Eligibility Quiz
Have you ever been an Australian citizen?
Requirements
To qualify for this visa, you must meet the criteria for one of two specific streams. You must never have been an Australian citizen to apply for either stream.
1. Long Residence Stream
This stream is for people who grew up in Australia as permanent residents but left before becoming citizens.
- Age: You must be under 45 years of age at the time you lodge your application.
- Childhood Residency: You must have spent at least 9 years in Australia as a permanent resident before you turned 18. Time spent in Australia on temporary visas (such as visitor or student visas) does not count toward this 9-year requirement.
- Ties to Australia: You must demonstrate that you have maintained substantial business, cultural, or personal ties with Australia during your time away. This could include regular contact with Australian family, ownership of assets, or active participation in Australian organizations.
2. Defence Service Stream
This stream is for former members of the Australian military.
- Age: There is no age limit for this stream.
- Service History: You must have completed at least 3 months of continuous service in the Australian Army, Navy, or Air Force.
- Discharge Status: You must have been discharged before January 19, 1981. If you were discharged after this date, you must meet specific historical service criteria regarding your discharge circumstances.
General Eligibility
- Health and Character: You must meet the Australian government's strict health and character requirements. This includes providing police clearances for every country where you have lived for 12 months or more over the last 10 years.
- Debts to the Government: You must have no outstanding debts to the Australian government. If you do, you must have an approved arrangement in place to pay them back.
- Previous Cancellations: If you have had a visa cancelled or a previous application refused while you were in Australia, you may be barred from applying for this subclass.
Conditions & Warnings
The 9-year residency requirement for the Long Residence stream must be completed as a permanent resident before turning 18.
Applicants must be under 45 years of age for the Long Residence stream.
This visa is strictly for those who were never Australian citizens; former citizens must use citizenship resumption pathways instead.
Maintaining active business, cultural, or personal ties to Australia during absence is a mandatory and strictly assessed requirement.
Qualifications
No initial requirement, but a second installment fee of AUD 4,890 applies if functional English is not demonstrated.
Fees
Base application charge; additional fees for dependents and a potential second installment for English language.
Program Details
Australia is on our roadmap
We can notify you when we're ready to support Australia.
Key Developments
The base application charge for the Former Resident visa (subclass 151) increased by approximately 3% as part of the annual indexation of visa application charges for the 2025-26 program year.
thinkvisa.com.au ↗The Australian Government announced that the planning levels for the "Special Eligibility" visa category, which includes the subclass 151 visa, will remain stable for the 2025-26 Migration Program to ensure continued access for former residents.
ausstudyvisa.com.au ↗New "visa hopping" restrictions came into effect, preventing holders of various temporary visas, such as Visitor (subclass 600) and Student (subclass 500) visas, from applying for most permanent visas while remaining onshore in Australia.
smithstonewalters.com ↗