After graduating from an Australian university, I was offered a job by a local company. I have been studying and working in Australia for more than 10 years, becoming a permanent resident during that time. For personal reasons, now I have to leave Australia for at least one year. I am wondering if I need to apply for any kind of travel document before I leave. I don’t want any trouble at the border when I return.
If the travel facility on your permanent visa has expired (if the visa grant was more than five years ago), you will need to apply for a resident return 155 visa in order to travel and return to Australia. This will be necessary every five years until you obtain an Australian passport through citizenship. A permanent visa allows indefinite stay in Australia but only allows travel in and out of Australia for a period of five years.
You need a resident return visa.
A permanent resident visa in Australia has two aspects: the right to remain in Australia, which is indefinite (i.e., when you enter you can stay indefinitely for that visit) and the right to enter Australia, which has a fixed period (i.e., you cannot enter after a specific date). The right to enter Australia is usually five years. As a general guide you should ensure that this is sufficient to cover the period you'll be away from Australia. If you have accumulated at least two years of stay in Australia in the last five years as a permanent resident then you can apply for a further five years under a resident return visa (subclass 155). There are other options available to meet the requirements for this visa, but given you've been staying in Australia, this is the most appropriate.
Very easy! Return resident visa. Based on what you describe, you should get five years of travel facility.
You just have to ensure that your resident return visa is subclass 155, which gives you a five-year unlimited travel facility and does not expire before you return to Australia. You also have to ensure any passports that you replace with your current one with must be updated in the immigration system before you return.
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