Residence Requirement
The Department of Immigration consider the amount of time you have lived in Australia in the last 4 years. In certain cases, DHA may exempt you from this requirement (see below).
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
- 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.
COVID-19 update: The Department of Home Affairs have advised that if an applicant is not able to return to Australia due to the current travel restrictions, then there are no concessions for those individuals, meaning they are going to have to postpone applying for citizenship applications until they satisfy the citizenship ‘residence requirement’.
Calculate Your Permanent Residence
Your residency starts on the date:
- you were granted the permanent visa when you were in Australia, 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
Exemptions to Australian Citizenship Residence Requirement
If you do not meet the above criteria, there may be some ministerial discretion and exemption from the ‘residence requirement’ available to you.
Significant Hardship or Disadvantage
The Minister has discretion to consider the period as meeting residency requirements if you can show significant hardship or disadvantage.
Spouses And De Facto Partners
If you are a permanent resident and your spouse or de facto partner is Australian, you may meet the residency requirement if you can show close and continuing association with Australia. Some evidence may include:
- Australian citizen children
- Long-term relationship with Australian citizen spouse or de facto partner
- Regular return visits to Australia
- Ownership of property in Australia
To prove that your relationship is long-term, you would need to provide supporting documents such as text messages, photos, call history, marriage documents and so forth.
Interdependent Relationships
If you are a permanent resident and you are in an interdependent relationship with an Australian citizen, you may meet residency requirement if you can demonstrate close and continuing ties to Australia. Close and continuing ties include:
- Australian citizen children
- Long-term relationship with Australian citizen spouse or de facto partner
- Regular return visits to Australia
- Ownership of property in Australia
Confinement in Prison or Psychiatric Institution
In most cases, a person who has been confined in a prison or psychiatric institution will have to wait 4 years after being released from confinement to meet the residence requirement. However, in some circumstances the minister may waive the requirement.
Administrative Error
If you were in Australia but the Minister, consider that you do not meet the residency requirement because of an administrative error. The Minister has the discretion to waive treat your presence during that period as meeting the requirement.
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