Working Life Residence (WLR) 106-06030000

• The onus to provide evidence rests with the customer. Staff need to provide reasonable help when a customer is having difficulty substantiating periods of residence
• The Immigration Datalink will attempt to match the Centrelink data with an immigration record and, if the match is successful, immigration data may be automatically applied to the residence fields. If the information is not automatically updated, the staff member will need to code the relevant fields
• It is not necessary for every period of residence to be verified by documentary evidence. Staff should use discretion in establishing a picture of residence and be satisfied that the customer was a resident during the period claimed. For example, if a customer has a contribution record in another country which ended shortly before they advised they arrived in Australia, or a contribution record that began shortly after they advised they left Australia, it would indicate their dates were accurate. If contributions periods overlap, more information would need to be obtained
• It may not always be possible to verify a claimant's legal residence status due to the limitations of immigration records, particularly before 1973. In these cases the staff member must determine the residence status from the evidence available
• Old Arrival Records - migrants who arrived before about 1973 may have handwritten records of their arrival in National Archives. These can help to establish the general picture supporting a person's statement about when they started residing in Australia (along with any other documents, such as tax returns, children's birth certificates or any other documents)
• Assume that customers are telling the truth unless there are reasonable grounds for not doing so
• Accept all evidence provided as a valid contribution to the overall picture of residence. For example, family certificates from Italian authorities verifying the birth of children in Australia, photos, boarding passes, newspaper cuttings and statements by customers
• Don't ignore conflicting evidence. More enquiries must be made in these instances to verify the true situation to make sure decisions are based on evidence
• Contact the customer by phone. Talking about the customer's residence often helps more than documents
• If the dates offered by the customer are vague, prompt the customer for more details. For example, the season when the customer left their home or arrived in Australia, any significant events which occurred shortly after their arrival or before departure
• Check similar sounding names and different combinations of their known names
• The customer may have arrived on a maiden name rather than their married name and have forgotten

• For citizenship granted before 1 September 1973, a person required 5 years residence immediately before the date of grant
• For citizenship granted between 1 September 1973 and 25 October 1984, a person required 3 years residence immediately before the date of grant
• For citizenship granted between 25 October 1984 and 1 July 2007, a person required 2 years residence immediately before the date of grant
• For citizenship granted after 1 July 2007, a person requires 12 months permanent residence out of a minimum 4 years residence immediately before the date of grant

• Sometimes WLR will need to be manually calculated. For example, if the customer may use the late partner's WLR
• Firstly, work out where the WLR begins and ends (16th birthday and Age Pension age (or date of death if earlier)). WLR must be between these 2 dates
• Verify the late partner's date of arrival in Australia
• Verify what periods they were residing in Australia
• Calculate each period of residence as years, months and days. Make sure each period falls between the 16th birthday and Age Pension age (or date of death if earlier)
• If multiple periods of residence, add the years together, the months together and the days together. If the days are more than 30, deduct 30 and add 1 to the months
• Multiply the years by 12 and add this to the total number of months. Add 1 more month to the total for the odd days (including zero days)
• The total months result is the WLR

A person has the following periods of Australian residence:

• 2 years, 4 months and 23 days
• 6 years, 2 months, 17 days, and
• 1 year, 4 months, 20 days

The years are added together to total 9 years, which equals 108 months.

The months are added together to total 10 months.

The days are added together to total 60 days, which equals 30 days + 30 days + 0 days remaining, which equals 3 months (the number of whole months of working life residence, plus 1 month. The extra month is added once only, after totalling all working life residence).

Total WLR = 108 + 10 + 3 = 121 months.

Request Centrelink International Services (CIS) to verify a customer’s arrival in Australia.

In Process Direct create a new referral for CIS:

• Select > Referral
• Referral type: International Services (CIS)
• Referral reason: Resident Verification Service Request
• Check Payment type is correct
• Select Next
• Referral details display
• Update the following fields as required:
• Vulnerable or suspended customer
• Call customer required
• Translation required
• Appeal request
• Complete Additional information template:
  Customer’s name and any known aliases. If customer arrived as a child, full names and the dates of birth of both parents, Passport Details. Date of Arrival (or approximate), Name on Arrival
  [Insert additional dates if required or, remove this line]. For movements prior to 1 January 1965, the following information must be provided: Ship Name: [Insert name of ship/airline and flight number], Port Name: [Insert port name]
• Select Next
• Select Finish

Use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Centrelink International Services > Residence > Proof of Arrival. Record as many customer details as possible:

• Customer's name and any known aliases: insert all known aliases
• If the customer arrived as a child, full names and the dates of birth for both parents: insert all
• Passport details: passport number and country of issue
• Date of arrival (or approximate): DD/MM/YYYY
• Name on arrival: insert customer's name on arrival
• Insert extra lines as needed
• For movements before 1 January 1965, these extra details must be provided:
• Ship Name: insert name of ship/airline and flight number
• Port name: insert port name

There is a list of ship names and aircraft flights on the National Archives of Australia website (select Go to Record Search)

CIS will aim to respond within 10 working days.