austr4lia

Finally i have been invited to a Citizenship ceremony on 21 May 2015 in Canberra.

Hi friends, Does anyone know how long it takes to be invited for a ceremony in Canberra ?

Wow! That is super fast. Below is my timeline. Applied on 8 December 2014(Paper) Test date received - 16 December 2014 Citizenship Test - 12 January 2014 Citizenship application approved - 22 January 2015 Council - Canterbury Oath ceremony ????

Please read my sad story :cry: Came to Australia on a student visa on Feb 2006 Got Temporary residency on 16 June 2010(VC 485) Applied for Permanent Residency on 1 December 2010(VB 885) Travel overseas between 16 October 2011 and 27 November 2011 Temporary Visa (VC 485) expired on 11 December 2011. This was my biggest mistake as i didn't apply for a Bridging visa. Applied for and got Bridging visa A on 05 June 2012. Now this is the time my residence period reset as my earlier time period in Australia was overwritten by being unlawful from 11 December 2011 to 05 June 2012. So all my 6 Years of residence in Australia account for nothing :mad:. Now, I got Permanent Residency on 3 July 2013 and till today i was thinking that next year i will be an Australian Citizen. I just happen to call Immigration today and got the shock when they told me that i will be eligible for Citizenship on 5 June 2016 :arghh: . Now my query is regarding the 4 years of lawful residence. My wife is overseas and i would like to join her for around 6-7 months, just wondering if i can include the same time in my Residency requirement of 4 years. I plan to leave Australia to see my wife somewhere around December 2014 and will come back to Australia in july 2015. Is this absence from Australia going to hinder my Citizenship plans in any way?. I filled these dates in the Residency calculator and the results are positive. Inputs from the esteemed members will be highly appreciated.