Becoming a citizen through conferral is a common way to become an Australian citizen. It is essential that you are a permanent resident and meet certain specific criteria before applying.

Standard eligibility criteria

• hold permanent residency or be an eligible New Zealand citizen at time of application and at time of decision;
• meet residence requirements;
• meet the character requirement;
• be present in Australia when the Department decides the application unless meeting the special residence requirement;
• be able to pass a citizenship test;
• intend to live in Australia or maintain a close and continuing association with Australia while overseas.

General residence requirement

At the time of application, you must have been:

• living in Australia and continuously holding a visa for the past 4 years;
• a permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen for the previous 12 months;
• absent from Australia for no more than 12 months in total in the previous 4 years, including not being absent for more than 90 days in total in the previous 12 months;

For children 16 or 17 years of age, where meeting this requirement would cause significant hardship or disadvantage, an applicant will need to provide appropriate evidence.

Children under 16 years of age do not need to meet the general residence requirement but must be permanent residents.

Exemptions to the general residence requirement

• where the applicant is under 16 years;
• where the applicant was born to a former citizen who lost citizenship before 4 April 2002;
• where the applicant was born in Papua before 16 September 1975 and one of parent was born in Australia and was an Australian citizen at time of the applicant’s birth;
• where the applicant or a family may be exempt if a member of the Australian Defence Force;
• where the applicant meets Special residence requirements including:
• where the applicant engaged in activities supported by particular organisation such as a sporting committee or a federal government agency;
• where the applicant engaged in particular kinds of work requiring overseas travel;
• where the applicant met Ministerial discretion requirements including treating the following periods as lawful residence:
• where the applicant was in Australia unlawfully as the consequence of an administrative error;
• where the applicant was in Australia lawfully, but not as a permanent resident as the consequence of an administrative error;
• where the applicant was in Australia lawfully, but not as a permanent resident, and not treating it as a period of permanent residence would cause the applicant to suffer significant hardship or disadvantage;
• where the applicant was in prison or a psychiatric institution, the Minister may count that period towards the residence requirement if, taking into account the circumstances that resulted in the confinement, the Minister is satisfied that it would be unreasonable not to do so;
• where the applicant has spent time outside Australia as a permanent resident with their Australian citizen spouse or partner;
• where the applicant is the surviving spouse or partner of an Australian citizen and maintains a close and continuing association with Australia;
• where the applicant spent time outside Australia and as a permanent resident in an interdependent relationship with an Australian citizen and maintains had a close and continuing association with Australia.

Citizenship Law Services