Time it takes to get from 457 to citizenship

Muddy Fox · 12-11-2013 10:35AM #1

Hi all,

I was hoping someone might be able to give me a ball park estimate on this. Basically, I am currently on a 457 sponsored by my employer and they have indicated that they would be willing to nominate me for PR and possibly pay for some/all of the costs to obtain it.

However, my plan was always to go home within the the next year or so but I reckon if I was to take this offer, I would possibly look at going the whole hog and getting citizenship. I was just wondering if anyone would know how long it would take to get from applying for PR to getting citizenship?

I realise that you have to be on PR for at least 12 months prior to applying for citizenship so that would throw a spanner in the works of going home within the next year but I'm just trying to get a feel for how long more I would have to hang around for to get my hands on the passport.

Many thanks
Muddy Fox

massdebater · 12-11-2013 11:18AM

To apply for citizenship, you need to be living in Australia for at least 4 years, with minimum of 12 months of that time on a PR visa.

Muddy Fox · 12-11-2013 11:52AM

Thanks for the reply. I was aware of that requirement and I have been living here for over 3yrs now so satisfying the 4 yr rule will not be a problem.

What I'm actually after is a timeline for how long it would take from applying for PR through employer nomination to getting citizenship....If anyone who has gone through this could give me an insight, it'd be greatly appreciated? Cheers

Feelgood · 12-11-2013 11:59AM

I'm in this boat at the minute.

Keep in mind that the 457 to sponsored PR is not exactly rapid fast either.
I'm still on a 457, have put through the application for PR (ENS 186) and have been waiting 6 months at this stage.

So whatever time it takes to get 457 to PR + 12 months in the country on PR + 3-6 months waiting on the citizenship application. Apparently there is a pretty big back log for citizenship too. I heard you can turn around the citizenship application faster if you apply from the sticks and not a city. Could be bull**** though.

So all in all, I reckon 2 years from 457 to citizenship.

massdebater · 12-11-2013 12:05PM

Muddy Fox wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I was aware of that requirement and I have been living here for over 3yrs now so satisfying the 4 yr rule will not be a problem.

What I'm actually after is a timeline for how long it would take from applying for PR through employer nomination to getting citizenship....If anyone who has gone through this could give me an insight, it'd be greatly appreciated? Cheers

Ah ok. Employer nominated PR could take 6-9 months to come through depending on a few different factors ie whether you're using an agent, what state you applied though, complexity of your application (de facto partner etc). So your total wait time to apply for citizenship would be that 6-9 months (roughly) + 12 months of being a permanent resident. It took me a few months to gather all the relevant info for my PR visa so you should probably allow about max two years from now til you can apply for citizenship.

jockey#1 · 12-11-2013 08:59PM

Am i correct in saying, to satisfy the 4 year rule none of your time on a 457 counts towards the 4 year requirement?

mandrake04 · 12-11-2013 09:04PM

Citizenship processing is very fast, less than a month including the test etc. It's waiting for the ceremony can take time as it's run by your local council, a small council area that has very little immigrants might only run twice a year where somewhere like Parramatta or Sydney CBD run every month.

mandrake04 · 12-11-2013 09:06PM

jockey#1 wrote: »

Am i correct in saying, to satisfy the 4 year rule none of your time on a 457 counts towards the 4 year requirement?

3 years of it will.

The 4th needs to be PR

jockey#1 · 12-11-2013 10:56PM

mandrake04 wrote: »

3 years of it will.

The 4th needs to be PR

Doh, i meant to type 417 (whv) not 457

s.c · 12-11-2013 11:43PM

jockey#1 wrote: »

Doh, i meant to type 417 (whv) not 457

Pretty sure it does count. The requirement is 4 year lawful residence in Australia.

irishmover · 13-11-2013 04:19AM

WHV counted towards my cousins ex boyfriend when he went for his citizenship but in the end he didn't need it anyway.

Traq · 13-11-2013 05:25AM

Yep, time on a whv, 457 all counts.

As for the time frame you'd be looking at, I've recently gone through the same process and it was about two years from the time I started gathering all my documents for residency to actually attending the citizenship ceremony.

jockey#1 · 13-11-2013 08:59AM

That is good to know.

I will hopefully have citizenship 10 mths sooner than i thought i would. Happy days!!

jank · 18-11-2013 05:27PM

There is going to be a flood of these queries id say as the GFC is coming onto 6 years.

Muddy Fox · 18-11-2013 11:54PM

Thanks to everyone for the informative responses – This was exactly the kind of information I was after. Hopefully it can help some other people in the same boat.

The general consensus seems to point to the guts of 2 years, if not longer, from applying for PR to getting your citizenship – I was hoping for maybe closer to 18 months, 2 years is that bit too long unfortunately. I’ll have to give it some serious thought over the next week or so as I need to have a decision made by end of the month.

Thanks again
Muddy Fox

irishmover · 19-11-2013 02:29AM

Muddy Fox wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for the informative responses – This was exactly the kind of information I was after. Hopefully it can help some other people in the same boat.

The general consensus seems to point to the guts of 2 years, if not longer, from applying for PR to getting your citizenship – I was hoping for maybe closer to 18 months, 2 years is that bit too long unfortunately. I’ll have to give it some serious thought over the next week or so as I need to have a decision made by end of the month.

Thanks again
Muddy Fox

What's an extra 6 months? The benefits of having citizenship over PR is massive. You won't need a visa ever again.

Time it takes to get from 457 to citizenship

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