millski88

@Prashant Shukla your day sounds great! Aus day would have been good for the 'day off' factor, I don't mind a different day though personally. Can't wait!!

12 minutes ago, Prashant Shukla said:

And I also want a good pic on passport but not sure of AusPost guys as last time they didn't click a good one

You can take your own for the passports now, as far as i know!

Given that me and the OH are (hopefully) within the last month or two of our wait, it's getting to the 'obsessive checking stage' I'm sure we're all so used to from our immigration journeys... I wonder if i can lighten the mood (and waste some thumb-twiddling time) by posing a question to the group -

 What are your plans for your citizenship ceremony day?

We'll hopefully have the in-laws visiting from the UK over our ceremony, so they'll be joining us. Aside from them we'll almost certainly max-out our invite allowance with close friends and others who have helped us along the way. 

Ceremonies in our area are late afternoon/early evening, and always during the week, so we'll likely get off work early and have a drink in a pub nearby, then go out for some food as a group after.

My UK passport expires in about 4 months, so i'm keen to order both new UK and Aus passports at the same time and have them both brand new (hopefully with a good photo this time!). I think that'd be a really nice touch at the end of this 7 year journey!

So what are you all going to get up to?

7 hours ago, Nora said:

Sorry for asking, do we need to complete form 1300t? We are doing online app. 

Thanks,

 

Nora

No the 1300t is the paper alternative. It’s good to review it to get an idea of the information you need to supply though.

22 minutes ago, Dr-StrangeLove said:

How long before the ceremony can we expect the invitation sent? It's been 2 months since my application has been approved and haven't received any letter yet. I was hoping to be included in the 26th Jan list but hopes of that is diminishing at a fast rate now

 

https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/ceremony_backlog

If you check this Wiki list over on Whirlpool, it looks like the last person reported from your council area as getting on the 26th Jan ceremony was approved on 4th November - so the next ceremony could be your go!

18 minutes ago, Dr-StrangeLove said:

How long before the ceremony can we expect the invitation sent? It's been 2 months since my application has been approved and haven't received any letter yet. I was hoping to be included in the 26th Jan list but hopes of that is diminishing at a fast rate now

 

Should usually be 3-4 weeks before.

Completely depends on your local council's backlog which ceremony you end up at, but I'd say it's likely 26th Jan is all done now. I know from my local council (Moreland) that i'm not on 26th Jan or their February lists, our approval was late October.

I'm just preparing for up to another 3 months wait, that way won't be too disappointed! Is there anything pressing for you time-wise, or just want to have it done?

Also remember, the reported average between approval and ceremony is 4-5 months -

22 minutes ago, Nora said:

Omg! And the madness will begin in 17 days. We will apply for citizenship on the 30/Jan! Woo-Hoo!

@Hex See you here!

 

N

Haha nice. Welcome to the citizenship thread!

32 minutes ago, Parkesy said:

I know its weird haha!

I will have to check but I think my first flight into Aus (Syd) 3 June 2013 (I always get mixed up between 13 and 14),I just dug out the flight details.  Time flies!

We are almost identical except I didnt do a second working hol. 

What sort of company you at now? I've moved from the University to a government entity but Im going to move on. No budget to do anything fun after Ive finished my major projects.

Oh s**t! Mine was 5th July 2013 

I've been in marketing/digital projects and was working in non-profit for a long time, and that's when I got my 457 + subsequent 457 + 186 PR.

Since then though I moved to a role at group company which does recruitment & training. I'm actually about to jump ship from here though to move in to my first agency gig, which is something I've wanted to do for a long time, but with the visa arrangements hadn't been able to previously.

11 minutes ago, Parkesy said:

Same day I think! Really hope the ceremony in the city comes quick now - not that it matters really but its been nearly seven years and I reckon they owe me one ha! Fingers crossed I get in the March ceremony held in the city as opposed to May! I saw that there are 100 people at the aus day one in the city and the mayor is presenting which would be pretty cool. 

My friend just told me you get the invite by post which surprised me! Also he didnt get a tree!

Fingers crossed!

We've been lucky with quick turnaround on the initial stages, but now our ceremony wait is looking more average - swings and roundabouts hey.

Our stories are incredibly similar, i'm near 7 years too. 

I think posted letter and email sometimes depending on you council. My other half's parents want to come over for a visit and will try and align it for when we get our ceremony, so i'm quite glad of this contact i've got at Moreland council... don't have to wait for snail mail to get the date confirmed!

All the best mate, let us know how you go.

20 minutes ago, Parkesy said:

Hi mate, thank you. Its very straight forward and you will go great im sure.

They asked me hardly anything.

1. Original documents - in my case new birth certificate, passport, driving licence and a recent utility bill

2. Anyone else applying with me?

3. Have I ever been convicted of a crime or have any cases pending?

I just checked my immi account and I have been approved!

Awaiting ceremony now 

Quick approval! nice one.

5 minutes ago, Parkesy said:

Yeah it will be city. Friend of mine who lives two doors down did his in the city and had to wait about two months which isnt too bad at all.

Did my test this morning. Got there at 8.45am for my 9am but I was taken straight through. 10 minutes chat with the interviewer and updated a few documents (new birth certificate).

Took test and was out in 4 minutes. 100% and out on the street at 9am! Couldn't believe how fast it was.

Cant wait for that ceremony now. In a great mood!

Yes!! Awesome.

Ah yeah 2 months is really good. We'd been pretty lucky with the speed of the first stages, currently sitting on about 2.5 months after approval, hopefully next month or so we get an invite.

Keep us updated!

18 hours ago, Hex said:

Hey guys

I've noticed and understand that there is some time between when you get "Approved" citizenship and when you actually get to attend the ceremony.

