Australian Citizenship by Descent: Who Qualifies and How to Apply

Australian citizenship by descent allows a person born outside Australia to claim citizenship through a parent who was an Australian citizen at the time of the birth. It is not automatic — you need to make a formal application — but if you meet the eligibility criteria, it is one of the more straightforward ways to become an Australian citizen without going through the general conferral (naturalisation) pathway.

This is a distinct pathway from citizenship by conferral, which applies to permanent residents meeting the four-year residency requirement. Citizenship by descent does not require you to live in Australia first.

Who Is Eligible

To claim citizenship by descent, you need to meet three core requirements:

1. You were born outside Australia

If you were born in Australia to at least one parent who was an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you may have been automatically an Australian citizen at birth — that is a different rule. Citizenship by descent applies specifically to births outside Australian territory.

2. At least one parent was an Australian citizen at the time of your birth

This is the central eligibility test. The parent must have been an Australian citizen on the day you were born — not just a permanent resident. If your parent was a permanent resident but not yet a citizen when you were born, you do not qualify under this pathway.

3. You or your parent must have a connection to Australia

There is a generation limit designed to prevent citizenship from cascading indefinitely through offshore generations. If your parent was also a citizen by descent (i.e., they were born overseas to an Australian citizen), then at least one of the following must apply:

• You have lived in Australia for a continuous period of at least two years at some point (on any visa)
• Your parent was present in Australia as a citizen for at least two years at some point

If your parent acquired citizenship by birth in Australia (not by descent), this generation limit does not apply to you — you qualify without meeting the additional presence requirement.

Age Limits and Application Windows

There is no age limit for applying for citizenship by descent. Adults can apply in their own right. Children under 18 are typically included in a parent's application.

However, note that the law was different for people born before specific dates. If you were born before 20 August 1986, the rules about automatic citizenship at birth and citizenship by descent are more complex, and you may need to check the provisions applicable to your specific birth date. The Department of Home Affairs has specific guidance for pre-1986 births.

What Citizenship by Descent Provides

A person granted Australian citizenship by descent becomes a full Australian citizen with all the same rights as any other citizen — the right to an Australian passport, the right to vote, and the right to live and work in Australia indefinitely.

One important limitation: citizenship by descent itself is not passed on automatically to the next generation if that generation is also born outside Australia. The generation limit applies again. If you are a citizen by descent and you have children born overseas, your children would need to meet the same connection requirements described above.

This is a common situation for Australian families living abroad. It is worth getting your citizenship by descent sorted while your children are young, before they have children of their own.

The Application Process

Applications for citizenship by descent are made online through the Department of Home Affairs ImmiAccount portal using Form 1290 (Application for Australian Citizenship — Other Situations).

Fee (2025-2026): AUD 370 for the first sibling applicant; subsequent siblings added to the same application pay a reduced fee.

Key documents you will need:

• Your birth certificate (showing your full name, date and place of birth, and your parents' names)
• Evidence that your parent was an Australian citizen at the time of your birth — typically their Australian passport or citizenship certificate from that time period
• Your current passport or travel document
• If relying on presence in Australia: evidence of your time spent here (visa records, entry/exit stamps, tax records, rental agreements)
• Photographs

If your parent acquired citizenship by descent themselves, you will also need to provide evidence satisfying the two-year connection requirement. This might include evidence of your parent's time in Australia as a citizen, or your own time in Australia if you have lived there.

Processing times:

Citizenship by descent applications generally have shorter processing times than conferral applications, though the Department does not publish specific medians for this pathway. Budget for several months to a year from lodgement to decision.

Evidence of Australian Citizenship for Children Born in Australia

This section is worth distinguishing clearly from citizenship by descent. A child born in Australia to at least one parent who was an Australian citizen or permanent resident at the time of birth is automatically an Australian citizen under Section 12 of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007. There is no application needed to become a citizen — the child is one already.

However, parents still need to apply for evidence of citizenship to obtain a passport. This is done through Form 119 via ImmiAccount. It is not a citizenship application — it is simply a record that proves citizenship already exists.

There is also a less well-known provision: a child born in Australia to two parents who were neither citizens nor permanent residents at the time of birth (for example, both parents were on student visas or temporary work visas) does not automatically acquire citizenship at birth. However, if that child remains ordinarily resident in Australia for their first 10 years, they automatically become an Australian citizen on their 10th birthday. The parents must then apply for evidence of citizenship to get the child a passport.

If You Are Already a Permanent Resident in Australia

If you are already living in Australia as a permanent resident, citizenship by descent may not be relevant to you directly — your own pathway would typically be the four-year residency and conferral route. But citizenship by descent may be highly relevant to your children who were born overseas before you migrated, or to family members who were born to Australian citizen parents but have never lived in Australia.

For the conferral pathway that most permanent residents follow, including the eligibility rules, application steps, and what happens at the ceremony, the Australia Citizenship Guide walks through each stage in sequence.

See more Australia guides →