Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
National

Australian citizenship application fees to increase from July 1

The government says the price increases reflect inflation, staffing costs, and more complex applications. (AAP: Dan Peled)

Citizenship applications to the Department of Home Affairs will cost more from July 1.

Under the price changes, which the federal government says will more accurately reflect the costs of processing citizenship applications, the standard citizenship by conferral application fee will increase from $285 to $490.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke announced the changes in a statement on Thursday afternoon. 

"This is the first change to citizenship application fees since 2016 and has been determined by citizenship application processes and costs," Mr Hawke said.

The fee increase reflects inflation, staffing costs, and the "increased complexity of applications" taking longer to process, he said.

Dependent children aged 15 years and under included in a parent's application will continue to be processed for free; however, the fee for a child applying outside of a parent's application will increase from $180 to $300.

The fee for applying for Australian citizenship by descent will increase from $230 to $315.

Mr Hawke said under the existing fees, the government was only recovering around 50 per cent of the costs of processing citizenship applications.

"The cost of citizenship applications remains comparable with other countries," Mr Hawke added.

"The cost of citizenship by conferral will still be lower than in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.