Dreaming_when

Congrats @DrNi what a wonderful feeling!! Did you write in to request a Virtual Ceremony? Also which council/state? Thanks.

Thanks @Scorpio110 @Rvee I emailed and got an auto-reply. So the email address is correct. Maybe a typo when you entered it?

Congratulations @Scorpio110 ! Give us some details of how it went. Which state/council are you in?

Congrats! And thanks to all for the updates regarding the online ceremonies.

Agree...for those of us who’ve been waiting, it’s a sign of some progress...a step closer to the “holy grail” of this long, often arduous journey...

Well said @Georgiegie ! Take care everyone...we are in unprecedented times. Stay safe...

Perhaps the length of time between applying and being invited to the the test plays a role too. I see that some of you who are still waiting for approvals appear to have had pretty short processing times, ie applying in Dec 2019 and getting test invites in Jan 2020. Perhaps all the checks haven’t come through yet (considering not much gets done in the 6weeks around Christmas and Australia Day). I received my approval almost immediately(checked outside the test centre and it showed “approved”). As I was about to leave, the officer mentioned that all my checks were complete and that I’d receive a letter in the mail informing me of the approval within 2 weeks. Bear in mind that I’d applied for my citizenship almost a year ago.

I’m guessing @olloyd21 was referring to the condition that “the applicant has to be onshore for the approval of the citizenship application (after passing the test)”. And once he’s received the approval, he’s free to travel overseas on his PR or RRV while waiting for the ceremony. The DHA officer did say that I could travel on my PR/RRV after the approval but I had to inform immi when I would be overseas but that I would not be invited to attend a ceremony while I was away which I understood to be for scheduling reasons. The DHA website does state that requests to attend citizenship ceremonies at an overseas embassy/consulate may be considered (https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/ceremony). I’m guessing your best bet would be to wait for the approval, @olloyd21 before travelling and then if you have to stay on to care for your relatives, request for a ceremony at the nearest embassy giving your reasons. (Of course, it’s best to check with your agent or DHA about this).

Hi all, Just thought I’d update everyone... I just had my citizenship test. The DHA officer who conducted the interview mentioned that they were going to postpone ALL citizenship tests and ceremonies for the next 6 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She said a formal announcement will be made soon. Ceremonies for urgent cases may still be considered according to the officer. (This is just what I was told and with the situation changing so quickly, we should wait for a formal announcement).

The officer mentioned that approval can take 4-6 weeks as they wait to finalise checks. Maybe that’s why...

I doubt that processing will be affected, unless there is a lockdown and people can’t get to work.

Bad News Hi guys, Just did my citizenship test and passed. But the officer (who had the sniffles) said that there would be a letter coming out soon to say that they were suspending ALL citizenship tests and ceremonies for the next 6 months and that it would be reviewed after that depending on the situation. She did say that urgent ceremony requests might be entertained on a case by case basis. Sigh...

I received my invite late last week. It’s for tomorrow. Fingers crossed(praying hard, actually) it goes ahead. Will let everyone know once it’s done.

I’ve also travelled a lot overseas for work and holidays. I only listed the last 10 years(as LouDYorkie mentioned) which in itself was pages long. You have to use the online form as when you finally click submit, each entry appears on the application form which you get a copy of. What I did was I created a spreadsheet which allowed for corrections and me remembering trips that I’d forgotten and this allowed me to sort according to date once I was done before entering it into the online form. I believe immi has all the dates of your travel whilst you’ve been living in Aus but they won’t have any of your movements prior to that. I tried to be as accurate as possible, which should be the goal, referencing passport entry and exit stamps and e-flight tickets but I don’t think you’ll be penalised if you’re off by a day or two. Good luck! That was the hardest part of the application for me.

Anyone applying who’s above 16yrs needs to apply independently(separate application). Children/dependents below 16 yrs can be included in either parents’ application. But you can use the same immi account to apply for both you and your spouse.

thanks mate! Applied Apr 2019, location: Adelaide, SA. good luck to you too!

Joining PIO must be my lucky charm! Joined and submitted my 1st post on PIO yesterday and today I got my citizenship appointment interview! Way to go PIO!! The force is strong with PIO! now to prepare for the test!!!

Citizenship application : No news what should I do? Hi PIO people, What a great site! So much of info. We just joined PIO and have been reading through the posts. We applied for citizenship by conferral in Apr 2019 and we haven’t heard anything at all except for the initial acknowledgment letter. I see applications from Dec 2019 getting processed and receiving their test invites. We meet all the criteria but can’t understand why it’s taking so long while applications lodged later are moving along faster. What should I do? It’s been 11 months already. Thanks in advance to all you helpful PIO people!