Children and the citizenship application: who is already a citizen, who is included on a parent’s form, who applies alone, and whose consent is needed

MARN 1576536

The three cases

Each child in the family is sorted before anything is lodged. A child born in Australia to a parent who was a permanent resident or an Australian citizen at the time of the birth is an Australian citizen by birth and is not an applicant for anything but a certificate. A child who is a permanent resident and is under 16 is included on a responsible parent's citizenship application, or applies alone where the parent is already a citizen or is not applying. A child who is a permanent resident and is 16 or 17 applies in their own right, with a responsible parent's involvement in the consent and the form. And a child born outside Australia to a parent who was already an Australian citizen at the birth is not an applicant for conferral at all but for citizenship by descent, which is a registration rather than an application with a residence requirement. A family with children of different ages and birthplaces often has all four, and the order of lodgement matters, because a child under 16 is included on a parent's form only while the parent's application is being made, and a parent who is approved first and then wants to add a child lodges a separate application for the child.

The child who is already a citizen

A child born in Australia is an Australian citizen at birth if, at the time of the birth, at least one parent was an Australian citizen or a permanent resident; the parent's permanent visa must have been held on the day, and a child born the week before the parent's permanent visa was granted was born a temporary visa holder. A child who is a citizen by birth needs no citizenship application: the parent applies to the Department for evidence of Australian citizenship, a citizenship certificate, with the child's birth certificate and evidence of the parent's citizenship or permanent residence at the birth, and then for an Australian passport, and a parent who includes such a child on a conferral application has the child removed from it, since there is nothing to confer. A child born in Australia to two temporary visa holders is a temporary visa holder at birth, is added to the parents' visas and later to their permanent visa, and is then a permanent resident child who is included on the parent's citizenship application; the child born in Australia guide covers that child's visas. A child born in Australia who is not a citizen at birth and who is ordinarily resident in Australia for the first ten years of life becomes a citizen on the tenth birthday whatever the parents' status, and a parent of such a child applies for evidence rather than conferral once the birthday has passed.

Including a child under 16 on a parent’s application

A child under 16 who holds a permanent visa is included on a responsible parent's application for citizenship by conferral, in the section of the form for dependent children, with the child's identity documents, the child's permanent visa evidence and the evidence of the parent's responsibility for the child; the child is included at no additional charge, and where both parents are applying the children are included on one parent's application only, with the other parent's application noting them. The child included on a parent's application is approved with the parent, does not sit the test, is not required to meet the residence requirement as the next sections explain, and is not required to be of good character where under 16, the character requirement for children applying from 16; the child's citizenship is approved as a consequence of the parent's and takes effect when the parent's does. A child who turns 16 while the application is pending remains on it in the Department's practice, since the inclusion is read at the time of application, though the Department can seek the child's own character information once they are 16; a child who is 16 at lodgement cannot be included and applies alone. An application for a parent and children that is lodged with the children's documents incomplete, or with a child's permanent visa not yet granted, is the common error, and the child's permanent visa is confirmed in VEVO before lodgement.

Who is a responsible parent

The Act defines a responsible parent as a person who is the child's parent, unless a court order under the family law has removed their parental responsibility; a person who is not a parent but who has parental responsibility under a court order, a guardianship or an adoption; and a person who has a parenting order or a residence order for the child. A biological or adoptive parent is a responsible parent in the ordinary case whether or not the child lives with them, which is why the other parent's position matters for a separated family; a step-parent is not a responsible parent without a court order; a grandparent who cares for the child is not a responsible parent without a guardianship or parenting order, and a child in the care of a grandparent applies through the parent, or through the grandparent with the order. The application for a child under 16 is made by a responsible parent, who signs the form and the consent for the child, and the Department reads the evidence of the relationship, the birth certificate naming the parent, the adoption order, the court order, against it.

