Who can apply
Defence service and the residence requirement
Enter your days of service to see whether the residence exemption is open, then check whether it reaches your family.
Independent, non-government site: tests, applications and appointments are handled only on the Home Affairs website.
Defence service: residence exemption
Residence exemption
Not yet
| Service needed | 90 days permanent, or 90 paid reserve days |
| Fee with 90 days permanent service | nil |
| How to apply | paper form |
Permanent residents who serve in the Australian Defence Force can be exempt from the general residence requirement of 4 years on a visa and 12 months as a permanent resident. The Australian Citizenship Act 2007 has a defence service requirement, and Home Affairs sets out the conditions: appointment, enlistment or transfer into the permanent forces or reserves, then 90 days of service in the permanent forces, or a total of 90 paid service days in the navy, army or air force reserve, or discharge as medically unfit as a result of that service. It also applies if the member died while serving. Service of at least 90 days in the permanent forces also removes the application fee, which otherwise stands at $595 on form 1298i of July 2026. Family members share the residence exemption when the member holds a Labour Agreement or Employer Nomination visa (classes AU, BV, EN or RN) granted on or after 1 July 2007 and they were granted the same visa as members of the family unit. Claims are made on paper.
Does the defence exemption reach my family?
Family exemption from the residence rule
Likely
| You | exempt from the general residence rule |
| Family members | exempt with you |
| Lodging | paper form, with service records |
Questions, dates and fees by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How questions and dates are built
The service condition
The exemption comes from the defence service requirement of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, and Home Affairs spells out three ways to meet it on its criteria page. You must have been appointed, enlisted or transferred into the permanent forces or the reserves, and then:
- served 90 days in the permanent forces; or
- served a total of 90 paid service days in the navy, army or air force reserve; or
- been discharged as medically unfit for service as a result of that service.
The exemption also applies if the member died while undertaking that service, which matters for the family.
What the exemption removes, and what it leaves
It lifts the general residence requirement: no need for 4 years on a visa, no 12-month wait as a permanent resident and no absence count. You must still be a permanent resident when you apply and when Home Affairs decides. The citizenship test, the character requirement, identity from birth and a close and continuing link to Australia all still apply. An Australian police check is requested from age 16.
The fee
| Service | Residence exemption | Application fee |
|---|---|---|
| 90 days in the permanent forces | yes | nil |
| 90 paid reserve days, no permanent service | yes | $595 |
| Medical discharge caused by service | yes | $595 unless 90 permanent days were served |
| Less service than this | no | $595 |
The nil fee needs a letter or discharge papers giving your service dates. Fee exemptions are claimed on paper only, as the concession and exemption page explains.
When the family is exempt too
Partners and children share the residence exemption in one situation. You were granted one of these visas on or after 1 July 2007: Labour Agreement (Migrant) class AU, Labour Agreement (Residence) class BV, Employer Nomination (Permanent) class EN or Regional Employer Nomination (Permanent) class RN. Your family members were granted the same type of visa as members of the family unit in your application. And you meet the service condition. The second tool on this page checks the three conditions.
When the family is not exempt
Home Affairs lists three cases in which you and your family cannot use the family exemption:
- family members came later on a visa outside the four listed classes;
- you migrated for another purpose and only then joined the permanent forces or the reserves;
- you are already a citizen automatically, for example by birth in Australia, or by registration.
Family members in these cases use the general residence requirement; children under 16 are exempt from it anyway when they are permanent residents.
Applying
Claiming the Australian Defence Service residence exemption is one of the situations in which Home Affairs asks for a paper application. Applicants aged 18 to 59 use form 1300t; the fee, if any, is prepaid through ImmiAccount’s My Payments section, and the form goes with certified copies of your documents and your service letter. The online or paper page explains certification.
Serving members born in Australia
Some ADF members are already citizens without knowing it. A person born in Australia to a citizen or permanent resident parent, or who lived in Australia for the first 10 years of life, is a citizen automatically and needs no conferral application at all; evidence of citizenship is a separate request costing $290. Check this first on the birth in Australia page, because automatic citizens cannot use the family exemption described above.