Who has to sit the Australian citizenship test?

Who has to sit the Australian citizenship test?

Most people who apply for citizenship by conferral and are aged 18 to 59 on the day Home Affairs receives the application must sit the test. "Conferral" is the word Home Affairs uses for citizenship granted after you apply.

If this is you, Home Affairs posts you a letter that gives the day, the hour and the venue. Staff first confirm who you are and that you are eligible, and then you sit the test.

Which age counts?

Your age on the day your application arrives at Home Affairs. It is not your age on the day of the test, and not the day you started to fill in the form.

This matters if your birthday is close. If you are 59 on that day, you generally sit the test even if you turn 60 before the appointment. Check the date Home Affairs gives as the day it received your application.

Who does not sit the test?

If you apply by conferral, you can skip the test in these cases:

• you were 17 or younger when you applied,
• you were 60 or older when you applied,
• your parent used to be an Australian citizen and lost that citizenship in certain special situations,
• your birth was in Papua, before 16 September 1975, and your parent was an Australian citizen who had been born within today's Australia,
• you were born in Australia and are stateless, which means you have never held another country's citizenship and cannot claim one, or
• an incapacity or impairment means you cannot sit the test.

The list is short. If one line fits, you are probably in a small group. Check the Home Affairs wording on your own case and do not guess.

What happens instead of the test?

You may be asked to an interview. Home Affairs uses it to confirm your identity and ask about your application. If it needs to interview you, it will contact you with the details.

Some groups may be asked to show more at the interview:

• At 16 or 17, Home Affairs may ask you to show that you know what your application is for, that you have simple English, and that you know what citizens owe and receive.
• At 60 or older, or with a hearing, speech or sight impairment, Home Affairs may ask you to show that you know what your application is for.
• With a lasting physical or mental incapacity, Home Affairs may need to check your claim.

If you are 60 or older, or have an impairment or incapacity, you may bring a family member or support person. Home Affairs can arrange an interpreter. Read the full steps in what happens at the citizenship interview.

What if you must sit it but are worried?

The pass rule is strict: 15 of 20, and all five values questions right. You can sit the test up to three times, and the second and third are free of extra cost. Our guide on how many times you can sit the test has the details.

The best preparation is the free booklet, Our Common Bond. Start with the whole booklet guide and try the free practice test.

Next step

Find the date Home Affairs received your application. Work out your age on that date. Then you know whether to prepare for the test or for an interview.