Keeping the special bilateral relationship between Australia and New Zealand in mind the Australian Government has announced to provide a streamlined pathway to Australian permanent residence, for many New Zealand citizens who have been living in Australia for at least five years and shown a commitment and contribution to Australia.

The new visa pathway will be available from 1 July 2017 for New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holders who were resident in Australia on or before 19 February 2016 and, at the time of application, have resided in Australia for at least five years.

This levy will replace the current training benchmarks for employers sponsoring workers on Subclass 457 and permanent Employer Nomination Scheme Subclass 186 visas. The levy will be effective from March 2018.

From 1 July 2018, stricter residency rules for new migrants to access Australian pensions will be introduced.  Claimants will be required to have 15 years of continuous Australian residence before being eligible to receive the Age Pension or DSP unless they have either:

The new temporary sponsored visa will be introduced in November 2017, with 15,000 visas available annually. The purpose of the visa is to allow the parents of Australian citizens, permanent residents and “eligible” New Zealand citizens to spend time with their family in Australia without placing additional burden on Australia’s health care system.