My question is this:

- Are you officially a citizen once it's approved (meaning you can apply for passport etc.) or do you need to wait for the ceremony to receive the paper? 

Thanks in advance. 

 

Only after your ceremony are you officially a citizen, and yeah unfortunately only after you have the certificate from the ceremony can you apply for a passport. Depending on which council area you're in it can be 3-6 months after approval until you get a ceremony.

17 hours ago, Parkesy said:

Amazing, thats exactly what I want to hear haha! Well done! Im Darebin council so I should probably take a look. Are you brunswick area I cant rememeber?

Nice, so your test is at the city office? Let us know how you go today.

We're in Moreland council area yeah, quite a bit of a queue for ceremonies in Moreland. Luckily i got this awesome person who does the event management at Moreland council call me after i put in a website enquiry, she'd been super helpful and told me i could call whenever i needed to check her lists. I can't say it'd be the same for every council though, it's often tricky to get any info in advance of your invite, from what i've heard.

10 minutes ago, Indianinoz said:

Those who have received invitation for Test, what is the status on immi account showing? Is it still 'received'?

It only says received and then approved, nothing in between as far as i'm aware.

2 hours ago, Parkesy said:

@millski88 how was your test? Seen you passed! Congratulations! Heard about the ceremony yet? Ive got my test tomorrow morning finally!

Hey mate!!! Yeah good, me and the mrs both got 100% - I was out of the test centre before my appointment time it was that quick haha.

Just keeping track of progress of the waiting list with my local council. We haven't got on Australia day ceremony or the one after that (mid Feb), but i've been told they may have a second February ceremony, so fingers crossed we'll get on that.

Good luck tomorrow, you'll smash it!

What council area are you in @Parkesy? 

20 hours ago, Gaurav99 said:

Hi mate, it would be the Melbourne office

Nothing is guaranteed, but i'd prepare for a 2-4 month wait to receive appointment email after submitting your application .

6 hours ago, path2aus said:

Hello All,

We would be eligible to apply for citizenship in couple of months and I have a question regarding the PCC's required. I got my PR in 2012 but did not move to Australia completely till 2017. So I would need to give PCC's for USA where I lived before I moved here. 

My question is I have FBI clearance certificate provided in 2016 December, right before I moved to Australia in January of 2017. Will that work? Or do I need to provide a new one? I have never visited USA after November of 2016 when the PCC was obtained. 

Anyone with experience please let us know.

Thanks

Sorry, misread before my original reply.

Strictly speaking, yes you would (i think!). Although the police cert does cover your time until you left, it's still over 6 months old.

Is is a big expense to get another one? To be safe and cover all bases, i would if it wasn't too much hassle.

3 hours ago, Gaurav99 said:

Hi Guys, Just joined this forum and would be keen to hear how long it took for people from application lodgement to being sent the letter for the interview / test? My details:

a. Eligible: 31/12/2019

b. Application lodged online: 05/01/2020

c. Interview / Test appointment: TBD

d. Citizenship ceremony: TBD

Depends on a few factors. Which DOHA office is your application going to?

7 minutes ago, Rvee said:

Hi friends

i just wanted to know how do we get notified for citizenship ceremony ?

through email or mail ?

waiting ceremony

application approved on 01/nov/2019

hume Melbourne council

thanks

Usually post, but i've heard certain councils do email too... depends on the council!

4 hours ago, benj1980 said:

I would like an earlier test date if things come up, purely because I'm impatient. On Home Affairs it simply says 'unavailable' even post my date. How often does this change and what is the likelihood of getting an earlier cancellation?

 

 I see @Feb2017Cook is trying to do the same!

Check every day, as often as you can. You may find 3,4,5 days where you're just not seeing any appointments, then suddenly you'll catch one. It's unpredictable, but the more regularly you check the better your chance. They usually only hang around for a couple of minutes so you have to be quick!

Another thing to note is over Christmas and NY there's probably a close down of the test centres. 

16 hours ago, rosiedoe said:

I’ve been trying too. I applied on 7 November and have received my invite for 6 February. Wanted to reschedule for sooner but no availability at all.

You have to check all the time. Cancelled appointments come up regularly but don't stay around usually for longer than a few minutes. If you can, check the calendar at least 4-5 times a day and you'll get one.

Here's the section wording from the online application by the way, screenshot below. It's actually slightly different - it says since your PR was granted.

Maybe useful to know at your stage - you can actually preview more-or-less the whole exact application if you refer to the paper form version, here:

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/form-listing/forms/1300t.pdf

(see page 5 for the paper form version of overseas penal clearance wording)

21 hours ago, BB86 said:

Hi there, apologies if I’m asking this in the wrong topic area! Hoping someone will be able to answer - I’m applying for citizenship ASAP as I’ve now had my PR for 1 year (and over 4 in Oz altogether).. do u know if I’ve to get NEW police Certs for countries I’ve lived in over past 10 years, or is it fine to still use those I got while applying for my PR 2 years ago? (Haven’t lived in those countries since then) 

thank you

If you haven't stayed in the countries for more than 90 days after your PR application was submitted, then you do not need to submit them.

As a side note - it's also not worth arranging your own Australian police cert for this either, as the DOHA process it themselves electronically when you attend your test/interview.

Happy days.

On 25/11/2019 at 16:56, Milano said:

My updated timeline:

Application submitted (online): 14 -Jun-2019

Citizenship appointment email: 14-Nov-2019

Citizenship appointment: 15-Nov-2019 (Rescheduled from 16-Mar-2020)

Approval (online): 25-Nov-2019

Council: City of Darebin, VIC

Nice turnaround time on your test! Home straight!