How Hard Is It To Become An Australian Citizen

Becoming an Australian citizen is something that many people aspire to achieve across the globe every year. The many benefits that come with living in Australia and making it one’s permanent home are countless. Taking this one step further by becoming an Australian citizen and calling yourself ‘an Australian’ is the ulitmate goal of many migrants to the country each year. Becoming an Australian citizen is your formal membership of the Australian community.

Freedom, opportunity, safety, democracy, equality, respect, tolerance and a high standard of living are just some of the factors that make Australian citizenship so sought after. Becoming an Australian citizen brings with it privileges, rewards and responsibilites. It requires that you make an ongoing commitment to Australia, its shared values and what it stands for.

In this article, we take a look at some of the features of becoming an Australian citizen by examining the responsibilites, privileges and rewards that come with taking Australian citizenship, as well as making a pledge to become an Australian citizen as part of the application process. We then discuss how to become an Australian citizen, with a closer look at one of the more common pathways to apply.

We also take a look at changes to the citizenship requirements for how to become an Australian citizen that had previously been earmarked by the Government, which however, did not proceed further at that time. This is an important aspect to be aware of as these (or other) changes could potentially be reintroduced into Parliament in the future, depending on the Government’s policy priorities. Keeping abreast of such issues is key as it provides us with some insight into what the Government is thinking and how it might proceed to make changes in this area at some stage. Although not definite, it is possible. Staying ahead of new developments and anticipating changes are one of the key hallmarks of the service we offer to our clients.

People often ask ‘is it hard to get Australian citizenship’? Well, as you’ll see from the changes that were previously proposed by the Government, it can get a lot harder at some stage in the future, were the Government to focus again on these issues. Anything can change, and so it is recommended that as soon as you can answer ‘yes’ to ‘am i eligible for Australian citizenship,’ that you should apply, and avoid the risk of the requirements on becoming an Australian citizen changing.

Please note that the information contained in this article covers the more common situations of how to become an Australian citizen. As this is a guide only, we have not covered every possible scenario that may apply when answering the question ‘am i eligible for Australian citizenship.’ It is therefore highly recommended before you apply for Australian citizenship, that you ensure that you are fully informed about how the citizenship requirements apply to your particular circumstances.

For up to date advice on your eligibility to apply for Australian Citizenship and the process for applying, book your confidential consultation with a migration agent in Adelaide. PAX Migration Australia is a leading immigration advice service based in Adelaide. We can prepare and lodge your citizenship application for you, ensuring that you submit a complete and correct application with the required supporting documentation, which will give you the best chance of a successful outcome. Give us a call!

Features of Becoming An Australian Citizen

What Are You Responsibilities As An Australian Citizen?

The responsibilites that come with becoming an Australian citizen are set out below. As an Australian citizen, you must:

• abide by Australian laws;
• vote in federal and state or territory elections, and in referendums where they are called;
• defend Australia if the need arises; and
• serve on jury duty if called on.

What Rewards And Privileges Are You Entitled To As An Australian Citizen?

The rewards of becoming an Australian citizen are countless!

You will be entitled to the following privileges as an Australian citizen:

• voting in federal and state or territory elections, and in referendums;
• applying for children born overseas to become Australian citizens by descent;
• applying for employment in the Australian Public Service or in the Australian Defence Force;
• seeking election to Parliament;
• applying for an Australian passport and being able to re-enter Australia freely on an unrestricted basis; and
• seeking consular assistance from an Australian official whilst you are offshore.

Making A Pledge To Become An Australian Citizen

You must make the Australian Citizenship Pledge at your Australian Citizenship ceremony. This is your way to demonstrate that you are making a public commitment to Australia and accepting the responsibilities and privileges that come with citizenship.

At your citizenship ceremony, you will pledge:

• your loyalty to Australia and to its people;
• that you will share Australia’s democratic beliefs and respect its rights and liberties; and
• to uphold and obey the laws of Australia.

