Processing Time for Australian Citizenship

Getting to know more about the intricacies of Australian Citizenship Processing is a lengthy process. There are various factors and case-to-case scenarios that can have an impact on the processing time of your documents. For those who obtain citizenship by conferral, the processing time is around 16 months. Then these applicants have to wait for a further eight months for a citizenship ceremony invitation. However, if you are a citizen by descent, then you will go through a shorter duration of processing time. Such applicants normally take five months and seventeen days.

What are the Factors Impacting Processing Time?

Many factors can affect the citizenship application and it might take a long processing time for your documents.

1. Impact of Mailing Times on Processing

Many documents might take a lot of time to reach the Department of Home Affairs. These documents can include your birth certificate or police clearance certificates.

2. Influence of Pending Applications

There are many pending applications and the Department of Home Affairs needs time to review and process the documents. If the applicants are in high numbers, then it might impact the processing time of your application. This is because the department has less limited staff numbers who deal with pending applications,

3. Effect of Personal Circumstances

If you have specific eligibility criteria to meet or if your documents need more verification such as criminal record checks, it may take longer to process your application.

Mailing Times Impacting the Delivery of Certificates

How mailing times can impact the delivery of Australian citizenship certificates? This is the most asked question and we will break this down for you.

1. From Within Australia

If you live in Australia and your application for citizenship is approved, you will receive your certificates in the next two weeks. This is because the printing and postage of your certificates need additional weeks.

2. Outside Australia (Descent or Evidence Categories)

If you are applying for Australian citizenship while residing overseas via descent or evidence category, it will take more time for you to receive a certificate. It normally takes 6 weeks due to international postal service constraints.

Case-by-Case Assessment Approach

A case-by-case assessment approach for citizenship applications means every application is reviewed individually due to the specific circumstances of each applicant. As some cases are more complicated and require additional scrutiny, this might impact your processing time.

Your application outcome can also impact your document processing time. If you withdraw your application or if it is refused, it could necessitate further time for review and potential reconsideration. If you have submitted the wrong data on your application, you need to resubmit it again and this can also take more time for your documents to get processed.

Citizenship Certificate

After scoring well in the Australian Citizenship Test, you will be sent an invitation to attend the citizenship ceremony. After attending the ceremony and taking the pledge, you will get a citizenship certificate.

Citizenship by Descent or Evidence

You will get a certificate within 2 weeks and 6 weeks if you reside in Australia or overseas respectively.

Citizenship by Conferral

You will get the certificate on the day of the Citizenship Ceremony.

Conclusion

Alot of individuals hope to have approved documents as early as possible. This isn’t possible. Processing time can vary and sometimes it can take months. There are various factors that can impact the processing time e.g. high volume of applicants or documents clearance. Sometimes individuals meet different eligibility criteria and put the wrong information on their application.

Many times unique characteristics of each application, combined with the specific outcome it receives can also vary the document processing time.