4 year Residency Requirement for Citizenship Application

[JustUs]

Hello,

Need some advice on the residency requirements for citizenship, please. The dept of home affairs website says one needs to have lived in Australia for 4 years before applying with at least 12 months of that being on a PR visa and I understand that one can't be away for more than 12 months at a time and no more than 90 days in the past 12 months.

I worked in Australia on a 457 for about 13 months in 2013, went back to the UK in 2014 but made several short trips for holiday/meetings between leaving in 2014 and when I came back on another 457 in 2016. Been in Australia since March 2016 and on a PR visa for about 18 months now. In March 2019, I would have completed 3 years since I arrived in 2016. And technically, I've never had a continuous period of 12 months that I've been outside Australia. 

My questions :

1. Can I add up the 13 months (in 2013-2014) + 3 years (2016-2019) to qualify to apply for citizenship in March 2019 and meet the 4 year residency requirement?

2. I tried inputting all the dates I was in and out of the country on the home affairs calculator and it did say I would be eligible to apply in Feb 2019. I understand the calculator is just an estimation tool and can't be used as evidence of eligibility?

Thanks in advance for replying!

Best wishes for a great 2019!

JustUs

 

[NickyNook]

If you apply for citizenship in March 2019 you need to look back at the preceding four years and count the number of days you were in the country.

That means that any time spent here prior to March 2015 cannot be counted - so, no, you can't include the time you spent here in 2014-2014. 

However, if you held a valid visa in March 2015 (even if you weren't present in the country on that date), the time from March 2015 to March 2016 may be counted as you are allowed up to a year's absence.

[VERYSTORMY]

You need to have held a visa for the entire period you are claiming time for. If the first 457 expired or was cancelled then you can not include it

[JustUs]

Thanks for the replies NickyNook and VeryStormy. 

It certainly does appear that I may have to wait a little longer. Strangely, the Home Affairs  calculator seemed to indicate an earlier date than I’d initially thought. But I understand now that the calculator just computes the actual number of days without taking into account the visa status etc. 

Thanks again...