AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION UPDATE: Effective July 1, 2021 the DHA will implement new increases for many Citizenship applications and benefits All applications received on or after July 1, 2021 will have substantially higher fees than before. Delaying your applications till July 1, 2021 could cost you hundreds in extra costs.
Key Takeaways of the Final DHA Filing Fee Rule:
- li AUSTRALIAN Citizenship for children under 15 almost doubling from $180 to $300 (67% increase)
- AUSTRALIAN Citizenship by conferral application fees increasing from $285 to $490 (52% increase)
- AUSTRALIAN Citizenship by descent application fees increasing from $230 to $315 (37% increase)
AUSTRALIAN Citizenship & Naturalization Forms 1290 & 1300t Fee Increase
If you are pre-paying a paper citizenship application,please consider postage times. If you send your paper application by mail, it is considered submitted when the Department receives the form. It is not the day that you post the application form. If DHA receives your application on or after 1 July 2021, the new fee applies. To avoid postal delays, DHA recommends that you submit an online application where possible.
Why are Prices Increasing?
The Federal Government said the price changes will more accurately reflect the cost of processing citizenship applications.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke announced the changes in a statement on Thursday afternoon justifying the hike as it 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.