# ACS Application and Resident Return Visa Questions



## graemeboro (Oct 17, 2007)

Hello All,

After two years of thinking about things I am finally at the stage of starting the application process. Having read all the necessary points I have two questions.

Firstly I am about to apply for a skills assessment from the ACS. It talks about having references for the past six years and how there should be a detailed "job description" My question is what level of detail is required. Two of my ex-employers managers have left so its down to HR to do a reference and I wonder how much detail they will give about the actual role, over and above the standard stuff. If anyone has done an assessment before any informaiton on the level of detail would be good, as I cannot be the only one in this situation. These managers have moved to other roles and could easily do a detailed reference for me but clearly it wouldnt be on the correct letter headed paper! I just dont want to pay and fail it, I would rather get this right first time.

Secondly I just wanted to confirm what a return resident visa is. I will be applying for a skilled migrant visa. I understand that you have five years to go to Australia. I am doing some freelance work at present, and it may be that after going to Australia that I will need to return to Europe to undertake some of this work. What are the rules around this, any ideas?

Please accept my apologies for all these questions! Any info would be a great help.

Graeme


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## amaslam (Sep 25, 2008)

Hi Graeme:

Welcome to the forum. The job description I've found best is the one from the HR manual or from the job ad itself. HR should definitely have the generic description of your job title. Small references from former managers or co-workers also help in this regard.

The RRV is your right to return to Australia as a PR.

When you get your first PR it is also a RRV for 5 yrs, meaning you can go in and out of AU for the next 5 yrs as a PR. When you get close to the 5 yrs period after your first PR you need to get a RRV Visa to maintain your ability to leave AU and still maintain your PR status. 

Each time you get this RRV it will give you another 5 yr period as a PR to go in and out of AU. And you keep renewing this every 5 yrs as long as you are a PR. 

This isn't much of a problem for most PRs as they stay mostly in AU and leave for short periods < 1 yr but if you leave Australia for a while as a PR (i.e. 6 yrs or similar) and don't maintain things such as bank accounts, property or other substantial link to Australia then the Immigration dept. can deny you a RRV and your PR will expire.

The only way you can always be allowed into and out of Australia without any time limit on being outside of the country is to become an AU Citizen. I've recently gone through this process and it's quite simple and straightforward. If the country you are currently a citizen of allows plural nationality (more than one concurrent nationality) this is a safer option.

Here are some useful links for you to review:
AU Citizenship: Australian Citizenship
RRV: Five Year Resident Return Visa (Subclass 155)


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

One other to mention is that when you are outside Australia that delays your application for citizenship. 

For example say that you could sit the citizenship test and become a citizen in July 2013 but had had 6 months outside of Australia since you had moved that would set back your citizenship until Feb 2014. 

Regards,
Karen


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## aussieland (Oct 14, 2008)

graemeboro said:


> Hello All,
> 
> After two years of thinking about things I am finally at the stage of starting the application process. Having read all the necessary points I have two questions.
> 
> ...



As AMASLAM correctly said that u can have some kind of generic references from the HR's of last companies on letter heads of the companies...then you can have reference letters from your managers(preferably on letter heads) with whome u shared good repo...U can also attach their business cards along with it......these referenes can be on plain paper also.... try to put as many referenes as possible...
u can also visit this post bu Anj to have more insight into this...
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/au...ing-australia/9654-need-ur-urgent-help-2.html


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## Veronika Hurbis (Jun 6, 2008)

Hi,

I thought I'd just step in to make a few things clear about the RRV (sometimes people don't get it right and then get themselves into trouble):

Permanent Residents:

A permanent resident of Australia is a permanent visa holder who: Is allowed to remain in Australia indefinitely, Has unlimited work and study rights, Can obtain Medicare, which is Australia’s public health provider, Can claim social benefits after 2 years and a pension after 10 years, Can apply to become a citizen after 4 years (or 2 years if his/her initial entry was made before 1 July 2007).

Returning Residents:

Your permanent visa label will allow you to travel to and enter Australia for five (5) years from the date your visa is granted. The expiry of this visa label does not affect your permanent resident status if you are in Australia. 

However, if you wish to continue to travel to and from Australia as a permanent resident after the initial 5 year visa has expired, you must obtain a Resident Return Visa (RRV). This really just means having to apply for a new visa label. 

Your eligibility for an RRV will depend on the amount of time you have resided in Australia as a permanent resident. Normally you cannot get an RRV (new visa label) unless you can show that you have been resident in Australia for at least 2 out of 5 years before applying.

If you can't meet that requirement then things become far more complicated, so you should be very careful to always make sure that you can meet the 2 our of 5 year requirement.

The RRV is renewable every 5 years, provided you continue to satisfy the residency criteria.

I hope that makes things a bit clearer.


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## anj1976 (Apr 24, 2008)

HI
no company gives the kind of details that should be provided to get a positive acs assessment. i should not say no but not many companies provides the details, so you give a detailed CV and co-employees references along with a stst dec stating that the companies did not provide any more info and that ur roles n responsibilities included all these.

as pankaj mentioned, i have written a lot about acs, check all that and acs is one topic that has been discussed at length here. incase u still hv more to ask, feel free, there r many willing to help here.

cheers
anj


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