Four years in the country and twelve months as a permanent resident, and since 2023 a New Zealander counts as one
This replaces the general rule for you
New Zealand citizens: the Special Category visa now counts as permanent residence
Section 21(2)(b) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 requires permanent residence when the application is made and when it is decided, and section 22(1)(c) requires twelve months of presence as a permanent resident. A Special Category visa is a temporary visa, so before 2023 a New Zealander had to obtain a permanent visa before either clock could start. Section 5(2) of the Act allows the Minister to determine by legislative instrument that holders of a Special Category visa are permanent residents for the Act's purposes, and the determination in force does that: a person granted a Special Category visa on or after 1 July 2023 is a permanent resident, and a person who held one before 1 July 2022 is taken to have become one on that day. The four-year presence requirement in section 22(1)(a) is untouched.
Citizenship by conferral under section 21(2) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 needs permanent residence at both ends of the application, the general residence requirement in section 22, a test, good character and an intention to go on living in Australia. The residence requirement is two periods at once: four years present in Australia immediately before the application with no time as an unlawful non-citizen, and twelve months of that four years spent as a permanent resident. Absences are tolerated up to twelve months in the four years and up to ninety days in the final twelve. What changed the shape of this for New Zealanders is not the Act but an instrument made under it: section 5(2) lets the Minister determine that holders of a Special Category visa are permanent residents, and the determination in force does exactly that from 1 July 2023. A New Zealander on a Special Category visa is a permanent resident for citizenship purposes without ever holding a permanent visa.
At a glance
- Presence required before applying
- 4 years immediately before the day of application
Section 22(1)(a) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.
- Of which, as a permanent resident
- 12 months immediately before the day of application
Section 22(1)(c) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.
- Absence allowed in the four years
- Up to 12 months in total
Section 22(1A). An absence within the allowance is treated as presence rather than forgiven, which is why two separate trips are added together.
- Absence allowed in the final twelve months
- Up to 90 days in total, and only while a permanent resident
Section 22(1B) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.
- Date a Special Category visa began to count as permanent residence
- 1 July 2023 for a visa granted on or after that day, and 1 July 2022 for one granted before it
Sections 4(2) to 4(4) of the Australian Citizenship (Permanent Resident) Determination (LIN 22/103) 2022, as compiled on 1 July 2023.
Requirements
- Aged 18 or over at the time of application
- A permanent resident both when the application is made and when the Minister decides it
- Four years present in Australia immediately before the application, none of it as an unlawful non-citizen
- Twelve months of that four years present as a permanent resident
- A citizenship test, basic English, adequate knowledge of Australia, good character, and a likelihood of continuing to reside in Australia or to maintain a close and continuing association with it
In detail
Two clocks, not one
Section 22 sets two periods that both end on the day of the application and do not start together. The four-year clock counts presence in Australia under any lawful status, so time on a student visa, a working holiday or a skilled temporary visa counts towards it. The twelve-month clock counts presence as a permanent resident, so it begins only when permanent residence does. A person who holds a temporary visa for three years and a permanent visa for one satisfies both; a person who becomes a permanent resident six months before applying satisfies neither the second nor, if their presence was shorter, the first.
What the determination did for New Zealanders
Before the determination, a New Zealander on a Special Category visa could be present in Australia for decades and never start the twelve-month clock, because they held a temporary visa and so were never a permanent resident. The Australian Citizenship (Permanent Resident) Determination (LIN 22/103) 2022, as it stands after its 2023 amendment, makes a New Zealand citizen holding a Special Category visa a permanent resident for the purposes of the Act - from 1 July 2023 if the visa was granted on or after that day, and backdated to 1 July 2022 for anyone who held one before. The four-year presence requirement is unchanged, so what the instrument removes is the permanent visa, not the time.
What applies to you
New Zealand citizens: the Special Category visa now counts as permanent residence
Section 21(2)(b) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 requires permanent residence when the application is made and when it is decided, and section 22(1)(c) requires twelve months of presence as a permanent resident. A Special Category visa is a temporary visa, so before 2023 a New Zealander had to obtain a permanent visa before either clock could start. Section 5(2) of the Act allows the Minister to determine by legislative instrument that holders of a Special Category visa are permanent residents for the Act's purposes, and the determination in force does that: a person granted a Special Category visa on or after 1 July 2023 is a permanent resident, and a person who held one before 1 July 2022 is taken to have become one on that day. The four-year presence requirement in section 22(1)(a) is untouched.
