Australian Citizenship

Generally speaking, the typical circumstances by which a person will become an Australian citizen are by:

• being born in Australia (or in some circumstances by adoption) where one or both parents were Australian citizens or permanent residents at the time of birth;
• descent, if born overseas where one or both parents were Australian citizens at the time of birth; or
• conferral, after settling in Australia, becoming a permanent resident and making a pledge of commitment.

Responsibilities and privileges

As an Australian citizen, you have new responsibilities to:

• behave in accordance with Australia's democratic beliefs
• respects the rights and liberties of Australia
• follow and obey the law
• vote in federal and state or territory elections, and in referenda
• defend Australia if necessary
• serve on jury duty if summoned

Citizenship entitlements:

As an Australian citizen, you are eligible for certain entitlements too.

You can:

• apply for an Australian passport
• leave and re-enter Australia as many times as you want
• ask for help from an Australian consulate if in trouble overseas
• vote in federal, state or territory elections
• vote in a Constitutional referendum or plebiscite
• seek election to parliament, if you are aged 18 years or over and are not dual citizen
• register the birth of your children in another country as an Australian citizen

Citizenship by Conferral

Becoming a citizen by conferral is a common way to become an Australian citizen. You need to be a permanent resident and meet certain criteria before you can apply.

Eligibility criteria:

• Must be a permanent resident of Australia (and have been a permanent resident for at least the last 12 months)

NOTE: If you are not a permanent resident of Australia but you are a NZ citizen, you may be eligible if you were in Australia on 26 February 2001 as the holder of a Special Category Visa (SCV) OR if you spent a total of at least 12 months in Australia on a SCV during the 24 months immediately prior to 26 February 2001.

• Must meet Residence requirement

At the time you apply you must have been:

• living in Australia on a valid visa for the past 4 years
• a permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen for the past 12 months
• away from Australia for no more than 12 months in total in the past 4 years, including no more than 90 days in total in the past 12 months

For children 16 or 17 years old, if meeting this requirement would cause significant hardship or disadvantage, you will need to provide proof.

Children under 16 do not need to meet the general residence requirement but must be permanent residents.

• Must be of good character if you are 18 years or over
• Must understand what it means to be an Australian citizen. To assess this, most applicants will sit the citizenship test.
• Need a basic knowledge of the English language
• Must intend to live in Australia or maintain a close and continuing association with Australia while overseas

Application Process:

Stage 1 – Lodgement of Application

The first step is to lodge your citizenship application, along with any supporting documents required to demonstrate that you satisfy the relevant requirements.

Stage 2 – Citizenship Test

Once the DOHA has determined that you are eligible for the conferral of citizenship, they will ask you to attend an appointment with a case officer. At this appointment, you will sit the citizenship test. This contains questions regarding the rights and responsibilities of Australian citizenship, along with questions relating to life in Australia and what it means to be an Australian citizen. Each eligible adult applicant must sit this test. The questions are based on testable information contained in the Australian citizenship test resource book, which you can study before your test.

Stage 3 – Citizenship Ceremony

After you have passed your citizenship test and the DOHA has approved your application, you need to attend a citizenship ceremony. This usually takes place within 3 months of the date that an application is approved, although waiting times vary between different local councils. At the citizenship ceremony, you must take the Australian Citizenship Pledge to complete the process of becoming an Australian citizen. All eligible adult applicants must attend a citizenship ceremony – there are very few exceptions to this requirement.