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People holding a resident return visa (subclass 154, subclass 155, subclass 156, subclass 157, subclass 158) are permanent residents of Australia and may be eligible for social security payments, subject to meeting normal qualification and payability conditions.
A resident return visa is never the first permanent visa issued to a person, so it is important to check for the original permanent visa that was granted. The original visa could have been granted in Australia (onshore) or by DIAC overseas (offshore), depending on where the person lodged their application for permanent residence. If the original permanent visa cannot be found in the person's current or previous passports, or other travel documents DIAC may be able to provide the relevant information from their movements records system.
The date of grant of the permanent residence visa OR the date of first entry into Australia is important to establish the date of commencement of a person's residence in Australia. This date is required to ascertain a person's period or periods of residence in Australia when testing their eligibility for social security payments that have a qualifying residence requirement or a NARWP.
The start date of permanent residence in Australia is the date of grant of the permanent residence visa by DIAC.
The start date of permanent residence in Australia is the date of first entry to Australia as the holder of a permanent visa, as stamped on the passport of the person. This date will in most cases be a date between the date the visa was granted and the date by which the visa holder should have arrived in Australia.
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Last reviewed: 7 June 2010
