People will have to pay more to be Australian citizens from 1 July 2021. For the first time in five years, the Federal Government has decided to increase the citizenship application fee .
“Citizenship application fee changes take effect from 1 July 2021. Fees are increasing to more accurately reflect the cost of application processing,” the Department of Home Affairs has said on its website.
According to the Department, this is the first fee revision in more than five years, which was determined by citizenship application processes and costs.
New fees would apply for any application submitted on or after 12.00 am 1 July 2021 (Australian Eastern Standard Time).
The circumstances in which a fee concession applies from 1 July 2021 have also been simplified. There are no changes to fee exemptions.
Certificates instead of extracts
Another change coming into effect from 1 July is about the citizenship certificates. For Australian citizenship by descent and adoption, certificates will be issued to approved applicants.
“This is instead of an Australian citizenship extract”, says the Department.
According to the DoHA, “An Australian citizenship extract is an informal document that can be used to access limited government services. An Australian citizenship certificate is an official document that provides formal evidence of Australian citizenship.”
“Applicants for Australian citizenship by descent and adoption who:
- applied before 1 July 2021, and
- have their application approved on or after 1 July 2021
are also eligible to receive an Australian citizenship certificate instead of an extract. The Department will contact these applicants directly with more information.”
“The Government will not issue citizenship extracts for applications approved on or after 1 July 2021.”
However, one can still use a citizenship extract (issued before 1 July 2021) to apply for an Australian Passport.
NRI Affairs News Desk
