Australian Citizenship Stories

Australian Citizenship

At the time of this writing, the Australian Government has recently changed the law so that Permanent Residents must be a resident for at least 3 years before being eligible to take Australian Citizenship. I had gotten my application in and approved prior to the law change, so I was eligible after only 2 years. Please be aware that further changes may have taken place since this writing, and you should check with the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) for the current regulations, which can be located at their web site http://www.citizenship.gov.au

As I mentioned, I had been a Permanent Resident of Australia for 2 years, and was now eligible to take Australian Citizenship. I went to the web site for Citizenship where I followed the links to apply on-line. At the time I completed the application, I also paid the fee via the payment portal, so I knew that everything was then in DIMIA’s hands. They asked if they could contact me by email, fax or phone, and I chose email as the best way to get in touch with me. About a month after I applied, DIMIA sent me an email with an appointment date for an interview. Unfortunately, due to problems with my email address at the time, I did not receive the email until a few days after the appointment. I promptly called them and was able to reschedule the interview. We had to reschedule the appointment again for another reason, and this was not a problem with them either.

Finally, the day came for the interview. I brought all my paperwork with me, just in case, including a print out of the application and payment receipt that I had from filling in the application. As it turns out, all I needed was my passport, residency letter and photos. We had taken a couple of passport sized photos at home with the digital camera and printed them on plain paper, which were accepted fine by the interviewer. I don’t know if this will work for everyone, but it worked for us.

At the interview, the lady didn’t really ask too many questions really. She had a look over all my paperwork, and asked if I knew what my Rights and Responsibilities as an Australian were. These can be found on the web site as well as the application, and I told her what they were. At that point, she looked at me and said she was approving the application. Of course, the Citizenship is not granted then and there, you need to go through a ceremony held by your local Shire, but she congratulated me anyway.

About a month later, I got a letter from the Federal Minister for Immigration congratulating me on taking Australian Citizenship. It was about a month or so after that that I got a letter from the Shire inviting me to the next ceremony to be held on Australia Day. I was able to bring up to 6 people with me if I so wanted, and if I wanted to swear my oath on a holy book, I was asked to bring that as well. I also had to bring the invitation letter as well as photo identification. They also ask that you get there about 45 minutes before the start of the ceremony.

At last, it’s Australia Day. We got there in plenty of time, even before the requested 45 minutes. As we walked in to the auditorium, they had tables set up and people were lined up going through the tables one by one. You first have to show your letter, and they find your name on a card. This turns out to be the oath you are swearing, as well as a name tag and a seat number. The next table they cross you off the list, showing that you have shown up. The next table is filling in the voter registration form, as voting in Australia is compulsory. The last table is another piece of paper with the National Anthem on it. They ask that you put the name tag on in a place that will be visible, so they can make sure they give the right certificate to the right person.

I just had my husband with me for the day, and we went to go find out seats. As it turns out, the numbered seats in the front are for those taking Citizenship only, family and friends need to sit either upstairs or can stand along the sides. Of course, these things never start on time, and ours started about a half hour late. Finally, it starts, and there’s a welcome speech for the officials conducting the ceremony. Then, there were the congratulatory speeches by the Shire mayor, State and Federal officials that are also attending, etc. We finally get down to the point of the thing, taking the oath. This was administered in 2 stages – one for those swearing the oath under God, one for those not swearing under God. After this, each row of people was brought to the stage and one by one we were called out to receive our certificate. There was a photographer there that took your photo as you received the certificate from the Mayor, which you can purchase at a later time if you choose. As we exited the stage, we were also given a present of a tree – ours was a tree native to our Shire. We took our seats and waited for the rest of the group to go through. There were at least 160 of us that day, so this took a bit of time.

When everyone had received their certificates and returned to their seats, the ceremony wrapped up with singing of the National Anthem. The whole thing was about 2 and a half hours long, but I believe that was because our group was so large. Our Shire put on a reception with a sausage sizzle where we all could mingle afterwards. This was held outside, and as it was a warmish, muggy day, we chose to leave. Once you are a citizen, you are now eligible to have an Australian passport, and the applications for these can be obtained at your local post office, as well as online at http://www.passports.gov.au

All in all, it was a very easy process to go through, much easier than the requirements for Residency. It is also a good feeling to know that you are done with the immigration process, and no longer need to worry about it. The other added benefit is that when you travel outside Australia, you no longer need to go through Customs as a “visitor” or worry about an expired visa.

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