Regaining your Australian Permanent Residence

Substantial ties

Substantial ties to Australia must be both substantial and beneficial to Australia. There can be different ties to Australia. These include:

• Business – e.g. owns an Australian company
• Cultural – e.g. program listing your artistic or cultural performances
• Employment– e.g. employment contract with an Australian company
• Personal – e.g. have an Australian partner and child

You would have to provide documents to evidence your ties.

Compelling reasons for absence

The term compelling is not defined in the Migration Act. However, it implies that the reason for departing Australia is outside the control of the applicant. Some examples of compelling and compassionate reasons include:

• severe illness or death of an overseas family member
• work or study commitments by the applicant or the applicant’s partner that are of a professional nature, in circumstances where the acquired experience results in a benefit to Australia
• the applicant is living overseas in an ongoing relationship with an Australian citizen partner
• the applicant or the applicant’s accompanying family members have been receiving complex or lengthy medical treatment preventing travel
• the applicant has been involved in legal proceedings such as sale of property, custody, or contractual obligations and the timing was beyond the applicant’s control
• the applicant has been caught up in a natural disaster, political uprising or other similar event preventing them from travel
• the applicant can demonstrate they have been waiting for a significant personal event to occur that has prevented them from relocating to or returning to Australia. The period of time for any such event would have to be reasonable in its context

You would have to provide documents to evidence your compelling reasons for absence.