Australian Citizenship
Are you an Australian permanent resident or a New Zealand Special Category visa holder looking to apply for citizenship?
Alternatively are you an Australian citizen who has a child born overseas? If so, submitting application for Australian citizenship is the next step.
Citizenship by decent
If you are the Australian citizen parent of a child born overseas or the child of an Australian citizen parent who was born overseas, then you may want to apply for citizenship by descent.
Citizenship by conferral
This is the process for Australian permanent residents or New Zealand Special Category visa holders who want to become Australian citizens. It is a three stage process:
- Submit an application for citizenship by conferral
- Attend a citizenship interview, where you will take the citizenship test. This step isn’t required if one of the exemptions from taking the test applies to you
- Attend your citizenship ceremony. This is where you will pledge your allegiance to Australia and will receive your citizenship certificate. Once you have received that certificate, you can apply for an Australian passport
Who can apply for citizenship by conferral?
To be eligible to apply for Citizenship by conferral, you must:
- Be an Australian permanent resident or New Zealand Special Category visa holder
- Either intend to live in Australia or intend to maintain a lasting link with Australia while overseas
- Have been living in Australia on a valid visa for at least four years before you apply
- Have held a permanent residence visa or a New Zealand Special Category visa for at least the last 12 months before you apply
- In the four years before you apply, you must not have spent more than 12 months in total outside Australia
- In the 12 months before you apply, you must not have spent more than 90 days in total outside Australia
- Meet Australia’s character requirements.
You can include your permanent resident children who are under 16 in your application.
We have helped with numerous citizenship applications. Please get in touch to see if we can help you to determine whether or not you are eligible and help you take the final step and become a citizen of this wonderful country.
