Australian citizenship application: the steps from eligibility to ceremony

The application in seven steps

Step 1: be eligible on the day you apply

Citizenship by conferral is for permanent residents and for New Zealand citizens on a Special Category visa, who count as permanent residents for this purpose. Everyone included in the application must hold one of those statuses. The residence rule is the one that catches people out, because it is measured backwards from the lodging date: 4 years living in Australia on a valid visa, the last 12 months on a permanent visa, and absence limits of 365 days over the whole period and 90 in the final year. The days you leave and the days you return count as days in Australia. The residence calculator counts your trips day by day, and the Home Affairs residence calculator does the same on the department's site.

Residence is not the only condition. Applicants aged 18 or over must be of good character, most applicants must pass the test, and Home Affairs must be satisfied that you are likely to live in Australia or keep a close and continuing link with it. The requirements page goes through each one, and the ministerial discretion page covers the cases where time abroad or on a temporary visa can be treated differently.

Step 2: build the file before you open the form

Home Affairs assesses identity from birth, and it cannot approve an application if it is not satisfied of who you are. It asks for 3 documents that between them show your birth name, date of birth and sex, a photograph, a signature and your current residential address. A full birth certificate is the first choice for the birth details; a passport or driver licence usually covers the photo and signature; a utility bill, rates notice, rental contract or bank statement gives the address. The checker at the top of this page tells you which of the four points are still missing.

Then add the rest: a photograph of you and of any child on the form, evidence of name changes, overseas police certificates if your time abroad since turning 18 crosses the threshold, and any proof for an exemption, discretion or concession you claim. Documents not in English need an English translation as well as the original; in Australia, Home Affairs says to use a translator accredited by NAATI. The documents and police certificates page lists what each kind of evidence can be.

Step 3: lodge online or on paper, and pay

Most applicants aged 18 to 59 apply in ImmiAccount, attaching colour scans of the original documents, each multi-page document saved as one file and attached once. Paper is for people with no current or expired passport or travel document, people who have not travelled in or out of Australia since July 1990, those claiming a fee exemption or the defence service residence exemption, and stateless people born outside Australia. Paper applicants send certified copies and pre-pay the fee through ImmiAccount. The online or paper page explains the edge cases, including how concession card holders are treated.

The fee is paid at lodgement. Under form 1298i, design date July 2026, it is $595 for general eligibility, $85 with a Pensioner Concession Card, and nothing for children under 16 on a parent's form. Home Affairs cannot process an application that has not paid the correct charge and may return it. The cost page has the whole schedule and the reasons some Home Affairs pages still show older amounts.

Step 4: the wait and what can slow it

Once lodged, the file goes through identity, character and national security checks. Home Affairs names the usual causes of delay: forms not filled in correctly, missing documents or requests for more information, time to verify what you said, and time for other agencies to answer. If you are 16 or over it requests an Australian police check on your behalf. If you need to travel, tell the department first and make sure you can return on a valid visa; an application cannot be approved while you are outside Australia, as the page on travel while waiting explains.

Step 5: the appointment

Most applicants aged 18 to 59 on the day the application arrives receive a letter with the date, time and place of a test appointment. You bring an original photo identity document, staff discuss your application, confirm your identity and take your photo, then you sit the 20-question test. Applicants who do not sit the test may still have an interview. Our practice test is marked the official way, and the test day page covers what to bring.

Steps 6 and 7: decision and pledge

Home Affairs writes with its decision. If the application is approved, adults who applied at 16 or over are invited to a ceremony, usually run by the local council for your address, about 4 weeks ahead. You become a citizen when you make the pledge, which must happen within 12 months of approval or the approval may be cancelled. If the application is refused, the letter gives the reasons and says whether and how a review can be sought; the refusal page explains the options. The panel above turns the current processing table into calendar months from the month you apply, and the processing times page shows every percentile.

What this site does and does not do

This guide explains the conditions, documents, fees and order of the process so you can prepare. It does not lodge applications or check files: the application itself is made by you in ImmiAccount or on the paper form from the Home Affairs permanent resident page, which remains the reference if anything here differs.