Citizenship Application Fees Compared: What Canada, Australia and the UK Charge Hong Kong Residents

Bottom Line

This comparison covers applications for citizenship, not applications for permanent residence. The distinction is important: holding permanent residence, or holding another listed residence status, may form part of a citizenship eligibility calculation, but it is not the same as becoming a citizen.

The official schedules use different fee categories and currencies. Canada charges by citizenship applicant category, Australia charges by application form and applicant type, and the UK combines an application fee with a citizenship ceremony fee. No currency conversion is used here, so the amounts should not be treated as directly comparable prices.

Canada does not provide a single fixed waiting-time figure for this comparison. Australia publishes percentile-based processing times, while the UK states that a decision is usually received within six months but may take longer. These are different official measures and should not be converted into a guaranteed outcome.

Fee and timing notice: Fees and official processing information may change. The information below reflects government pages and tables checked on 2026-10-04. The current official fee page and processing-time information must be checked before applying.

Country	Application Fees	Residence Threshold	Official Waiting Time
Canada	Adult aged 18 or over: CAD 653.00, including the processing fee and right-of-citizenship fee. Stateless adult aged 18 or over born to a Canadian parent: CAD 123.00, including the right-of-citizenship fee. Minor under 18: CAD 100.00, including the processing fee.	The citizenship eligibility period covers the 5 years before signing the application and must include 730 days living as a permanent resident. The official physical-presence calculator checks whether an applicant has at least 1,095 days of physical presence.	No single fixed official waiting time applies. Canada provides a dynamic processing-times query tool; waiting time is affected by case-specific processing factors. The current query result is more relevant than a generic estimate.
Australia	Form 1300t, General eligibility: AUD 595 standard or AUD 85 concession. Form 1290, Other situations: AUD 365 standard or AUD 40 concession. Children under 16 applying on the same form as a responsible parent: Nil; the table also states that no fee is payable for children aged 15 or younger in the same circumstances.	The applicant must hold a permanent visa or an SCV for the last 12 months immediately before applying, have lived in Australia on a valid Australian visa for 4 years immediately before applying, and observe the stated absence limits.	For citizenship by conferral, application-to-decision percentiles are 25%: 40 days; 50%: 47 days; 75%: 85 days; 90%: 5 months. Application-to-ceremony percentiles are 25%: 6 months; 50%: 7 months; 75%: 10 months; 90%: 12 months. These are not guarantees.
United Kingdom	Total stated cost: GBP 1,839, comprising GBP 1,709 to apply and a GBP 130 citizenship ceremony fee. Biometrics have no fee.	The applicant must have lived in the UK for 5 years and have held indefinite leave to remain, settled status, or indefinite leave to enter for 12 months. The relevant absence limits are stated as no more than 450 days outside the UK during the 5-year period and no more than 90 days during the last 12 months.	The official guidance says a decision is usually received within 6 months, but some applications can take longer. If the Home Office knows an application will take longer, it says the applicant will be told before the six-month point.

Canada: Citizenship Fees and a Dynamic Processing Timeline

Canada’s citizenship fee schedule distinguishes between an adult, a stateless adult born to a Canadian parent, and a minor. An adult application costs CAD 653.00, with that amount covering both the processing fee and the right-of-citizenship fee. The listed stateless-adult fee is CAD 123.00 and covers the right-of-citizenship fee. For a minor under 18, the listed fee is CAD 100.00 and covers the processing fee.

These amounts apply to the citizenship application categories shown in the official schedule. They should not be treated as fees for obtaining Canadian permanent residence.

The residence calculation is separate from the fee. The citizenship eligibility period covers the 5 years before the application is signed and must include 730 days living as a permanent resident. Official guidance also provides a physical-presence calculator for checking whether the applicant has at least 1,095 days of physical presence. The calculator is available through the online account, which must be created before it can be used.

Canada does not provide one fixed waiting-time number that can be applied generally in this comparison. Instead, the official processing-times tool provides a dynamic way to check timing. Case-specific processing factors affect how long an application takes, so a percentage or estimate from another applicant would not establish the expected timing for a different case. The current official query should be used rather than treating permanent-residence days or the citizenship fee as a processing-time promise.

