Who Can Apply for Australia's Former Resident Visa (Subclass 151) in 2026? The Four Long-Residence Tests
Which of the four subclass 151 long-residence tests do you actually meet: nine years before 18, under 45, never a citizen, continuing ties.
Four conditions decide whether the long-residence route to the Former Resident visa (subclass 151) is open to you: you spent at least nine years in Australia as a permanent resident before you turned 18, you are younger than 45 when you apply, you have never been an Australian citizen, and you have kept close business, cultural or personal ties with Australia since you stopped being a permanent resident. All four appear on the Department of Home Affairs' Former Resident visa (subclass 151) page, as at the August 2026 version of that page, and the definitions behind them sit in Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994. They are cumulative, not a scorecard — a strong record on three of them does not rescue a failure on the fourth.
The subclass 151 visa is a permanent visa aimed at people who once held Australian permanent residency and let it lapse. It is not a general "come back" visa, and it is not the only one that exists; the tests below are what separate the long-residence applicant from everyone else.
Who does the long-residence route cover?
The long-residence applicant is someone whose formative years were spent in Australia as a permanent resident, who never converted that status into citizenship, and who has stayed connected to the country since. The alternative category — people who served in the Australian Defence Force before 1981 — is assessed on a completely different basis and is covered further down.
| Test | What you must show | Where applications tend to break |
|---|---|---|
| Residence before 18 | Nine years in Australia as a permanent resident before turning 18 (half your life if you apply while under 18) | Counting years spent on temporary visas, or before permanent residency was granted |
| Age | Under 45 on the day you apply | Assuming the limit is read at decision rather than lodgement |
| Citizenship | You have never been an Australian citizen | Treating lost or renounced citizenship as "never held" |
| Continuing ties | Close business, cultural or personal ties maintained after permanent residency ended | Ties that lapsed for years and were picked up again recently |
How is the nine years before you turned 18 counted?
The requirement is nine years in Australia as a permanent resident before your 18th birthday. Two qualifiers do the work. Time spent in Australia on a temporary visa before permanent residency was granted does not meet the description, and time spent in Australia after turning 18 does not extend the count, even if you stayed for decades.
Assume an applicant who arrived at age four on a temporary visa, was granted permanent residency at seven, and left Australia at 19. The relevant window runs from age seven to 18 — eleven years of potential residence — and the nine years have to fall inside it, with any long stretches spent overseas deducted. The same applicant applying at 17 instead faces the alternative formulation: at least half of life spent in Australia as a permanent resident.
Which of the two versions applies is fixed at the moment of application, so a person who is 17 years and 11 months old on the day they lodge is assessed on the half-of-life basis, not the nine-year basis.
Does the 45-year limit bite on the day you apply?
Yes. The requirement is expressed as being younger than 45 at the time of application, and it applies only to the long-residence route — there is no age requirement for the defence service route. The operative date is when the application is lodged, not when it is decided, which means a person who lodges shortly before their 45th birthday is not pushed outside the criteria by a long processing period afterwards.
The practical consequence is that age is the one test that can be lost by waiting. Someone who is 44 and still assembling school records and travel history has a narrowing window, while the residence, citizenship and ties tests are fixed by history and can be documented at any pace.
Why "never been an Australian citizen" is the test that quietly ends applications
The requirement is not that you are not a citizen today. It is that you have never been one. The Regulations frame the long-residence applicant as a person who did not at any time acquire Australian citizenship, so citizenship acquired and later lost — by renunciation, or by deprivation — puts an applicant outside this category even though their citizenship ended.
This catches two groups in particular: people who were registered as Australian citizens as children through a parent, and later took another nationality and lost Australian citizenship automatically under the law of the time; and people who naturalised, then renounced. For both, the long-residence test fails on the wording, and the more relevant pathways are usually a Resident Return visa arrangement or the resumption of citizenship. Because this turns on individual citizenship records, confirm your own position against the Department's current published criteria before treating the subclass 151 route as available.
Decision-maker guidance treats a declaration on this point as the starting point, with further inquiry made where the record raises doubt, so a history that is incomplete or unclear is worth resolving before lodging rather than after.
