sue&bob

Hi,
Im interested to know how long it takes to get citizenship once all the forms have been sent back.Our daughter has gone back to the UK after being here for 17 months, she is due to return in November to complete the other 7 months. But the problem is she needs to return to the UK by July06, i have spoke to Citz Dept ,but they were not very helpfull ,she couldnt even work out how many months my daughter had left to do!!She said it would take around 3months, I have heard it could be fast tracked, but it needs to be a good enough reason, anyone been in this position,and if so how quickly did you get citizenship.
Any info on this would be helpful
thanks

wmoore

I'd be surprised if "I have to leave the country" is a good enough reason to fast-track citizenship to be honest. From reading on here, it seems that for most people it takes 2-3 months.

Bordy

We applied for it at the end of February & got it on Friday night past so I'm afraid it doesn't look good for you. In saying that I suppose it depends how busy your local council is & how often they arrange the ceremony once you pass the interview.

sue&bob

Hi wmoore,
I thought 2-3months would be the norm,but was hoping there would be a way some how she could get it quicker, for hubby myself and our son theres no rush,but thanks for your reply

gogdownunder

i had major probs with the wording of the declaration so it took 33 years for me......the oz modified their views

JAJ

It's not - in fact, quite the contrary, if you've already decided to leave they may decide to defer or refuse your citizenship application.

All applicants for citizenship must intend to reside in Australia or maintain a "close and continuing association" with Australia. This is of course a grey area as many people leave after getting citizenship (eg change of plans) and no-one will questions one's motives.

And many naturalised Australians who leave do so with the intention of returning after a certain number of years.

But the bottom line is that you only start thinking about any possible move *after* being sworn in as a citizen, not before.

On top of that, they expect to see at least 12 months residence in the 2 years before application, as well as 2 years in the last 5. So someone leaving for 17 months may need to clock up a full 12 months in Australia on return before being eligible to apply.

Separately - she needs to start paying attention to her RRV and permanent resident status if she's going to be spending so much time overseas.

Jeremy