# Citizenship waiting period - Timelines



## cooluno (May 26, 2013)

Well, the next step from PR is of course, the Australian Citizenship. Just created this thread so that people can actually share the waiting period and timelines of getting their citizensip approved, and ceremony over with.

Below are the steps and the timelines.
Application: 
Exam and Interview: 25th November, 2014
Approval letter: 27 January, 2015
Ceremony: Waiting....


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## abhijit (Dec 15, 2010)

Did you get an invite for the ceremony?
My test happened 16/3/2015 and approval letter came through on 25/3/2015.
I am now waiting for the letter which will tell me the citizenship ceremony date


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## cooluno (May 26, 2013)

abhijit said:


> Did you get an invite for the ceremony?
> My test happened 16/3/2015 and approval letter came through on 25/3/2015.
> I am now waiting for the letter which will tell me the citizenship ceremony date


Nope, still waiting for the ceremony invite. I should have put my post above accordingly to reflect that. 

I called Immi today, and got the same answer, curr waiting time is 3-6 months...


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## podigeo (Feb 4, 2014)

Where do you find the next/future exam date / venue ? How long before you need to apply for getting a date?


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## cooluno (May 26, 2013)

podigeo said:


> Where do you find the next/future exam date / venue ? How long before you need to apply for getting a date?


hi podigeo,
You should be able to select the interview date or time pretty much at the time of application itself. if you are not too intent on having a particular timeslot, you should be able to appear for the interview within a week itself. for me, I wanted the earliest slot available, 9:15ish. so I had to wait for 2 weeks for the date.


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## cooluno (May 26, 2013)

others....

Can you please share your timelines? ppl who are waiting, and who recently got their ceremonies would help understand the timelines we are looking at.


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## rajinder99 (Jun 8, 2015)

*waiting citizenship approval letter*

Hi,
i have applied Australian Citizenship 18th October 2014. Pass the test 3rd of December. Provide Character Document on same month Because 4 years before i had an assault charges ( intentionally cause injury) which i convicted and paid $750 fine for this. Luckily this is the only conviction have in my life. Now i am still waiting to get the approval letter for the citizenship. its been 6 months since i passed the test. i called the department few months back for 2 or three times, and they told me not to call them back because the application still in process. please help me guys for any solutions? or any ideas welcome.


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## podigeo (Feb 4, 2014)

rajinder99 said:


> Hi,
> i have applied Australian Citizenship 18th October 2014. Pass the test 3rd of December. Provide Character Document on same month Because 4 years before i had an assault charges ( intentionally cause injury) which i convicted and paid $750 fine for this. Luckily this is the only conviction have in my life. Now i am still waiting to get the approval letter for the citizenship. its been 6 months since i passed the test. i called the department few months back for 2 or three times, and they told me not to call them back because the application still in process. please help me guys for any solutions? or any ideas welcome.


Have you been filing tax returns all these 4 years? One of my friend said they look all these factors...


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## rajinder99 (Jun 8, 2015)

podigeo said:


> Have you been filing tax returns all these 4 years? One of my friend said they look all these factors...


yes all the years Tax return are filled up. is there anything else?


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## rajinder99 (Jun 8, 2015)

Hi Padigeo,
any idea? is there something i can do in this situation?


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## rajinder99 (Jun 8, 2015)

rajinder99 said:


> yes all the years Tax return are filled up. is there anything else?


i have been filling all the tax return with all these years
what do you think what i can do in this situation?


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## cooluno (May 26, 2013)

Received a ceremony date for 22nd July.


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## podigeo (Feb 4, 2014)

rajinder99 said:


> Hi Padigeo,
> any idea? is there something i can do in this situation?



Hi Rajinder, have you got the invite for ceremony yet? Considering it is long time. There are situations in VIC state, some people get ceremony invite after 9 months. 


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## Ragnarokk (Jan 18, 2016)

Hey guys, I all ready have 4,5 years living in Australia but my pr invite has not arrive yet, if my visa exparies and I have to go and inmi approve the pr after I'm out of the country , do I have to start again the 4 year period to get the citizenship???
U know 4 years legal + 1 year in pr.

Thx boys. I hope someone understood my Q.


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## podigeo (Feb 4, 2014)

As long as you will not have a gap of more than 1 year, and once you land back in Australia, thereafter no gap of more than 90 days then you are all good 


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## Maggie-May24 (May 19, 2015)

If you have a gap when you did not hold a valid Australian visa, then you must start over again.

