Permanent Residence in Australia

Rights of Australian Permanent Residents

As an Australian permanent resident:

• You will be able to remain in Australia indefinitely;
• You will have full work rights in Australia;
• You will have full study rights in Australia, and would qualify for Austudy and lower educational fees than are paid by international students in Australia;
• Once you settle in Australia, you will qualify for Medicare, which is the Australian national health insurance provider.
• However, you will not qualify for full Australian social security benefits immediately. These would only accrue 2 years after you have migrated to Australia.

First Entry Date

If you apply for immigration to Australia, and the application is lodged offshore, then you will be advised by the Department of Immigration that you will need to enter Australia on your migration visa by a certain date. This date is calculated from the date you completed health and character checks for the visa application, and is generally 12 months from the date you completed the earliest health or character check. If you do not enter Australia by this date, then your Australian visa could be cancelled, and you would need to re-apply for immigration to Australia.