Are you eligible for Australian Citizenship?
How to become an Australian citizen? To meet the general residence requirement for citizenship, you must have been living in Australia lawfully for a period of four (4) years and at least one (1) year as a Permanent Resident immediately before making an application.
All temporary visas, such as visitor visas, student visas, employer or partner-sponsored visas and all classes of bridging visas, can be counted towards the four years lawful residence period.
You may be absent from Australia for up to twelve (12) months within the four (4) years immediately before applying. However, the absence period cannot be counted unless you have already been present in Australia before.
Furthermore, you may be absent for up to ninety (90) days within the twelve (12) months of permanent residence immediately before applying. However, that’s on the proviso you return to Australia as a permanent resident.
Can I apply if my work requires overseas travel?
It is possible to meet a special residence requirement if you have work that requires you to travel regularly for at least two years before applying for Australian citizenship.
To meet this Australian citizenship criterion you must
- ordinarily resident in Australia, with the last 12 months as a permanent resident of Australia
- present in Australia for at least 480 days in total, with at least 120 days of this being during the last 12 months immediately before applying
- not have been present in Australia as an unlawful non-citizen.
Contact us if you require any assistance with your application.
FAQ: Australian citizenship for children 15 years or younger.
Question:
Hi Nilesh
Thanks for time. I came in Australia 2007, then change to spouse visa , my wife did hairdressers course and we lodged TRA in 2009 and refused in 2010 under PIC (4020) circumstances and my first child born in 2010 and after long time we won the battle in 2019 and now we are on 485 visa till 26May2021 ,and under 10year child rule my son granted Australian citizenship and i have another child he is 2 year old .we are seeking best advise for your experience to settle permanently in Australia.Regards
Answer:
Your options include making an application for Ministerial Intervention as you already have a decision of the tribunal in hand, although I noticed that it was handed down some time ago.
There is no time limit for making an application for ministerial intervention after the AAT decision.
This is the key to accessing the Minister’s power for the Minister to consider exercising his powers based on the fact that you have an Australian citizen child.
Even though your child is an Australian citizen, the child is less than 18 years old and cannot usually sponsor parents for any parent visas unless there is a relative or guardian who is either an Australian citizen or permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. Other eligibility criteria also may be relevant.
When you are ready to get specific advice about your circumstances, pleasebook a consultationwith us to confirm your options.
Your Experience?
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I’d love to know moreabout your experience with applying for citizenship!
95 Responses
I am a NZ citizen with a NZ passport. My family and i have been residing in Australia since November 2008. However i have been in Lebanon since April 2019 with my husband. I will be returning to Melbourne within 2 weeks. How long do i have to wait to apply for citizenship?
Hi Natalya
Thank you very much for your post. Here are the first three (3) things that come to mind. There may also be other important issues that arise from your particular circumstances. Please seek specific immigration law advice before taking any further steps. It could be that I have misunderstood you :).
1. In order to apply for Australian citizenship, you need at least to become an Australian permanent resident and although you currently hold a subclass 444 special category visa as a New Zealand citizen you are not an Australian permanent resident.
2. You should get advice about making an application for permanent residency in Australia, noting that there are frequent changes to the 189 New Zealand stream Visa class.
3. It is typical for New Zealand citizens to be required to show evidence of income in Australia for a number of years as a requirement for them to be eligible for permanent residency. So it would appear to me that citizenship of Australia is quite a long way away for you.
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Regards
Nilesh Nandan
Immigration Lawyer & Special Counsel
MyVisa® Immigration Law Advisory
http://myvisa.com.au/
Regards Nilesh Nandan Immigration Lawyer & Special Counsel MyVisa® Immigration Law Advisory http://myvisa.com.au/
Hi
I didn’t receive the bridging visa for 4 days and now when I apply for citizenship it showing me error that you are not eligible because I’m not meeting the requirements of continuous stay of 4 years.
So what will be my options?
How can I apply for citizenship?
If I do apply on paper base, what will be the chances of my application getting approved or rejected?
Please advise me
Thanks
Hi,
I lived in Australia on a temporary visa for 4 years. Then I moved overseas for 6 months (during which my visa expired). If I apply for a PR visa and move back to Australia, will those 4 years spent on a temp visa be counted when applying for citizenship?
Kind regards,
Mai
Hello! I have been in Australia for 4 years now going on 5, 3 years of which were working holiday visas, the fourth year I spent on a bridging visa and now I am currently on the NIL VAC covid working holiday visa. I have been with my employer for going on three years now (in agriculture which scrapped the 6 month work rule during covid) and he is trying to sponsor me! My question is if I get sponsored how many more years would I have to do before I can apply for permanent residency? I’m not sure if my working holiday years count as time spent in Australia? And because I have worked with the same employer for three years does that count towards anything and it is on a dairy which is on the list of jobs they need people for.
In the 4 years I have been year I’ve only left the country once to go home for 6 weeks.
Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Kind regards Alex.
Hi Nilesh, thank you so much for spending your precious time answering the enquiry section.
Please help me clarify what happens if I stay more than 90 days outside Australia the last 12 months. When or how that period would be reset?
Much appreciated,
hi Nilesh, I have been in Australia since 2018 July lawfully and received my PR march 2021. my query is that can I leave Australia for couple of years right after applying for my citizenship in march 2023? as I have completed my 4 years here and 1 year as PR. Do i still need to be here until my application is finalised? thank you
HI, I have two questions,
My baby was born here in Jan 2022, we got our residency in Dec 2022, is my baby still eligible to apply for citizenship on their own?
What happens if you are absent for more than 90 days during the 1 year residency requirement period? Do we need to start all over again or we can just exclude overstay days?
Thank you