The other parent’s consent

Where a child has two responsible parents and one is applying for the child, the Department's practice is to seek the consent of the other responsible parent to the child's acquisition of Australian citizenship, on the form or in a signed statement with identity evidence, or evidence of why that consent is not available: a court order giving the applying parent sole parental responsibility, the death certificate of the other parent, or evidence that the other parent cannot be found or contacted after reasonable attempts, with the attempts described. The reason is that citizenship for a child is a matter of parental responsibility, and the Department does not confer it over one parent's objection without reading the family law position. A separated parent in Australia whose former partner is abroad obtains the consent in writing with a copy of the former partner's identity document, or, where the former partner refuses, considers whether a court order for sole responsibility or for the specific purpose is obtainable, which is a family law question; a parent who lodges without the consent and without an explanation receives a request for it and the application waits. A parent fleeing family violence who cannot safely seek consent explains that, with the evidence the Department's family violence guidance describes, and the Department reads it. The previous relationship child guide covers the same question as it arises on the visa side, and the two are often resolved together.

The permanent visa the child must hold

A child included on a parent's application, or applying alone, must be a permanent resident at the time of application and at the time of decision; a child who holds a temporary visa, a bridging visa or no visa cannot be included, and a child whose permanent visa is granted after the parent's citizenship application was lodged is added by a separate application for the child rather than by amendment. The common situations are a child who was a secondary applicant on the parent's permanent visa and holds it, which is the ordinary case; a child born in Australia to temporary visa holders who was later included on the family's permanent visa; a child who arrived later on a child visa; and a child who was left off the parent's permanent visa and holds nothing, who needs a child visa first, which the child visa guide covers. The child's permanent visa must also still be in effect at decision, so a child whose permanent visa is at risk of cancellation, through the parent's cancellation or otherwise, is read with care, and a child who is outside Australia at decision is read against the visa's travel facility.

The residence requirement, and the discretion for children

The general residence requirement, four years of lawful residence with the last twelve months as a permanent resident and limited absences, applies to adult applicants and to applicants aged 16 and 17, but the Act gives the Minister a discretion to approve a permanent resident applicant under 18 without it, and the Department applies that discretion as a matter of course to a child under 16 included on a parent's application whose parent is being approved, so that a child who has been in Australia for a year on the family's permanent visa is approved with the parent. For a child under 18 applying alone, the discretion is applied where the child is a permanent resident, where approval is in the child's best interests, and where in the ordinary case a parent is an Australian citizen or is becoming one, with the Department reading the child's circumstances, the length of residence and the family's intentions; a child who does not meet the residence requirement, whose parents are not citizens and not applying, and whose residence in Australia is short, is the case the Department reads most closely, and it is the case to take advice on. A child aged 16 or 17 who does not meet the residence requirement applies alone within the same discretion for minors, with the Department reading the longer residence a 16-year-old is more likely to have.

The child who applies alone

A child under 16 applies alone, on the Department's form for a child applicant, where the parent is already an Australian citizen, which is common for a family where the parent was conferred before the child arrived or before the child was a permanent resident; where the parent is a citizen by birth and the child was born overseas as a permanent resident of the family's earlier migration, where the parent is not applying for citizenship, whether because the parent does not qualify, holds a visa that does not lead to it, or does not want it; or where the parent's application has already been decided. The application is made by a responsible parent on the child's behalf, with the consent position the consent section describes, with the child's identity and permanent visa evidence, with the charge for a child applicant, which is lower than the adult charge and which the fees page carries, and with the discretion for minors applied to the residence requirement as the residence section describes. The child does not sit the test, attends an appointment only if asked, and, once approved, becomes a citizen at a ceremony the child is not required to attend, with the certificate issued to the child.