You can learn more about Australia’s democratic beliefs, freedoms, equalities, values and community through the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) guide on learning about being an Australian citizen.

How To Become An Australian Citizen

In answering the question ‘am i eligible for Australian citizenship,’ there are a range of ways you can become an Australian citizen. You may be able to acquire citizenship automatically or by application, depending on your circumstances.

Automatic Citizenship

In most cases, you can generally become an Australian citizen automatically if you are born in Australia and one or both of your parents are Australian citizens or permanent residents when you are born.

There are also some other ways to automatically become a citizen.

Citizenship By Application

You can become an Australian citizen by applying to the Minister in one of the following ways:

• Citizenship by descent – you would generally apply for citizenship under this option if you were born outside Australia and one or both of your parents were Australian citizens when you were born;
• Citizenship by adoption – this option applies if you are adopted outside Australia by at least one Australian citizen in accordance with Citizenship provisions;
• Citizenship by conferral – here, you would need to be a permanent resident and be willing to make a pledge of commitment to apply for citizenship under this optionl. You may need to successfully complete a citizenship test;
• Resume citizenship – in certain cases where you previously ceased to be an Australian citizen, you can apply for your citizenship to resume.

The Minister must be satisfied of your identity for you to acquire citizenship by application.

Also be aware that the Minister may be required to refuse your application on national security grounds.

How Do You Apply To Become An Australian Citizen?

There are a number of ways of becoming an Australian citizen, depending on your circumstances and your eligibility for various pathways to Australian citizenship. One of the most common ways to apply for Australian citizenship is by Conferral.

You may be eligible to become an Australian citizen by conferral in one of the following ways, if you:

• satisfy the general eligibility criteria and successfully complete a citizenship test;
• have a permanent or enduring physical or mental incapacity;
• are aged 60 or over or have a hearing, speech or sight impairment;
• are aged under 18;
• were born to a former Australian citizen;
• were born in Papua; or
• you are a stateless person.

To become an Australian citizen, you must make an application to become an Australian citizen. The Minister must approve or refuse you becoming an Australian citizen. You must be eligible to be an Australian citizen to be approved.

General Eligibility

Under the general eligibility criterion, you are eligible to become an Australian citizen if the Minister is satisfied that you:

• are aged 18 or over at the time of making the application;
• are a permanent resident at the time of making the application and at the time when the Minister makes a decision;
• satisfy either the general residence requirement, the special residence requirement, or the defence service requirement at the time of making your application;
• understand the nature of the citizenship application;
• possess a basic knowledge of English;
• have an adequate knowledge of Australia and of the responsibilities and privileges of Australian citizenship;
• are likely to reside, or to continue to reside, in Australia or to maintain a close and continuing association with Australia if the application is approved; and
• are of good character at the time of the Minister’s decision on your application.

For the following requirements:

• understand the nature of the citizenship application;
• possess a basic knowledge of English;
• have an adequate knowledge of Australia and of the responsibilities and privileges of Australian citizenship;

you are taken to satisfy these if you have successfully completed the citizenship test.

Aged 60 Years Or Over

If you are 60 years or older at the time of making your citizenship application, to be eligible for citizenship you must:

• be a permanent resident at the time when you make the application, and  at the time of the Minister’s decision on the application;
• understand the nature of the citizenship application;
• satisfy either the general residence requirement, the special residence requirement, or the defence service requirement at the time of making your application;
• are likely to reside, or to continue to reside, in Australia or to maintain a close and continuing association with Australia if the application is approved; and
• are of good character at the time of the Minister’s decision on your application.

Note that there are a number of other circumstances in which you may qualify for citizenship in addition to the above, including minors and people with a physical or mental incapacity or other specified impairment.

Let us now examine some of the terms that are referred to above to understand exactly what you need to do to qualify for Australian citizenship under the general eligibility criterion.

What Is A Permanent Resident?

