Mazen

On 10/12/2020 at 11:45, Hex said:

Thanks guys for the help and advise - did the interview and test. 

Comments: 

- The entire process took about 10-15 min (really quick). Interview was simple and about 4-5 questions (ever been to jail / arrested etc.)
- The test was on an Ipad, sitting on a chair. Although it was more difficult than I expected, I still managed to get 100% so it's do-able, just don't underestimate it
(there were 3-4 questions that had me thinking).

They said I'll need to wait 3-6 months for the ceremony invite. 

PS - my application was updated to "approved" by the time logged back in (within 30 min)

Congrats!
The ceremony usually depends on council availability, Metro cities will have more frequent ceremonies (every month).
fo regional cities might have one every two months or depend on how many persons granted citizenship at the city.

you may get enrolled soon in the Australia day ceremony, this is the major one in Australia.

Finally, this dream came to an end!

I have just received the ceremony invitation to the 26/1/2021, coincidently this date will mark 6 years upon my arrival in Australia.

I have enjoyed being in this forum through all my process starting my PR application and wish everybody very good luck in his Citizenship journey.

7 hours ago, Hex said:

Hey guys, we have our test date coming up (finally) and was wondering, for all those who've recently done the test, if it's tough now, with the new change? 

Ay advise / suggestions for someone who has 3 days before their test? 

@Khan12 / @Mazen

I suggest to read our common bond book, also you can browse on the internet there are many websites where you can practice on the book info.
These were very useful to me and the majority of the questions will be similar to what you will see on these practice exams.
Good Luck

8 minutes ago, sydneyishuk said:

Hi All,

Sorry if this question has already been answered - I did flick back a few pages... but no joy.

I need to send my UK passport off to be renewed (it expires in 6 months) this is likely to take some time to get the renewal due to delays with covid in the UK.  Just wondering if I am called for the interview/test and do not have my passport will it be an issue?

I do have ID documents such as NSW Drivers License and UK License, Birth Certificate, Medicare Card...

Can anyone confirm on this?

Thanks in advance  

For my interview, I was only asked to present the driver's license and, no one asked for the passport.
You could be the same.

5 hours ago, Aug/2017/Cook said:

I hope you get the virtual ceremony soon

I wish this will happen soon!

However, the pandemic situation is settled where I'm located (touch wood) and, I reckon it will be a regular ceremony at the council

Finally, the citizenship application is approved on the Immi website.

Waiting for the Ceremony which is the last step of this journey, looking forward to receiving this letter soon

Hi All,

FYI, I have conducted the interview yesterday!

This was very simple, I did this at the Centrelink office in my town me and my wife, the whole process took me 10 minutes and I walked away.

I've assumed too many questions with lots of paperwork to review, based on the email received your interview could take up to 2 hours.

The employee just reviewed my driver's license, DOB, didn't ask for any paperwork, took a photo, all that in the first 5 minutes, then the test exam finished in 5 minutes & got 100% results.

She mentioned that I should wait for an official letter from the DOHA with the official outcome, she reckons that the ceremony will be on the coming Australia day.

I could be one of the final persons with a long waiting queue for citizenship in this thread, I'll keep you all posted with future updates regarding the ceremony.

1 hour ago, House Biatch said:

We received our letters of Invitation to Interview and Test on Friday, I was quite surprised how quickly this came through as we only applied in May this year!

Is it normal for my wife and I have interviews on 2 different days, she's on the Thursday and I'm on the Friday? We applied at the same time through her IMMI account and I just assumed that we would go to the interview at the same time.

Citizenship App: 02-May-2020
Test Invitation: 09-Oct-2020
Test Date: 13-Nov-2020
Approval: TBA
Approval Letter Rcvd: TBA
Ceremony: TBA
Council: Gold Coast, QLD

I'm having the same situation.

I will be conducting the interview on the same day as my wife, but we are going to have two different times.

We both applied at the same time and received the invitation letter on the same date. However, She will start the interview at 8:30 am and, I will start at 9:00 am.

It seems things started to move in rural NSW as well
Finally! I received an invitation letter yesterday for the test in October after 18 months of waiting.
I have noticed that during my waiting period I have received three email surveys from the DHOA. The last one was last week but, this time they mentioned that this is the last survey to be done and, after I submitted the survey, I received the invitation letter.
Not sure if anyone else had this type of emails?

5 hours ago, Hex said:

Thanks @Mazen - have you not heard from the department at all for 17 months? 

I have been only requested to submit a further document in February this year, I have contacted them in August to see if there is any improvement with my application however, they have responded back that documents have been received but due to the Coronavirus pandemic, all face-to-face citizenship appointments have been placed on hold.

FYI, I didn't even receive an invitation letter or anything to clarify that my documents are sufficient

57 minutes ago, Hex said:

Hey guys, my wife and I (with 2 children) submitted our citizenship application(s) a little over 9 months ago (for Sydney city) and have still not heard anything back.

Following this forum, I've noticed most people typically get an invite / message by this time. Is anyone else (in the same application region) in the same situation or am I just being impatient? 

Thanks in advance! 

It has been almost 17 months for my application (March 2019) and still didn't hear anything. Hopefully, your situation will be better than me and you receive updates soon. 