- New Zealand citizenship and a Special Category visa
- Four years present in Australia immediately before the application, none of it as an unlawful non-citizen
- Twelve months present as a permanent resident, which the determination supplies without a permanent visa
- Not in Australia as a diplomatic or consular representative of New Zealand, or as the spouse or dependent child of one
What the law says
«(2)A person is eligible to become an Australian citizen if the Minister is satisfied that the person: (a)is aged 18 or over at the time the person made the application; and (b)is a permanent resident: (i)at the time the person made the application; and (ii)at the time of the Minister's decision on the application; and (c)satisfies the general residence requirement (see section22) or the special residence requirement (see section22A or 22B), or satisfies the defence service requirement (see section23), at the time the person made the application;»About this source
The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«22General residence requirement (1)Subject to this section, for the purposes of section21 a person satisfies the general residence requirement if: (a)the person was present in Australia for the period of 4 years immediately before the day the person made the application; and (b)the person was not present in Australia as an unlawful non-citizen at any time during that 4 year period; and (c)the person was present in Australia as a permanent resident for the period of 12 months immediately before the day the person made the application.»About this source
The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«(1B)If: (a)the person was absent from Australia for a part of the period of 12 months immediately before the day the person made the application; and (b)the total period of the absence or absences was not more than 90 days; and (c)the person was a permanent resident during each period of absence; then, for the purposes of paragraph(1)(c), the person is taken to have been present in Australia as a permanent resident during each period of absence.»About this source
The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«(2)The Minister may, by legislative instrument, determine that: (a)persons who hold a special category visa or a special purpose visa; or (b)persons who have held a special category visa; or (c)persons who are present in Norfolk Island or the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands; and who satisfy specified requirements are, or are during a specified period, persons to whom this subsection applies.»This is the hinge. Permanent resident is defined for the Act by section 5, and subsection (2) lets a ministerial instrument extend it to people who hold no permanent visa at all.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«4Persons who hold a special category visa (1)For subsection 5(2) of the Act, this section applies to a person who: (a)is a New Zealand citizen; and (b)holds a special category visa;»About this source
The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«(2)The person is taken to have become a permanent resident on 1 July 2022 if the person was granted a special category visa before 1 July 2022. (3)The person is taken to have become a permanent resident on the day between 1July 2022 and 30 June 2023 when the person was granted a special category visa for the first time. (4)The person is a permanent resident if the person is granted a special category visa on or after 1 July 2023.»Section 4(5) excludes a diplomatic or consular representative of New Zealand and their spouse or dependent child.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The special residence requirements in sections 22A and 22B, the defence service requirement in section 23, and citizenship by descent and by adoption were not read for this record.
Section 22(2) disapplies the four-year presence and unlawful-status paragraphs for a person born in Australia or who was previously an Australian citizen, and section 22(1C) treats confinement in prison or in a psychiatric institution during the four years as defeating the requirement, subject to a ministerial discretion.
The determination is a ministerial instrument and can be amended or repealed without any change to the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.
- consolidatesAustralian Citizenship Act 2007, compilation 37
Office of Parliamentary Counsel, Federal Register of Legislation · consolidated to 2026-06-04
About this source
The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidatesAustralian Citizenship (Permanent Resident) Determination (LIN 22/103) 2022, compilation 1
Office of Parliamentary Counsel, Federal Register of Legislation · consolidated to 2023-07-01
About this source
The Commonwealth of Australia's statute book, run by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Legislation Act 2003. It carries every Act, legislative instrument and notifiable instrument of the Commonwealth, each as made and as compiled, and it is the only publisher in this corpus whose own enabling Act gives its text a standing in court: section 15ZB of the Legislation Act 2003 says proof is not required in a court or tribunal of the text of a registered law, and section 15ZA presumes an authorised version of a registered compilation correctly shows the law as in force on the compilation date. Addressing is by register identifier rather than by name - C1958A00062 is the Migration Act 1958, F1996B03551 the Migration Regulations 1994 - and /latest/text serves the current compilation. Every compilation page prints its compilation number, its compilation date and the last amending Act or instrument taken into account.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Three things, each of which has already bitten. First, an unknown identifier does not 404: the site serves its own home page, so a wrong guess looks like a short page of search boxes rather than an error, and an absence inferred from one would be invented. Second, a long instrument is served in volumes and /latest/text gives volume 1 only - the Migration Regulations 1994 run to four volumes and Schedule 2, where every visa subclass actually lives, is in volumes 2 and 3 at a separate address. Third, and most important, nothing in the HTML served at /latest/text claims to be an authorised version. Section 15ZA makes an electronic copy one only if it is downloaded from an approved website in a format prescribed by the rules and either the site or the copy says so in the way the rules prescribe; the Act's own example of such a format is a locked pdf file. The words authorised version do not occur anywhere in any of the readings stored from this publisher except in the Legislation Act 2003 itself, so what we quote is the register's text without the status the register is able to give it. The presumption in section 15ZA(5)(h) is also expressly subject to section 15Q(4), under which a compilation need not take account of a retrospective commencement, so a compilation can be accurate on its face and behind the law. It is not a source for the Immigration Rules equivalent - departmental policy and procedural advice are published by Home Affairs, not here - nor for any state or territory law, which has its own register, nor for the text of a treaty, which is published in the Australian Treaty Series.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source