Who can apply
Australian citizenship requirements: the full checklist for permanent residents
Enter your years, months and days away to test the residence conditions, then go through the other criteria one by one.
Independent, non-government site: tests, applications and appointments are handled only on the Home Affairs website.
Do I meet the main conditions today?
Residence conditions met
4 of 4
| 4 years on a visa | met |
| 12 months as a permanent resident | met |
| At most 365 days away | met |
| At most 90 in the last year | met |
Character, the test and a close link with Australia are checked too.
To be granted Australian citizenship by conferral you must, on the day you apply and on the day Home Affairs decides, hold a permanent visa (or a Special Category visa as a New Zealand citizen) and live in Australia. You must meet the general residence requirement: 4 years living in Australia on a valid visa immediately before applying, the last 12 months as a permanent resident, and no more than 365 days away in those 4 years, including no more than 90 days in the final 12 months. Applicants aged 18 or over must be of good character. Most people aged 18 to 59 show their knowledge of Australia and basic English by passing the citizenship test with 75% and all 5 values questions right. You must also be likely to live in Australia or keep a close and continuing link with it. Home Affairs must refuse if identity is not established, a charge is pending, or you left prison less than 2 years ago after a sentence of 12 months or more.
Close and continuing link: what can I show?
Kinds of evidence you can give
2 of 3
| Home | lease, title deed or rates notice |
| Work or income | contracts and pay slips |
| Family here | not needed, but helps |
| Statement on absence | not needed |
Family or friends in Australia alone may not be enough, Home Affairs says; it weighs the whole picture.
Questions, dates and fees by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How questions and dates are built
The conditions at a glance
| Requirement | Rule | How it is shown |
|---|---|---|
| Status | permanent visa, or Special Category visa for New Zealand citizens | checked by Home Affairs |
| Living in Australia | 4 years on a valid visa | travel and visa records |
| Permanent residence | last 12 months | visa grant or first entry date |
| Absences | at most 365 days in 4 years, 90 in the final year | movement records |
| Good character | aged 18 or over | police checks, declarations |
| Knowledge and English | test: 75% and all values questions right | appointment, aged 18 to 59 |
| Close link | likely to live in or stay linked with Australia | home, work, family, community |
| Identity | established from birth | 3 identity documents |
Status: permanent resident or SCV holder
Conferral is open to holders of a permanent visa and to New Zealand citizens on a Special Category (subclass 444) visa, whom the law treats as permanent residents for citizenship. Everyone included in the application must have that status, children too. Permanent residence starts on the day the visa was granted if you were in Australia, or on the day you first entered Australia on it if it was granted offshore. For New Zealand citizens the starting date changed in 2022, which the New Zealand citizens page works through.
Residence: three tests in one
The general residence requirement is the condition most applicants miss, because all three parts must be met on the very day the application is lodged. The four-year window runs backwards from that day, so a trip taken three years ago still counts. Home Affairs counts days of departure and arrival as days in Australia. Time with no visa does not count towards the four years. The residence calculator applies these rules to your own trips and gives the first date that works.
Some people are excused from the residence rule: children under 16, people born to a former citizen who lost citizenship before 4 April 2002, people born in Papua before 16 September 1975 to an Australian-born citizen parent, and members of the defence forces after 90 days of service. Others may have part of their time treated differently through a ministerial discretion, or qualify under the special residence requirement for elite athletes and travel-heavy jobs.
Good character from age 18
Home Affairs describes good character as the enduring moral qualities of a person, and asks whether you are likely to uphold the law and keep the other commitments of the pledge. It may look at convictions, obligations to a court in Australia or overseas, association with people of concern, reported domestic violence and honesty in past dealings with the department, including any false information given in a visa application. An Australian police check is requested for applicants aged 16 or over, and overseas certificates may be needed. The character page goes through each point.
Knowledge of Australia and basic English
Two separate legal requirements, knowledge and language, are both met by a pass in the citizenship test. Applicants aged 18 to 59 on the day Home Affairs receives their application generally sit it at an appointment; younger and older applicants, people with an incapacity and a few groups set by the law have an interview instead. The test has 20 questions, takes 45 minutes and costs nothing beyond the application fee. Practise on the full practice test.
A close and continuing link
Home Affairs must be satisfied that you are likely to live in Australia, or keep a close and continuing link with it while overseas. It says citizenship is a privilege that requires a long-term commitment, and that friends or relatives in Australia, even citizens, may not be enough on their own. It weighs your housing, assets such as a house, car or bank account, income and work, family and schooling, the pattern and reasons of your travel, and your part in community groups or charities. Anyone planning 6 months or more overseas in the next few years should explain it in a statement. The panel below lists the kinds of proof that match your situation.
Close and continuing link: what can I show?
Kinds of evidence you can give
2 of 3
| Home | lease, title deed or rates notice |
| Work or income | contracts and pay slips |
| Family here | not needed, but helps |
| Statement on absence | not needed |
Family or friends in Australia alone may not be enough, Home Affairs says; it weighs the whole picture.
When Home Affairs must refuse
Some situations stop approval whatever else you meet. The department must not approve an application if it is not satisfied of your identity from birth; while proceedings for an offence against an Australian law are pending, including an appeal; within 2 years of release from a prison sentence of 12 months or more (10 years for a repeat offender); while you are subject to parole, bail or good behaviour conditions that a court could act on; while you are in prison or a psychiatric institution by court order; if you are assessed as a risk to security; or if you ceased to be a citizen in the past 12 months. On general eligibility, it also cannot approve while you are outside Australia.
Children in the application
A child aged 15 or under can be included on a parent’s application at no cost. The child must be a permanent resident under 16 on the day of lodging and the day of decision, but does not need to meet the residence requirement or sit the test. A child of 16 or 17 applies alone and must meet the residence rule. The children page covers responsible parents, parenting orders and adoption.
Before you lodge
Check each line of the table against your own records, gather the identity documents and police certificates, and read the criteria on the Home Affairs permanent resident page as they stand on the day you apply. The application is made with the department, online in ImmiAccount or on paper; nobody can lodge it on this site.