In the most common cases, you are deemed to be a permanent resident at a particular time if you:

• are in Australia and you hold a permanent visa at that time; or
• you are outside Australia, you hold a permanent visa at that time, and you held a permanent visa immediately before last leaving Australia.

What Is The General Residence Requirement?

You will meet the general residence requirement if you:

• were present in Australia for the period of 4 years immediately before the day of making your application for citizenship;
• were not present in Australia as an unlawful non-citizen at any time during that 4 year period; and
• were present in Australia as a permanent resident for the period of 12 months immediately before the day of making your application for citizenship.

What Happens If You Have Spent Time Overseas?

If you were absent from Australia for a part of the period of 4 years immediately before the day of making your citizenship application, and the total period of the absence/s was not for more than 12 months, then you are taken to have been present in Australia during each period of absence.

If you were absent from Australia for a part of the period of 12 months immediately before the day of making your citizenship application, the total period of the absence/s was not for more than 90 days, and you were a permanent resident during each period of absence, then you are taken to have been present in Australia as a permanent resident during each period of absence.

Citizenship Interview

Most applicants for citizenship by conferral aged between 18 and 59 years need to attend an interview and sit the citizenship test. This is to confirm your identity and your understanding of Australian citizenship. The test is used to assess your English language skills and your knowledge of Australia and Australian citizenship.​

Citizenship Test

Passing the citizenship test demonstrates that you have:

• a basic knowledge of the English language;
• an understanding of what it means to become an Australian citizen;
• an adequate knowledge of Australia and the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship;
• an understanding and commitment to Australian values based on freedom, respect and equality.

In order to pass the test, you will need to:

• answer 20 multiple choice questions
• answer all 5 of the Australian values questions correctly; and
• achieve a score of at least 75% overall.

If you fail the test, you can re-sit it.

Note that changes were made to the ctizenship test in November 2020. And further changes were proposed previously, which could have made it harder to qualify for Australian citizenship. The proposed and enacted changes are discussed further below.

Potential Changes To Citizenship Requirements

The Government introduced the Australian Citizenship Legislation Amendment (Strengthening the Requirements for Australian Citizenship and Other Measures) Bill 2017 into Parliament in June 2017, which sought to tighten the eligibility requirements for how to become an Australian citizen. The Bill proposed various changes to the criteria for citizenship by conferral (or ‘naturalisation’), including a tougher English language threshold, extension of the minimum permanent residency period from 12 months to four years, and a new requirement that applicants have ‘integrated into the Australian community’. The Bill also conferred greater discretions on the Minister in granting, refusing and revoking citizenship.

The purpose of these reforms was to strengthen (ie. toughen) the requirements for gaining approval for becoming an Australian citizen. The proposed changes covered the following aspects:

• introduction of a new English language requirement involving completing and passing an English test (this was likely to be in the area of IELTS 5.0 (vocational English));
• increasing the required period of permanent residence in Australia from 1 to 4 years before being eligible to apply for Citizenship (likely to have a major impact on the attractiveness of Australian migration);
• changes to the Citizenship test designed to assess an applicant’s understanding of, and commitment to, Australian values and responsibilities;
• requirement to demonstrate an applicant’s contribution to, and efforts made, to integrate into the Australian community including employment, school attendance by the applicant’s children and membership of community organisations;
• introducing a limit to the number of times an applicant could complete the Citizenship test with a maximum of 3 attempts permitted (there is no such limit under the current provisions); and
• where an applicant is found to have cheated in the Citizenship test, they would be issued with an automatic fail.

The Bill passed the House of Representatives but was not debated in the Senate and was discharged from the Notice Paper in October 2017. An almost-identical Bill was introduced in 2018, but was not debated and lapsed at the dissolution of Parliament in April 2019.

You can learn more about the then proposed changes to the citizenship requirements in our New Australian Citizenship Changes article.

What Changes Have Since Been Made To The Citizenship Requirements?

Tthe Australian Citizenship Test has been updated to include a new section on Australian values.

The new questions cover freedom of speech, mutual respect, equality of opportunity, the importance of democracy and the rule of law.

The updated test comprises of 20 multiple-choice questions, five of which are on Australian values, and which must all be answered correctly to pass the test.

Additionally, an overall test score of at least 75% is required to pass the test.

These changes to the Australian Citizenship Test came into effect from 15 November 2020.

Further information on these changes, including the type of Australian values questions that may be asked, we recommend you refer to our New Australian Citizenship Changes article.

What Do These Proposed And Enacted Changes To The Citizenship Requirements Mean?

This demonstrates that changes to the citizenship requirements can be introduced at any time, meaning answering the question ‘is it hard to get Australian citizenship’ can very quickly become, ‘it can get harder.’ And so if you are considering applying for Australian Citizenship, we would recommend that you act now to confirm your eligibility and apply as soon as possible to avoid being subject to any possible changes, which may come into effect at any time. If such changes were to be implemented, the application process would become more onerous and you may find that you would no longer qualify for Citizenship, resulting in delays in your application (possibly years, especially if you have been a permanent resident for less than 4 years, as was proposed). At that stage, you may say ‘yes’ in answer to ‘is it hard to get australian citizenship.’ It is therefore best to consider your options now and lodge your application as soon as you are eligible to avoid getting caught up in any potential changes.

For up to date advice on your eligibility to apply for Australian Citizenship and the process for applying, book your confidential consultation with a migration agent in Adelaide. PAX Migration Australia is a leading immigration advice service based in Adelaide. We can prepare and lodge your application for you, ensuring that you submit a complete and correct application with the required supporting documentation, which will give you the best chance of a successful outcome. Give us a call!

And The Final Take Home Message?

Following our discussion above, let takes one last look at the question that is often asked, being ‘is it hard to get Australian citizenship?’

Well, the answer is that it could get harder. Don’t delay and avoid dissapointment by applying as soon as you can answer ‘yes’ to the question ‘am i eligible for Australian citizenship.’ And to asses your eligibility? Talk to us! For complete advice on how to become an Australian citizen, contact PAX Migration Australia to book a consultation today.

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Australia’s migration laws are complex, and each case is different. We recommend that you seek professional advice if you are interested in becoming an australian citizen, including how to become an Australian citizen, to answer the question ‘am i eligible for Australian citizenship,’ and ‘is it hard to get Australian citizenship,’ as being fully informed will give you the best chance of achieving a successful outcome on your case. A migration professional can help you to do this. As we have noted in this article, there are several terms that are defined in the Citizenship provisions, as illustrated in the requirements for becoming an Australian citizen. It is vital to have a good understanding of these terms and how they apply in practice, to avoid making a mistake and having your citizenship application refused. Detailed advice about these is beyond the scope of this article and we would therefore recommend that you seek further information in this regard.

For up to date advice on applying for Australian citizenship, including how to become an australian citizen, the privileges and responsibilites that come with becoming an Australian citizen, to answer the questions ‘am i eligible for Australian citizenship’ and ‘is it hard to get Australian citizenship,’ join our many happy clients by contacting PAX Migration Australia, a leading immigration service providing advice on how to become an Australian citizen. Contact us for a no obligation discussion on how we may be able to assist you with your citizenship goals in Australia.

Sources/Links:

Parliament of Australia – About Parliament – Parliamentary Departments – Parliamentary Library – Research publications – Parliamentary library briefing book – Citizenship 

Parliament of Australia – Bills of previous Parliaments – Australian Citizenship Legislation Amendment (Strengthening the Requirements for Australian Citizenship and Other Measures) Bill 2017

Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs – Immigration and citizenship – Australian citizenship – Citizenship test and interview – ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Overview

Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs – Immigration and citizenship – Australian citizenship – Citizenship test and interview – ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Learn about the interview and test