Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) For the purposes of this Act, a person is a permanent resident at a particular time if and only if:
(a) the person is present in Australia at that time and holds a permanent visa at that time; or
(b) both:
(i) the person is not present in Australia at that time and holds a permanent visa at that time; and
(ii) the person has previously been present in Australia and held a permanent visa immediately before last leaving Australia; or
(c) the person is covered by a determination in force under subsection (2) at that time.
(2) The Minister may, by legislative instrument, determine that:
(a) persons who hold a special category visa or a special purpose visa; or
(b) persons who have held a special category visa; or
(c) persons who are present in Norfolk Island or the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands;
and who satisfy specified requirements are, or are during a specified period, persons to whom this subsection applies.
Permanent resident under the old Act
(3) If, under this Act, it is necessary to work out if a person was a permanent resident at a time before the commencement day, work that out under the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 as in force at that time.