Citizenship
Australian citizenship by conferral
Australian citizenship by conferral is the standard pathway for eligible migrants to become Australian citizens. In general, the applicant must hold permanent residence and meet the residence requirement (unless an exemption or special category applies), satisfy identity requirements, and meet other key criteria such as good character (where applicable), pass the citizenship test (unless an exemption applies). Different requirements may apply depending on whether the application is made for an adult or a child.
General residence requirement for citizenship by conferral
The three core residence tests are:
- 4-year presence test (lawful residence)
- You must have been lawfully present in Australia for the 4 years immediately before the application date.
- You can still meet this requirement if your total absences during that 4-year period are no more than 12 months in total.
- No unlawful status during the 4 years
- You must not have been in Australia as an unlawful non-citizen at any time during the 4 years immediately before the application date.
- 12 months as a permanent resident immediately before application
- You must have been present in Australia as a permanent resident for the 12 months immediately before applying.
- You can still meet this requirement if your absences during the final 12 months are no more than 90 days, and you remained a permanent resident during each absence.
Other requirement for citizenship by conferral
- Permanent resident status: You generally must hold Australian permanent residence at the required time(s) (commonly at the time you apply and at the time a decision is made).
- Identity: You must provide documents to confirm your identity, including photo ID, proof of date of birth, and any change-of-name documents if applicable.
- Citizenship test / interview: Most applicants aged 18–59 must attend an interview and pass the citizenship test. Applicants aged 60 or over are generally exempt from the test.
- Knowledge and understanding: You must show adequate knowledge of Australia and an understanding of the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship (usually through the test/interview process).
- Good character (where applicable): Applicants aged 18 or over must meet the good character requirement (this may involve criminal history checks and additional documents if requested).
- Intention to reside / close association: You should demonstrate an intention to live in Australia or maintain a close and continuing association with Australia.
- Pledge of commitment: If approved, you normally become a citizen after making the pledge of commitment at a citizenship ceremony (unless an exemption applies).
Australian citizenship by descent
Australian citizenship by descent is the pathway for people who were born outside Australia and have an Australian citizen parent at the time of their birth (in most cases). It’s not automatic—you must apply to Department of Home Affairs and provide evidence such as the child’s overseas birth certificate and identity documents, plus proof that the parent was an Australian citizen. Once the application is approved, the person becomes an Australian citizen by descent and can then apply for an Australian passport.
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FAQs
Yes, you may still be eligible. Most permanent resident visas show a “visa expiry” date, but for PR this usually refers to your travel facility (the right to re-enter Australia after travelling), not your right to remain in Australia. In many cases, PR visas come with a 5-year travel facility. Once that travel facility ends, you can still live in Australia indefinitely as a permanent resident if you remain in Australia and do not depart. If you later want to travel and return as a permanent resident, you normally need a Resident Return Visa (subclass 155/157). So, if you have continuously stayed in Australia and met the residence requirements, you can still apply for citizenship, even if the travel facility date has passed.
If your child was born in Australia while neither parent was an Australian citizen or permanent resident, your child can still become an Australian citizen under the “10-year rule” — but only if they satisfy the legal test in s 12(1)(b) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007: the child must be “ordinarily resident in Australia throughout the period of 10 years” from birth.
What “ordinarily resident” means (important if the child lived overseas)
The Act defines “ordinarily resident” broadly, including where a person’s home is, or where their permanent abode is “even if temporarily absent”.
So, being outside Australia does not automatically break the 10-year rule — the key question is whether the child’s real “home/permanent base” remained Australia during the 10 years, and whether the overseas period was truly temporary (based on evidence).
There is a case might help you understand more about 10 years rule
In Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs v Sidhu (by his litigation representative Kaur) [2023] FCAFC 133, the child spent a long time in India (about 5 years and 10 months), but the Full Federal Court still accepted the child was ordinarily resident in Australia across the 10 years.
A key line the Court used (quoting the primary judge’s conclusion) was that the child’s “home had been Australia… notwithstanding that he had been removed to India for a ‘temporary purpose’.”
What this means for your situation
- If your child lived overseas for years, they may still meet the 10-year rule if you can show Australia stayed their home/permanent base, and the overseas stay was temporary (with strong evidence).
- If the child’s life was genuinely relocated overseas (settled schooling/life there, weak ongoing ties to Australia, family base effectively moved), the Department may decide the child was not “ordinarily resident” in Australia for the whole 10 years.
Normally, the Department will expect you to provide strong evidence of the parent–child relationship, and they often look for medical evidence where available — for example, pregnancy records, hospital or birth clinic documents, antenatal check-up records, ultrasound reports, doctor visit records, or other official documents that show you were the birth parent. If you genuinely do not have access to those records (or they are unavailable), you can request a DNA test. If the Department agrees that DNA testing is needed, they will send you official instructions and you must follow their required process (including the approved laboratory and strict chain-of-custody steps).
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