An additional pathway to permanent residence for New Zealand Special Category visa holders has been introduced. This is for New Zealand Special Category (subclass 444) visa (SCV) holders who were usually resident in Australia on or before 19 February 2016 and who, at the time of lodging an application, have resided in Australia for at least five years. The criteria include :

• contributing to Australia, demonstrated through income tax returns which show taxable income at least equivalent to the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) for the qualifying period; and
• meeting mandatory health, character and security checks.

New Zealand citizens who are granted this visa will be eligible to apply for Australian citizenship after a period of 12 months (in addition to the five years as an eligible New Zealand SCV holder).

This pathway is a new stream in the Skilled Independent (Subclass 189) visa.

The Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) is a permanent employer sponsored visa which has concessions for NZ citizens working in Australia. There is a specific pathway for NZ citizens who have worked for their Australian employer in an occupation on the STSOL for 2 of the last 3 years.

If your partner is an Eligible NZ citizen, Australian permanent resident or Australian citizen they may be able to sponsor you for a partner visa.

Family members who are not also New Zealand citizens cannot be granted a SCV. This is because all applicants for a SCV must meet the primary criteria, which requires them to be a New Zealand citizen.

What visa a family member is able to, or should, apply for may depend on whether the New Zealand citizen relative is an ENZ Citizen (who can sponsor family members) or has become an Australian permanent resident or citizen. There are four potential ways for family members of New Zealand citizens to enter, or remain in, Australia:

Whether the family member enters Australia on a temporary or permanent visa will affect their rights in Australia (eg. ability to obtain Australian citizen­ship, sponsor family members and receive social security payments).

1. apply for a New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship visa – this is a temporary five-year renewable visa; or
2. if the family head is an ENZ Citizen, or has become an Australian permanent resident or Australian citizen, apply for a visa with sponsorship by the New Zealand citizen (eg a Spouse or Child visa).
3. apply for a visa without sponsorship by the New Zealand citizen (eg Employer Nomination Scheme or Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme visa can be applied for in Australia by the holder of a New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship visa -the family member will need to meet the criteria for the relevant subclass of visa applied for; or
4. if the family head applies for permanent residence, their family members may be able to be included as secondary applicants.

The definition of Eligible New Zealand Citizen has been amended to align with Australian social security law. Consequential changes have also been made to the New Zealand Family Relationship (Subclass 461) visa.

Eligible New Zealand citizens will no longer be able to sponsor non New Zealand citizen family members. They will be required to sponsor family members using the same family stream visas as Australian permanent residents and citizens.