As with the other countries, Canadian citizenship fees and processing information can change. The live IRCC fee schedule and processing-times tool are the controlling sources.

Australia: Form-Based Fees and Percentile Processing Times

Australia’s official Form 1298i sets out fees in Australian dollars. Form 1300t, used for the general eligibility route, has a standard fee of AUD 595 and a concession fee of AUD 85. Form 1290, covering other situations, has a standard fee of AUD 365 and a concession fee of AUD 40.

A concession fee is available only to holders of a valid Pensioner Concession Card issued by the Australian Government through Services Australia or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Health Care Cards, Student Cards and Senior Health Cards cannot be used to obtain the citizenship concession fee.

The fee table states that children under 16 applying on the same form as a responsible parent have no fee. It also states that no fee is payable for children aged 15 or younger applying on the same form as a responsible parent.

The table says that all fees are in Australian dollars and are correct at the time of release. It also states that citizenship application fees are indexed on 1 July each year based on the consumer price index. The published amount should therefore be checked on the official fee source before an application is submitted.

For the general citizenship residence requirement, an applicant must have held a permanent visa or an SCV during the last 12 months immediately before the application date. The applicant must also have lived in Australia on a valid Australian visa for the 4 years immediately before applying.

The absence conditions form part of the same requirement. The applicant must not have been absent from Australia for more than 12 months during the past 4 years, and the 12 months immediately before applying must not contain more than 90 days of absence. These are citizenship residence conditions, not the residence requirements for an Australian permanent visa.

The official processing table for citizenship by conferral uses percentiles rather than promised completion dates. For an application to decision, the published figures are 40 days at the 25th percentile, 47 days at the 50th percentile, 85 days at the 75th percentile and 5 months at the 90th percentile.

The wider application-to-ceremony figures are 6 months at the 25th percentile, 7 months at the 50th percentile, 10 months at the 75th percentile and 12 months at the 90th percentile. A percentile describes the position of an application within the official distribution; it does not guarantee that a particular application will be completed by that point. The current processing table should be checked because official timing information can change.

United Kingdom: Combined Application and Ceremony Fees

The UK citizenship page states a total cost of GBP 1,839. This consists of GBP 1,709 to apply and a GBP 130 citizenship ceremony fee. The applicant also needs biometric information, comprising fingerprints and a photo, but the official page states that there is no biometrics fee.

The residence threshold described by the Home Office requires the applicant to have lived in the UK for 5 years and to have had one of the following statuses for 12 months: indefinite leave to remain, settled status, or indefinite leave to enter.

The official guidance also refers to proving presence in the UK for exactly the 5 years before the day the Home Office receives the application. The cited absence limits are more than 450 days outside the UK during the 5 years before the application and more than 90 days outside the UK during the last 12 months. These conditions must be considered separately from payment of the application and ceremony fees.

For timing, the Home Office says applicants will usually receive a decision within 6 months, while expressly noting that some applications can take longer. If the Home Office knows that an application will take longer than the usual period, the official guidance says the applicant will be told before six months have passed. This is official service guidance, not an unconditional completion guarantee.

The Home Office fee page remains the source for the current application and ceremony fees. Neither the published total nor the usual waiting period should be assumed to remain unchanged.

How to Use the Comparison

Start with the exact citizenship application category. Canada’s fee depends on the applicant category, Australia’s depends on the relevant form and applicant type, and the UK states a combined application and ceremony fee. Comparing only the largest published amount would not show what a particular applicant actually pays.

Run the residence test separately. The relevant questions are whether the applicant has the required permanent visa, residence status or other listed status, whether the required period has been completed, and whether the absence limits have been observed. Holding permanent residence must not be confused with holding citizenship.

Read waiting times according to the way each government publishes them. Australia’s figures are percentiles, the UK provides a usual decision period with an express warning that some cases take longer, and Canada uses a dynamic official query rather than one fixed figure in this comparison.

Finally, keep currencies separate and avoid unsupported currency conversions. Application fees can change, processing information can change, and the relevant official page or fee table must be checked before relying on either for planning.