Over 12,000 take citizenship pledge on Australia Day

More than 12,000 individuals were conferred the citizenship of Australia in various citizenship ceremonies held throughout the country on January 26, 2021.

Each year, January 26 is commemorated as Australia Day.

According to the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Aff?airs Alex Hawke, “This Australia Day marks a momentous occasion for more than 12,000 people who are expected to become Australian citizens at one of more than 430 citizenship ceremonies being held across Australia.”

Taking over from Alan Tudge, Alex Hawke is the new Immigration Minister of Australia.

Usually the final step in the journey of becoming an Australian citizen, a citizenship ceremony is where the individual makes the Australian citizenship pledge. The citizenship ceremony is generally held within 6 months of the citizenship approval. An invitation for attending the ceremony will be sent around 4 weeks before the event. An individual will not become an Australian citizen until the time that they attend the ceremony and make the pledge.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many citizenship ceremonies had been put back. While Australian citizenship tests had been stopped from the end of March 2020, citizenship ceremonies had been paused from April to June 2020.

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Virtual citizenship ceremonies were largely held in place of in-person ceremonies.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Australia welcomed around 205,000 new citizens in Financial Year 2019-2020. Around 70,000 had been conferred their Australian citizenship in the current financial year [as on December 31, 2020]. There were another 160,000 Australian citizenship applications “on hand”.

Stating that a “citizenship ceremony is an important event in every new citizen's life and being able to attend one on Australia Day adds extra significance”, Minister Alex Hawke proceeded to say that “Australians can be particularly proud this year to reflect on the resilience of our society and the way we have pulled together in the face of fires, floods and a global pandemic. This includes people from all walks of life, and from a diverse range of multicultural backgrounds.”

Over 5 million individual have become citizens of Australia since Australian citizenship was introduced in 1949. In 1949, as per the official records, “Australian citizenship was granted to 2,493 people from just over 35 different nationalities”. In 2019-20, on the other hand, “a total of 204,817 people became Australian citizens by conferral, representing over 200 different nationalities”.

India was the country of origin for many individuals that were conferred Australian citizenship in 2019-20.

Top 10 nationalities as per the number of people that acquired Australian citizenship via conferral in financial year 2019-20 [July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020]
Country of nationality	No. of people
India	38,209
UK	25,011
China [Mainland]	14,764
Philippines	12,838
Pakistan	8,821
Vietnam	6,804
Sri Lanka	6,195
South Africa	5,438
New Zealand	5,367
Afghanistan	5,102
Other	76,268
TOTAL	204,817

With an amiable and accepting culture, Australia remains a top choice for immigrants exploring options for migrate overseas.

An enviable lifestyle allowing individuals to pursue their passions outside the workplace while they fulfil their career goals and quality healthcare are some of the reasons that make many head towards the Land Down Under for a better future.

Australia is among the Top 3 countries to migrate to post-COVID-19.

If you are looking to Migrate, Study, Invest, Visit, or Work Overseas, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No. 1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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