"You must:

have been living in Australia on a valid Australian visa for four years immediately before applying which must include the last 12 months as a permanent resident, and
not have been absent from Australia for more than one year in total, in the 4 year period, including no more than 90 days in the year before applying."


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## podigeo (Feb 4, 2014)

Thanks Maggie for clarifying. 


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## Ragnarokk (Jan 18, 2016)

thx guys


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## podigeo (Feb 4, 2014)

Has anyone recently submitted online in NSW? Just curious to find out the current waiting time for test invite and ceremony.


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## drshk (Jun 9, 2013)

podigeo said:


> Has anyone recently submitted online in NSW? Just curious to find out the current waiting time for test invite and ceremony.


My husband and I applied online in Dec 2015, we had our test in March 2016. Awaiting ceremony now :ranger:

Which suburb in NSW are you from? I have heard citizenship ceremony wait times vary greatly among councils.


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## podigeo (Feb 4, 2014)

drshk said:


> Which suburb in NSW are you from? I have heard citizenship ceremony wait times vary greatly among councils.



Hi drshk

I am from North Shore NSW 


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## v190 (Sep 22, 2011)

*Citizenship timeline*

Hey All,

Sharing my citizenship timelines:

Application date: 03-Feb-2016
Correspondence Email for a Test Appointment: 09-Feb-2016
Test Date: 04-Apr-2016 (Parramatta NSW)
Approval: Waiting
Ceremony Date: 

Waiting for the approval after the test. Any idea how many days/weeks for approval?

Thanks!


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## podigeo (Feb 4, 2014)

v190 said:


> Waiting for the approval after the test. Any idea how many days/weeks for approval?
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks!




Usually within 10 days, unless your PCC runs into any issue.


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## v190 (Sep 22, 2011)

podigeo said:


> Usually within 10 days, unless your PCC runs into any issue.


Thanks mate, got my approval letter  Now, the waiting begins for ceremony invite!


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## freezeee (Aug 27, 2015)

Hi guys, whether which NSW or Vic councils hold more ceremonies and application approval quicker?


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## mkus (Dec 25, 2016)

any idea how much time is taken for citizenship approval for person living in meadowbank/ryde?


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## dandan_dan (Mar 1, 2017)

Hi guys, I applied on 01.03.2017. it says on the website that my application has been submitted successfully but I didnt receive any acknowledgement email saying that I submitted my application. And I haven't heard from them since lodged date (01.03.2017). Can someone advise me please. Many thanks.


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## Eddi86 (May 13, 2020)

Hello, I have submitted my application for the citizenship on 17.07.2021. Still didn't receive any update from them. Does it takes that long time for the citizenship application?


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## NB (Mar 29, 2017)

Eddi86 said:


> Hello, I have submitted my application for the citizenship on 17.07.2021. Still didn't receive any update from them. Does it takes that long time for the citizenship application?


Which state are you living in ?
Cheers


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## Eddi86 (May 13, 2020)

NB said:


> Which state are you living in ?
> Cheers


I am in ACT (Canberra)


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## NB (Mar 29, 2017)

Eddi86 said:


> Hello, I have submitted my application for the citizenship on 17.07.2021. Still didn't receive any update from them. Does it takes that long time for the citizenship application?


ACT delays in issuing test invites before the latest covid shutdown was 3-4 months
Now how the processing has been affected in the last few months is not clear
Cheers


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## Eddi86 (May 13, 2020)

NB said:


> ACT delays in issuing test invites before the latest covid shutdown was 3-4 months
> Now how the processing has been affected in the last few months is not clear
> Cheers


I got a reply from the regional office Brisbane and requested to submit NAATI translated Birth Certificate, which is submitted in the couple of days. After that i didnt got any further update. I am travelling back to home country for couple of months. Do I need to update that to the immigration office or anything important I need to do for that time period?


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## NB (Mar 29, 2017)

Eddi86 said:


> I got a reply from the regional office Brisbane and requested to submit NAATI translated Birth Certificate, which is submitted in the couple of days. After that i didnt got any further update. I am travelling back to home country for couple of months. Do I need to update that to the immigration office or anything important I need to do for that time period?


You need to update DHA about your travel schedule preferably with evidence 
Nothing else
Cheers


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## MODXB (Apr 20, 2021)

Any idea what’s the average waiting time in SA!


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## NB (Mar 29, 2017)

MODXB said:


> Any idea what’s the average waiting time in SA!


Before this omicron hit the fan, it was 6 months or even lesser in entire country except VIC
Now how much shutdowns we are going to have, no one knows
Cheers


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