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  • Australian Citizenship Residency Requirement

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Australian Citizenship Residency Requirement

Residence requirement

To become an Australian citizen by conferral, the Department of Home Affairs looks at how long you have lived in Australia in the 4 years before you apply. In certain cases the Department may exempt you from this requirement or let you use a special residence requirement.

Meet the general residence requirement

At the time you apply you must have been:

  • living in Australia on a valid visa for the past 4 years (time on any valid visa counts, including a bridging visa, but time unlawful in Australia does not)
  • a permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen for the past 12 months
  • away from Australia for no more than 12 months in total in the past 4 years, including no more than 90 days in total in the past 12 months

For children 16 or 17 years old, if meeting this requirement would cause significant hardship or disadvantage, you will need to provide proof. Children under 16 do not need to meet the general residence requirement but must be permanent residents.

Worked examples

Example 1: from student to citizen. Maria arrived in Australia on a student visa on 1 March 2022 and stayed on valid visas from then on. She was granted permanent residence on 1 July 2025. She reaches 4 years of lawful residence on 1 March 2026, but she only reaches 12 months as a permanent resident on 1 July 2026. Her earliest date to apply is therefore 1 July 2026, as long as her absences are within the limits.

Example 2: too many days away this year. Raj meets the 4 year and 12 month rules and has spent 10 months in total outside Australia over the 4 years, which is within the 12 month limit. But he has spent 100 days overseas in the last 12 months. He needs to wait until no more than 90 days of travel falls within the 12 months before his application date.

Example 3: New Zealand citizen. Aroha arrived from New Zealand in 2019 on a Special Category visa and has lived here since. She is treated as a permanent resident for citizenship purposes from 1 July 2022, so she meets the 12 month rule and the 4 year rule, and can apply directly without first getting a permanent visa.

Our citizenship eligibility assessment can work out your earliest date for you. If you are planning long trips before you apply, also check your travel facility and whether you will need a Resident Return visa.

Am I eligible to apply for Australian Citizenship?
Calculate your permanent residence

Your residency starts on the date:

  • the Department granted your permanent visa, if you were in Australia at the time, or
  • you first entered Australia on a permanent visa
General exemptions

You do not need to meet the residence requirement if you:

  • are under 16 years
  • were born to a former Australian citizen who lost their citizenship before 4 April 2002
  • were born in Papua before 16 September 1975 and one of your parents was born in Australia and was an Australian citizen when you were born

You will need to give the Department documents that support your claim when you apply.

Special residence requirement

Some people who must travel overseas for work that benefits Australia can use a special residence requirement instead of the general one. The details are set out in the legislative instrument below. Legislative Instrument: Australian Citizenship (special residence requirement) Instrument (LIN 21/069) 2021– specifies the activities for subparagraph 22A(1)(a)(i) of the Act, organisations for paragraph 22A(1)(b) of the Act, and kinds of work for paragraph 22B(1)(a) of the Act for a person applying for Australian citizenship by conferral (the applicant) who seeks to meet special residence requirement. All applicants still need to meet section 21 of the citizenship Act.

  • To meet s22A of the Act an applicant must, amongst other requirements, seek to engage in a specified activity of benefit to Australia. The head of, or senior member of a specified organisation must give the Minister written notice stating that the applicant has a reasonable prospect of being engaged in that activity.
  • To meet s22B of the Act the applicant must, amongst other requirements, be engaged in a specified kind of work, engaged in that work at the time of application and must be required to regularly travel outside Australia because of that work.
  • Subsections 22C(1),(2) & (3) specify activities, organisations and kinds of work for eligibility for the special residence requirements:.

Activities:

  • done on duty by a crew member of a ship or aircraft; or
  • done on duty on a resources installation or a sea installation; or
  • done in the course of duty by an employee of an S&P/ASX All Australian 200 listed company in one of the following positions: a chief executive officer; or an executive manager; or
  • research and development of benefit to Australia done as a scientist who has been awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in their field of speciality and is employed by an Australian university; or done in the course of duty as a scientist employed by: the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation; or a medical research institute that is a member of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes; or
  • done in the course of duty as a medical specialist of internationally recognised record of exceptional and outstanding achievement in their field of speciality, who: is a fellow of an organisation listed in column 1 of an item in the table in clause 1 in Schedule 1 to the Health Insurance Regulations 2018; and holds a qualification relevant to the organisation.

Work that is in one of the following areas:

  • academia and research; or
  • the arts; or
  • a profession; or
  • a sport;

where the particular kind of work is done by a person who is or has been a primary holder of a relevant talent visa and the visa was granted based on an internationally recognised record of exceptional and outstanding achievement in the same area.

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