Australian Citizenship Requirements !

If you obtain your permanent residence after 1 July 2007, you will need to meet the following requirements to become an Australian citizen:

You have lived lawfully in Australia for at least 4 years; and
You have lived in Australia for at least 12 months as a permanent resident
Note that if you have spent more than 12 months in the last 4 years outside Australia or 3 months in the last 12 outside Australia, you will no longer meet the residence requirements for citizenship.

It is also important to realise that only 12 months of residence as a permannent resident is required. As a result, you can count up to 3 years of residence in Australia as a temporary residence towards the citizenship requriements. For example, if you have spent several years in Australia on a student or 457 visa, this can be counted towards the 4 year residence requirement.

Note that you do not automatically qualify for Australian citizenship in this way, you must make an application for citizenship.

Permanent Residents - Prior to 1 July 2007
If you obtained your permanent residence prior to 1 July 2007, then you can apply for Australian citizenship if:

You have lived in Australia as a permanent resident for at least 2 of the last 5 years; AND
You have lived in Australia as a permanent resident for at least 12 of the last 24 months
This means that you must in most cases be a permanent resident living in Australia for at least 2 years before applying for citizenship under this pathway.

This pathway will be open until 1 July 2010 - if you apply for citizenship after this date, you will be assessed under the new Citizenship Act 2007.