Remember ANU is a free for all