REQUIREMENT FOR AUSTRALIAN CITIZENSHIP RESIDENCE
Residency necessary
Your time spent in Australia over the previous four years is taken into account by the Department of Immigration. DHA may exempt you from this requirement in some circumstances.
satisfy the basic residency requirement
- When submitting your application, you had to be:
- living in Australia for the last four years on a legitimate visa
- a permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen for the last 12 months who has spent no more than 90 days in total in the previous 12 months, or more than 12 months overall, away from Australia.
Common exceptions
You can satisfy our residency requirement even if you:
- are younger than 16
- a former Australian citizen who lost their citizenship before April 4, 2002, gave birth to you
- were born in Papua prior to September 16, 1975, and one of your parents was an Australian citizen at the time of your birth.
When you apply, you must provide us with any supporting documentation.
Australian Citizenship (Special Residency) Legislative Instrument
- An applicant must, among other things, seek to engage in a specific activity that will benefit Australia in order to comply with Section 22A of the Act. The applicant must have a plausible chance of engaging in that activity, according to written notification to the Minister from the head or senior member of the designated organisation.
- The applicant must, among other things, be performing a specific type of work at the time of the application and must be required to travel frequently outside of Australia as a result of that work in order to satisfy s22B of the Act.
- The activities, organisations, and types of work that fall under the special residence requirements are listed in subsections 22C(1), (2), and (3).