9 hours ago, Khan12 said:

Hi GUYS 

Hope you all doing well,I have a query for you all,i already  submitted my and wife  Citizenship applications 09/08/20.

There was question on page 4 of online application ..

Has this applicant entered or departed Australia since July 1990?

which i answered NO on our both application.(Now i am thinking might be answer was YES!!!)

but we entered and departed Australia in 2014 and 2019 for overseas  holidays.

Need your expert opinion please..

I believe the best option is to send an email with your query to the DOHA explaining the situation, once you submitted the application you can't amend any info.

Only you can update your address, email address, and passport details from the immi account.

1 hour ago, Nemesis said:

What do you mean "the government shifting all immigrants to regional areas"? Immigrants do not have to live in regional areas unless their visa specifies it. 

the new immigration strategy from the government is to increase the number of skilled workers in the regional areas and keeping them away from the big cities, hence,  they have created new visa types and canceled others.

Below are examples of the types of current visas that are in place:

• Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191)
• Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) 
• Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (provisional) visa (subclass 494)
• Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) 
• Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)  
• Skilled-Recognised Graduate visa (subclass 476)
• Skilled Regional (provisional) visa (subclass 489) 
• Skilled Regional visa (subclass 887) 
• Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491)

1 hour ago, wikileats said:

In-person citizenship appointments and tests normally conducted by Services Australia in regional locations remain on hold. Details for the resumption of these services will be updated as information becomes available.

It is good to see some improvement Finally, however, it is not fair to see the government shifting all immigrants to regional areas but not keeping them into their priorities

On 16/08/2020 at 07:03, Lovi said:

Hi guys. I am new in this forum. Just want to ask how long it takes for your citizenship test after submitting the file? Thanks in advance 

it depends on many factors, and it is different from case to case and state to another.

below are the details and the average timeframe from the home and affairs

Just heads up.
I can't see any improvement on my citizenship status so far, I was requested by the Department of Immigration to submit a further document on the 20th of Feb and I did on the 24th.

I emailed them this morning to see if they received the docs and if it was sufficient to process the documents or if they need an additional one. They have responded quickly which is impressive, but the response didn't give me any hope that they are processing anything and I only have to keep waiting.

They only mentioned the face-to-face citizenship ceremonies and they didn't mention the online option, not sure if this is applicable only for certain counsels or across the country based on the current situation with the pandemic.

Hi Mazen

Thank you for the email all your documents have been received but due to the Coronavirus pandemic, all face-to-face citizenship appointments have been placed on hold. 

The Department will recommence in-person interviews and citizenship tests when it is safe to do so.

New applications for Australian citizenship are still able to be accepted during this period.

 Processing continues on all applications for Australian citizenship that have already been lodged with the Department

The Department website at https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/ will be updated with new information as it becomes available.

For further COVID-19 information visit the following website at:

www.australia.gov.au

Last updated: 17 July 2020

29 months !!! seriously!!! 

On 09/06/2020 at 14:46, Nemesis said:

The virus will probably always be out there. Are you proposing people never meet with other people again?

of course, I didn't propose anything! But if there is a more safe option like the Online ceremony why we risk our lives in a big congregation.

On 08/06/2020 at 00:29, garrychandi said:

 

But the Virus is still out their and people still need keep themselves and their families safe 

20 hours ago, GUS said:

Hi Guys,

I received an email from DHA last month on the 23/03/2020 requesting further information (original birth certificate) and stating that I had to reply within the next 28 days. I have done that straight away and am now waiting for their decision in order to take the citizenship test.

Does anyone know if they also need to get back to me within the 28 days? 

Thanks!

Hi,

I had the same thing, they have requested further information (original birthday certificate).

That was on the 20th of February 2020 and I responded back on the 27th and still no reply back from them so the answer is no I guess

11 minutes ago, Lasanga Herath said:

Home affairs updated the citizenship processing timeline, it's now taking 6 months from Approval to Processing (Which earlier was 5 Months) .

 

it's getting longer again

I think NSW has the longest processing times between all states, I've just received an email with further document requests on my application and they are processing my application in Queensland rural office which is awkward because I'm in rural NSW.

13 minutes ago, Indianinoz said:

 

Hi Gwheng and Mazen,

I request you both to update your signature with your timeline, just as me and most others have done. A lot of applications in NSW who applied in 2019 are waiting about 9-12 months to get an invitation. If you're from anywhere apart from NSW, it is usually reasonable to expect an invitation within 6-9 months, though many have received invitation much sooner. The quickest I heard was 2 days, IIRC from Cairns. Many others got invited in 2-3 months.

When I say invitation, I mean invitation for the test. Not the ceremony. Ceremony wait starts after approval and depends upon council to council. Roughly standard wait is 5 months from date of approval.

Hi Indianinoz,

Thanks for the advice, I just updated my signature with my details.

cheers

40 minutes ago, gwheng said:

that's crazy 90% it will take up to 21month to be processed.

has anyone application being processed lot more quicker than what showed on the site?

Yes, there are heaps of applicants who got their approval in less than that, but it differs from case to case.

In my case, I'm waiting for 11 months now with no updates.

16 minutes ago, gwheng said:

hi Guys,

 

I submitted my application in December 2019, is there a site that we can keep track of the processing timeline up till when the dept have been processed? 

That's the only reference that all of us depending on as well as this forum
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/citizenship-processing-times