When is a citizenship application ‘made’?

Federal Court. Was the day the person made an application for citizenship the day it was dispatched? Or was it made the day it was received by the Minister?

Section 21(1) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) provided:

(1)   A person may make an application to the Minister to become an Australian citizen.

Section 22B(1)(c) provided:

(1)    Subject to this section, for the purposes of section 21 a person satisfies the special residence requirement if:

...

(c)    the person was present in Australia for a total of at least 480 days during the period of 4 years immediately before the day the person made the application; ...

Section 24(1) provided:

(1)   If a person makes an application under section   21, the Minister must, by writing, approve or refuse to approve the person becoming an Australian citizen.

Some of the questions to the Federal Court (FCA) were as follows:

Question 1: May a failure or refusal of the Minister to perform the obligation (once it arises) under s 24(1) be remedied by orders with declarations and or orders having the effect of compelling performance?

Question 2: Was the day the person made an application for citizenship the day it was dispatched? Or was it made the day it was received by the Minister?

The FCA answered those questions as follows:

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