The pathway for permanent residents ready to become citizens.

Conferral is the usual route if you are a permanent resident living in Australia who has been here long enough to meet the residence rule, and you want the full rights of citizenship: an Australian passport, the right to vote, and a status that cannot be cancelled on residence grounds. Holders of a Special Category visa 444 may also qualify, often by a more direct route.

This page is the conferral deep-dive. If instead you were born outside Australia to a parent who was already an Australian citizen, you are likely looking at citizenship by descent, which has no residence rule and no test. And if you only need to keep travelling on your permanent residence for now, that is the Resident Return Visa 155 and 157, not citizenship.

Four years here, the last year as a permanent resident.

Most applicants apply under the general residence requirement. Broadly, you must generally have:

• lived in Australia on a valid visa for four years immediately before you apply;
• held a permanent visa or a Special Category (444) visa for the last 12 months of that period; and
• kept time spent outside Australia within limits: no more than 12 months in total across the four years, including no more than 90 days in the 12 months immediately before you apply.

Home Affairs publishes a residence calculator to check the dates against your travel history. The absence limits are strict and catch people who travelled often for work, so it is worth checking carefully before lodging.

Three more things conferral asks of you.

• Good character. Adults are assessed against a character requirement, which usually involves disclosing your history and may involve police checks.
• The citizenship test. Most applicants aged 18 to 59 sit a test on Australia and its shared values. The pass mark is 75%. If you do not pass, you can generally re-sit, typically within about 12 months.
• The pledge. Conferral is completed by making the Australian citizenship pledge at a ceremony, a commitment to Australia and its shared values.

Children under 16 can usually be included in a responsible parent's application rather than applying on their own. Applicants aged 60 and over, and some others, are generally not required to sit the test.

Which applies to you?

Citizenship by conferral, answered.

Related citizenship pathways.

Department of Home Affairs - Become an Australian citizen (by conferral) and the residence calculator; Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth). Figures and rules are current as at June 2026 and verified live at publish. Confirm the current detail at homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship.