Official Processing Times

Reference · Service times

How Australia reports citizenship decision and ceremony waits

Australia’s Department of Home Affairs publishes four percentiles for citizenship decisions and ceremonies. At the November 2026 check, the posted 90th percentile was five months from application to a conferral decision and 11 months from application to a ceremony. Descent and evidence requests use decision-only timing.

Sources checked

Official Processing Times Editorial Team

Read the clock that applies to your applicationPublished Australian citizenship processing percentiles
  1. 01
    Conferral decision

    The posted median was 42 days from application to decision. Source 1

  2. 02
    Ceremony after approval

    The posted median was four months from approval to ceremony. Source 1

  3. 03
    Application to ceremony

    The separate end-to-end median was seven months. Source 1

  4. 04
    Evidence of citizenship

    The posted median was four days from application to decision. Source 1

Conferral has two stage clocks and a separate end-to-end clock.

Source 1 Source 2

Choose the route and endpoint before comparing wait times

Home Affairs lists an application-to-decision interval for conferral, descent and evidence of citizenship. For conferral it also lists approval-to-ceremony and application-to-ceremony intervals. The table defines a decision to include approved, refused, withdrawn and invalid cases. Source 1

Read the whole conferral journey from the end-to-end row

The table shows 42 days at the median for application to decision and four months for approval to ceremony. For people following a conferral application through to a ceremony, use the separately reported seven-month median. Each percentile summarizes its own set of records. Source 1

The range between percentiles shows variation

Evidence of citizenship had a four-day median and a 15-day 90th percentile. Descent had a 37-day median and four months at the 90th percentile. Each percentile describes the share of observed cases within its published timeframe. Source 1

Approval and acquiring citizenship can be separate steps

Home Affairs says most people approved for citizenship by conferral are invited to make the pledge at a ceremony. The department lists application completeness, document checks and requests for further information among the factors that affect the time before a decision. Source 1 Source 2

Sources

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