The Australian citizenship test appointment, from application to ceremony
Vishwen Labs
You do not book the Australian citizenship test yourself. You apply for citizenship online in ImmiAccount and pay the application fee, which is AUD 595 from 1 July 2026 and includes the test, and the Department of Home Affairs then invites you to an appointment at one of its offices. Half of all conferral applications currently reach a decision within 60 days, and the test sits inside that window.
How the Australian citizenship test appointment works
- Check you are eligible before you pay. Confirm the residence requirement on the Department's page: four years living in Australia on a valid visa, the last twelve months as a permanent resident, no more than twelve months away in the four years and no more than 90 days away in the last one. The fee is not refunded because a test went badly, so the eligibility check comes first.
- Apply and pay in ImmiAccount. Complete Form 1300t if you are aged 18 to 59, upload identity documents covering you from birth, and pay AUD 595 (AUD 85 with a valid Pensioner Concession Card). Children aged 15 or under on the same form pay nothing. The fee includes the test; there is no separate booking or charge.
- Wait for the appointment invitation. The Department contacts you with the date, time and office. Its published figures put a decision on 25% of applications within 51 days, half within 60 days and 90% within six months, and the appointment comes before the decision. Set the date in the app once you have it.
- Bring photo ID on the day. Bring an original photo identity document: an Australian driver licence, a passport, or an Australian-issued proof of age card. The Department will not accept certified copies or electronic images, and if you arrive without photo ID the appointment is changed to a later date.
- Sit the 45 minutes. Twenty multiple-choice questions on a computer, in English. You can answer in any order, skip a question and come back to it, and use the built-in text-to-speech to have questions and options read to you. No books, notes or phones. You pass with at least 15 correct and all five values questions right.
- Wait for the written decision, then the ceremony. The Department tells you the outcome in writing. If approved, most applicants make the pledge at a ceremony, usually run by the local council, with an invitation about four weeks beforehand; the pledge must be made within twelve months of approval. The certificate is handed over at the ceremony.
Where the citizenship test happens
Tests are conducted in Department of Home Affairs offices around Australia, and the booklet adds that they are also scheduled in a number of locations throughout regional Australia and in some overseas missions. The invitation tells you which. You cannot pick an office in the way you pick a driving test centre, though the Department can be contacted if the date given is impossible.
How long after applying the appointment comes
The Department does not publish a figure for the wait to the appointment itself, only for the whole application. Its processing-times page, with data to 31 July 2026, gives these percentiles for citizenship by conferral.
- Application to decision: 25% within 51 days, 50% within 60 days, 75% within 4 months, 90% within 6 months.
- Approval to ceremony: 25% within 74 days, 50% within 4 months, 75% within 5 months, 90% within 6 months.
- Application to ceremony: 25% within 6 months, 50% within 8 months, 75% within 10 months, 90% within 13 months.
What to bring, and what not to bother with
Photo ID is the only thing the Department insists on, and it is strict about the form: an original document, not a certified copy and not a photo on your phone. Applicants who bring their appointment letter and a second document as well are doing no harm, and vendor checklists recommend it, but the page itself names only the photo ID and the consequence of forgetting it, which is a new date.
You cannot take notes, books or a phone into the test. The booklet says the Department expects most applicants to have the literacy to complete the test without help, and that text-to-speech is available if you want the questions read aloud.
Inside the 45 minutes
Twenty questions is not many, and most people finish well inside the time. The useful habits are the ones the format allows: skip anything you are unsure of, answer the rest, and come back. There is no penalty for a wrong answer beyond the mark itself, so every question should have an answer before you finish. Vendor guides say the result is shown at the end of the test; the Department's pages say only that if you pass, it continues to process the application.
After the test
If you pass, the application continues and the Department writes to you with the decision. If it approves you and you are required to attend a ceremony, an invitation letter arrives generally about four weeks before, from the council or the Department, and the booklet says ceremonies are generally held within six months of approval. You become a citizen when you make the pledge, and you receive the certificate then. Applicants who do not need to attend a ceremony receive the certificate by registered post. If you do not pass, see the guide on what happens after a fail.
Australian Citizenship is an independent educational app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Department of Home Affairs or any government body. Its content is based on the official resource Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond, which the Department says is all you need to prepare, and which it publishes free.
Questions people also ask
Can I choose the date of my Australian citizenship test?
Not in the way you choose a driving test. The Department sets the appointment and tells you the date, time and office. If the date is impossible you contact the Department to change it; if you turn up without photo ID it changes the date for you.
Is there a separate fee for sitting the Australian citizenship test?
No. The Department's page says there is no extra cost to sit the test because the citizenship application fee you paid includes it. The fee is AUD 595 for general eligibility from 1 July 2026, or AUD 85 with a valid Pensioner Concession Card, and it usually rises on 1 July each year.