What counts as "close business, cultural or personal ties"?
The Department's page gives four examples: regular contact with relatives or friends in Australia, frequent visits, owning property here, and having active business interests. The list is illustrative rather than exhaustive, and the ties are assessed over the period after you stopped being a permanent resident.
Two features matter more than the number of examples you can tick. The ties need to have existed before permanent residency ended and continued through to the application — a connection revived after a long gap is weaker than one maintained continuously, however thinly. And the evidence expected is calibrated to the applicant: someone who left Australia as a child is generally asked for less, while someone who left as an adult and has lived independently overseas for years is expected to show a documented pattern, such as travel records, correspondence, property holdings or ongoing economic activity.
Owning a rental property in Australia, for instance, is a property tie, but on its own it says little about personal connection; combined with regular visits and family living here, it forms part of a continuous picture.
What else has to be cleared besides the four tests?
Meeting the four long-residence tests makes you eligible to be considered; it does not by itself produce a visa. The same page also requires that you and any family members applying with you meet the health requirement, that you and any family members aged 16 or over meet the character requirement, that any debt owed to the Australian Government has been repaid or is covered by a formal arrangement to repay, and that you may be asked to provide an assurance of support.
Your immigration history is also taken into account: a visa that was cancelled, or an earlier application that was refused, can put this visa out of reach, and the Department's page points to separate rules about limitations on applying in Australia and about re-entry bans for people applying from outside. Family members who are not travelling to Australia can still be assessed against health and character if you apply from outside the country.
These are published criteria, and whether they are satisfied in any individual case turns on records and documents that differ from person to person. This article is general information, not advice about your circumstances, and the Department's current page should be treated as the reference.
Is there a route that does not depend on the four tests?
Yes, for a much narrower group. The defence service requirement asks whether, before 1981, you completed at least three months of continuous Australian defence service, or were discharged from the Australian Defence Force before completing three months because you were medically unfit as a result of that service. There is no age requirement on this route, so the 45-year limit does not apply to it.
The trade-off is that the qualifying service is historical — it had to occur before 1981 — and the residence, citizenship and ties tests are not part of it. Someone who cannot meet either category is not an eligible applicant for this visa at all, whatever their personal history with Australia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I count years I lived in Australia before being granted permanent residency?
No. The nine years are counted as time in Australia as a permanent resident, so years spent on a temporary visa, or as a visitor or student before the grant, sit outside the calculation. The count is also confined to the period before your 18th birthday.
Is the 45-year limit checked when I apply or when the visa is decided?
The criterion is being younger than 45 at the time you apply, so the lodgement date is the one that matters. Because the residence, citizenship and ties tests are historical, age is typically the only condition that a delay can destroy.
I was an Australian citizen years ago but lost it — am I excluded?
On the wording of the Regulations, yes: the long-residence applicant is someone who did not at any time acquire Australian citizenship, which covers citizenship once held and later lost. A Resident Return visa or the resumption of citizenship is usually the more relevant route, and the position should be checked against the Department's current published criteria.
My last visit to Australia was a long time ago — do my ties still count?
Possibly, but the assessment looks at whether the ties existed before your permanent residency ended and continued through to the application, not only at recent activity. A connection that lapsed and was later restarted is weaker than one maintained continuously at a low level.
Can my partner and children be included in the same application?
Family members can apply with you, but they are assessed in their own right. Health and character requirements extend to them, including in some cases family members who are not coming to Australia, and a family member who fails can affect the outcome for the whole application.
Does a visa I had cancelled years ago rule me out?
Not automatically, but it is a real risk. The Department states that it considers your immigration history and that a cancelled visa or refused application can make you ineligible, with separate rules covering applications made in Australia and re-entry bans for people applying from outside.
Do I need to be in Australia to apply?
The Regulations require the grant to occur in the same place as the application: applied for outside Australia, it must be granted while you are outside, and applied for in Australia, granted while you are in Australia. Being in Australia without a substantive visa raises further criteria, so check the Department's current page for your situation.