The child aged 16 or 17

A child who is 16 or 17 at the time of application is not included on a parent's form and applies in their own right, with the responsible parent's consent and signature on the form; the child pays the charge for a young applicant, must be a permanent resident at application and decision, must be of good character, which means the character declarations and the police checks that apply to any applicant from 16, and must meet the residence requirement or be approved within the discretion for minors, which for a 16-year-old with a short residence is read on the family's position. The child does not sit the test if under 18 at the time the test would be sat, since the test applies to applicants aged 18 and over, but attends their own identity appointment with their own original photo identity document, and, once approved, attends a ceremony and makes the pledge, since the exemption from attending and pledging is for children under 16. A family with a 15-year-old lodges the parent's application with the child included before the sixteenth birthday, because a child who turns 16 between the decision to apply and the lodgement has become a separate applicant with a separate charge and a character requirement; the timing is worth a week's attention.

Charges, the appointment, the ceremony and the certificate

A child under 16 on a parent's form is included at no additional charge; a child applying alone pays the child or young applicant charge, and concession charges apply where the Department's concession rules are met; the charges are indexed each July. At the appointment stage, the parent attends with the original photo identity document the appointment guide describes, and the letter says whether the children are to be brought for identity purposes; a child under 16 does not sit the test, and a child of 16 or 17 attends their own appointment. At the ceremony stage, a child under 16 included on a parent's application, or approved alone, is not required to attend the ceremony or to make the pledge, becomes a citizen when the citizenship takes effect, for an included child at the moment the parent's does at the parent's ceremony, and receives their own citizenship certificate, which the parent collects at the ceremony or afterwards from the council or the Department if the child did not attend; a child who was under 16 at application and has turned 16 by the ceremony is, in the councils' published practice, not required to make the pledge, and a child who applied at 16 or 17 attends and pledges. The ceremony guide covers the wait and the day. After the ceremony each child's certificate is the evidence of citizenship, used for the passport application, and is kept with the parent's.

The child born overseas: citizenship by descent

A child born outside Australia to a parent who was an Australian citizen at the time of the birth does not apply for citizenship by conferral and is not included on anyone's application; the child is eligible for citizenship by descent, which is applied for on the Department's form with the child's birth certificate, the parent's evidence of citizenship at the birth, and the identity documents, with no residence requirement and no test, and the child is a citizen from the registration, with a certificate and then a passport. A child born overseas before the parent became a citizen, to a parent who was then a permanent resident, is not eligible by descent and needs a visa to enter Australia, usually a child visa, and then becomes a permanent resident child who is included on a conferral application or applies alone; the sequence is the one families most often get wrong, by assuming a child born abroad after the family's migration takes the parent's later citizenship. The citizenship by descent guide covers the descent application, including the child of a parent who was themselves a citizen by descent, for whom a period of residence in Australia by the parent is required.

The children checklist

1. Sort each child: born here while a parent was a PR or citizen (certificate only); PR and under 16 (include or apply alone); PR and 16 or 17 (own application); born overseas to a citizen parent (by descent).
2. Confirm each child’s permanent visa in VEVO before lodging; a child without one needs a child visa first.
3. Include children under 16 on one responsible parent’s application only, at no charge; lodge before a 15-year-old turns 16.
4. Identify the responsible parents; obtain the other parent’s consent in writing with ID, or gather the court order, death certificate or evidence of attempts to contact.
5. For a child applying alone, use the child form, the child charge, and the responsible parent’s signature; the discretion for minors covers the residence requirement in the ordinary case.
6. Read the appointment letter for whether the children attend; a child under 16 sits no test.
7. Collect each child’s certificate at the ceremony; a child under 16 need not attend or pledge.
8. For a child born overseas after you became a citizen, apply by descent, not conferral.

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General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. The Australian Citizenship Act 2007, including citizenship by birth in s 12, citizenship by descent in Division 1 of Part 2, the conferral criteria and the discretions for applicants under 18 in s 21, the definition of responsible parent in s 6, and the pledge provisions, the Australian Citizenship Regulation 2016 including the charges, and the Department’s citizenship policy on the inclusion of children, the consent of responsible parents and the exercise of the discretion for minors, all as in force at the date above; family law orders are read as made. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.