Australian Citizenship

Ever since the introduction of the citizenship of Australia from 1949, more than 4 million migrants have become Australian citizens. Today, about 95 percent of the country's population have citizenship and if other 900,000 permanent citizens wish they can also get the citizenship.

It takes several years in becoming an Australian national if the applicant is in the process of immigrating to Australia.

Benefits of Australian Citizenship:

1.      Right to vote

2.      Can apply for Australian Passport

3.      Can enter Australia without visa of Australia but should have Australian passport.

4.      Will have right to participate in certain visa programmes with countries across the world.

5.      Would be eligible to stand for elections in Australian governments

6.      Can work for public service

7.      Can work in army, air force and navy

8.      Would have right to register overseas-born child as Australian citizens

9.      Would have opportunity to become a part of Australian community

10.  Under certain specific conditions would get multiple citizenships

How to get Australian Citizenship?

There are certain particular conditions under which person can become an Australian citizen:

·         Birth parents

·         Birthplace & Nationality

·         Spouse being Australian citizen

·         Emigrating to Australia

The Australian immigrants have two options for getting Australian citizenship:

·         Conferral - General Eligibility

·         Conferral –Other situations

Conferral - General Eligibility (Tested)

When you have legally resided for four years or more, you may be eligible to become an Australian citizen. The applicant should have remained in Australia for twelve months before preceding the application for permanent residence and had no periods outside Australia for more than 12 months during those four years, including no absences of three months or more in the previous 12 months to the request.

If the applicant is kept in jail or a mental institution for any period during its residence time in Australia, then he/she should not meet the residency requirements. Some residents may be exempt from the residency requirements as per determined by the government, such as those serving in the army, navy or air force of Australia. The Government offers residency requirements calculator to help applicants determine their eligibility for Australian citizenship.

The applicant must also prove that he/she possesses good character, and pass a citizenship test for granted his citizenship application.

Citizenship Test:

The citizenship test emphases on the promise of commitment that new Australians make when becoming citizens, the democratic laws of Australia and the government also the responsibilities and rights of citizenship.

The Citizenship Test consists of 20 multiple choice questions and can take up to 45 minutes to complete the test. In order to pass and to become an Australian citizen an applicant must need to reach at least 75 percent.

The test also is designed to determine whether applicants have a basic knowledge of the English language and it will be conducted in English language only.

A resource book, Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond, has been prepared by the Government of Australia to provide more information about the test, and has been translated into 37 languages of the community to help people to study.

An audio DVD is also available to help people with low literacy levels.

Conferral- Other situations (Non-Test)

The following Australian migrants are not required to take the citizenship test:

1.      People who are under 18 years

2.      People who have attained the age of 60 or above and are suffering from permanent or substantial loss of hearing, speech and sight.

3.      People who have a permanent physical or mental inability to understand the nature of the test

4.      People born with a former Australian citizen abroad

5.      People born in Papua before 16 September 1975 and simultaneously had a parent from Australia.

Responsibilities as an Australian Citizen:

As an Australian citizen, you have to vote in the elections of federal, state and local government, and if you are asked to serve on a jury in court.

You may also have to give up the citizenship from country of origin. While this is not in Australian policy for citizenship law but the applicant home country may hold this law so before becoming an Australian citizen it should be taken in consideration.