First
announced by the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, on 19 February 2016, and
then later confirmed in the recent budget, a new pathway for permanent
residence has opened up for certain New Zealand citizens who are able to
demonstrate that they can satisfy the qualifying criteria.
In
order to be eligible it will be necessary for New Zealand citizens to show that
they were resident in Australia on 19 February 2016, have lived here for at
least five years and earned income of at least the temporary skilled migration
income threshold (currently $53,000 per annum) over that qualifying period.
This
pathway will be available from 1 July 2017.
While
obviously not all New Zealanders currently living in Australia will be
eligible, it is estimated that some tens of thousands will be, and one would
expect that as soon as applications can be lodged there will be a rush of
people wishing to take advantage of this new pathway.
Obviously,
once New Zealanders obtain Australian permanent residence, they may then wish
to consider their citizenship options.
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