Who can apply
From PR to citizenship: how long after your permanent visa you can apply
Give the month your permanent visa started and your years here before it: the tool returns the earliest month to apply if you have not travelled.
Independent, non-government site: tests, applications and appointments are handled only on the Home Affairs website.
Earliest month after my permanent visa
Not before
March 2027
| Months to wait after the visa | 12 |
| Rule that sets the date | 12 months as a permanent resident |
| Travel | can push the date back |
After a permanent visa, the wait before you can apply for Australian citizenship is at least 12 months and at most 4 years, depending on how long you lived in Australia on other visas first. The general residence requirement asks for 4 years living in Australia on a valid visa, of which the last 12 months on a permanent visa. A graduate who spent three years here on student and work visas before the grant therefore waits 12 months; someone who arrived on the permanent visa waits the full 4 years. Travel can push the date back: no more than 365 days away in the 4 years and 90 in the last year. Permanent residence starts on the grant date if you were in Australia, or on your first entry if the visa was granted offshore. Once lodged, the current Home Affairs table shows half of conferral applicants reaching their ceremony within 7 months and nine in ten within 11 months.
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.
Questions, dates and fees by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How questions and dates are built
The two clocks after a permanent visa
Two periods run at the same time and both must be complete on the day you lodge. The first is the 4-year clock of living in Australia on any valid visa: student, graduate, working holiday, skilled temporary, partner, bridging or permanent. The second is the 12-month clock that only starts with the permanent visa. Whichever finishes later sets your date, which is what the tool above computes.
| Years in Australia before the permanent visa | Wait after the visa | Rule that decides |
|---|---|---|
| 0 (arrived on the PR) | 4 years | 4 years on a visa |
| 1 | 3 years | 4 years on a visa |
| 2 | 2 years | 4 years on a visa |
| 3 or more | 12 months | 12 months as a permanent resident |
Travel moves the date
The table assumes you stayed in Australia. Trips overseas do not stop either clock, but they count against two allowances: 365 days over the 4 years and 90 days over the last year. Departure and arrival days count as days here. If a long trip home falls in the last twelve months, waiting until part of it leaves the window is often the only fix. The residence calculator handles trips one by one; the panel below checks the four conditions with totals you already know.
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.
Gaps between visas
The four years must be spent living in Australia on a valid visa. A period with no visa at all, for example between the expiry of one visa and the grant of the next without a bridging visa, does not count, and the four years may need to start again after it. The Minister can treat such a period as lawful only if it was caused by an administrative error of the department. If you had a gap, count only the time since it ended.
From eligibility to ceremony
Reaching the date is the start, not the end. You lodge the application in ImmiAccount (or on paper in some cases) and pay $595 if you are aged 18 to 59. Home Affairs checks identity and eligibility, invites most applicants to a test appointment, assesses character, decides, and then the local council invites you to a ceremony about 4 weeks ahead. The processing times table updated 16 October 2026 gives these figures for conferral:
| Stage | 50% within | 90% within |
|---|---|---|
| Application to decision | 42 days | 5 months |
| Approval to ceremony | 4 months | 6 months |
| Application to ceremony | 7 months | 11 months |
These are past results, not promises. Incomplete documents, slow replies and character checks with other agencies lengthen them. The processing times page has the full table and the size of the queue.
Travel facility and living here
A permanent visa lets you stay indefinitely, but the right to re-enter on it is time-limited. If its travel conditions have expired or are about to and you plan a trip, Home Affairs says to apply for a Resident Return visa before you leave. Keep this in mind during the year of permanent residence: you must be living in Australia when you apply and when the department decides, and an application on general eligibility cannot be approved while you are overseas. Lodging from abroad is allowed, but the decision waits for your return.
Students and graduates
For people who studied in Australia, the years on student and graduate visas usually fill the four-year clock before the permanent visa arrives, so the wait after the grant is just the 12 months. The international students page looks at long trips home during study, which are the usual trap. Then prepare the application so it is ready on your date.