Australian Citizenship Ceremony.

One of the final stages in acquiring the Australian citizenship is attending the Citizenship Ceremony and being awarded the citizenship. It is indeed a long process starting with the submission of the application for the citizenship, to gathering all the documents, and attending the Australian Citizenship interview and test These procedures can take anytime up to a year and once the approval is received, the Australian Citizenship Ceremony is held anytime within the following six months of the approval being received. This is the final step of the procedure of acquiring the Australian Citizenship, which culminates to its end at this ceremony.

Some of the significant features of this big day for those aspiring to be Australian citizens include:

1. This the final step to become an Australian Citizen.
2. The applicant is required to make the pledge to become an Australian citizenship.
3. All the requirements that are needed to abide by the law of Australian citizenship are fulfilled by the Citizenship ceremony.
4. The ceremony is a unique event that provides the country and its citizens to welcome who have newly become citizens of the country. They now are welcomed to become natural representatives of the Australian community.
5. The Australian citizenship ceremonies are usually conducted and hosted by councils at the local level. Sometimes the ceremony is held by the Government's Community Services Directorate, in places where the local councils do not function as is the case of the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) or in the case when the ceremony is held in Canberra by the Department of Home Affairs of the Australian Government.
6. The duration of the ceremony is usually takes about 60 to 90 minutes and this depends on the volume of the citizens on whom the citizenship ship is to be conferred.
7. The citizens are required to arrive at the venue well ahead of the commencement of the function and register their presence and participation at the center.
8. The citizens are required to take up the seating specially provided for them at the hall where the Citizenship Ceremony is taking place. Though the seating arrangement is made for the guests accompanying the citizens, there may be a shortage of seats, some guests might have to remain stand.
9. While attending the Citizenship Ceremony, the prospective citizens are expected to be dressed in either formal or casual clothing depending on the climatic conditions. They may carry a hat if it is an outdoor ceremony.
10. The newly acquired citizenship allows the citizen to apply for an Australian passport after a period of 10 days after making the pledge.

When attending the Citizenship Ceremony, the applicant needs to carry the following documents and evidence for identification and they include:

1. The invitation to the ceremony and a photo identification which could be any one like the passport, the driver’s license, or any official document that has a photograph.
2. In the absence of a photograph, documents like bank statements, credit card statements or any utility bill which can prove the name, signature and address of the applicant can be brought.
3. The prospective citizen needs to carry a holy book to carry out the pledge.

The Citizenship Ceremony takes about 2 hours from start to finish and to complete the registration procedure, the prospective citizen must arrive another half hour earlier. Once all are seated, a formal introduction is followed by a welcome speech. The citizens are then addressed and finally they carry out the Pledge. The Pledge needs to be repeated loudly after which the person becomes the citizen of Australia. The ceremony ends with the singing of the National Anthem. Some light refreshments and at times a small gift finally ends the day of the Australian Citizenship Ceremony.