Application, fees, times
Travelling while your citizenship application is being processed
Enter the length of the trip to see its effect, then check the four things to settle before you book.
Independent, non-government site: tests, applications and appointments are handled only on the Home Affairs website.
Travelling while my application is open
Effect on approval
Cannot be approved while you are away
| Before leaving | valid passport and Resident Return visa |
| Tell Home Affairs | yes, before you go |
| Days away in this trip | 19 |
Days of departure and arrival count as days in Australia.
You can travel while your Australian citizenship application is being processed, but in most cases Home Affairs cannot approve the application while you are outside Australia, so a long trip can hold up the decision. The exceptions are applicants who met a special residence requirement and those helped by the spouse or interdependent partner discretion. Before you leave, tell the department through the travel section of its After you apply page, make sure your passport is valid, and check that your permanent visa still lets you re-enter; if its travel facility has expired or is about to, apply for a Resident Return visa. Until the ceremony you travel on your current passport, not an Australian one. After approval, you must make the pledge within 12 months or the approval may be cancelled, and a ceremony invitation, sent about 4 weeks ahead, can arrive for a date when you are away, leading to a non-attendance letter and a wait for the next place. Trips taken before you apply count against the absence limits of 365 and 90 days.
How many days can I still spend overseas?
Days you can still add
50
| Four-year limit | 200 of 365 used |
| Last-12-months limit | 40 of 90 used |
| Departure and arrival days | count as days in Australia |
Questions, dates and fees by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How questions and dates are built
Four checks before you book
| Check | Why |
|---|---|
| Tell Home Affairs | it asks to be told of travel plans while it processes the application or before the ceremony |
| Valid passport | you travel on your current passport until you are a citizen |
| Right to return | a permanent visa’s travel facility can expire; a Resident Return visa restores it |
| Dates of appointments and approval | approval cannot normally happen abroad; test appointments are in Australia |
Approval needs you in Australia
For applications based on general eligibility, on an incapacity, or on being 60 or over or having a hearing, speech or sight impairment, the department must not approve while you are outside Australia. Two groups escape this: applicants who met one of the special residence requirements, and applicants for whom the spouse or interdependent partner discretion was applied. For everyone else, a trip that overlaps the decision simply moves the decision to after your return. With half of recent conferral decisions made within 42 days of lodging, the weeks right after applying are the most sensitive. The processing times page has the full table.
Your visa and passport on the way back
A permanent visa lets you live in Australia indefinitely, but its permission to travel in and out has its own expiry. Home Affairs tells applicants to make sure they hold a valid visa that allows re-entry, and to apply for a Resident Return visa if the travel conditions have expired or are about to. Until you make the pledge you are not a citizen, so you cannot travel on an Australian passport; you use your current one. New Zealand citizens on a Special Category visa keep being treated as permanent residents for citizenship while abroad, provided they held the visa immediately before leaving, as the New Zealand page explains.
Trips between approval and ceremony
Once approved, you wait for an invitation from your council or the department, sent about 4 weeks before the event. You cannot choose the date. Home Affairs says travel before the ceremony should not stop you attending it, or it will delay you becoming a citizen. If you miss your ceremony you receive a non-attendance letter and later a new invitation, and if you do not attend within 12 months of approval without an acceptable, evidenced reason, the approval may be cancelled. The page on the stage after the test lays out that timeline, and the ceremony page the day itself.
Trips before you apply
Travel before lodging is where the residence rule bites. Over the 4 years before the day you apply you can be absent for at most 365 days in total, and no more than 90 of them in the final 12 months. The days you leave and arrive count as days in Australia. The panel under the summary shows how many days you can still spend away before your planned date; for a precise answer with real dates, use the residence calculator.
Long absences and the link with Australia
Home Affairs must be satisfied that you are likely to live in Australia, or keep a close and continuing link while overseas. It looks at your travel: why you went, how often and for how long. If you expect to be overseas for 6 months or more in the next few years, include a statement explaining why, with evidence such as an employer's letter, a study offer or return tickets.