A Kiwi living in Australia But Not Sure of Your Visa Status?
So, you arrived in Australia after 26 February 2001? Do you think that by living here that long you are a Permanent Resident of Australia? NOT TRUE.
Most Kiwis who arrived after this date have been granted a Non-Protected and Temporary Special Category Visa Subclass 444 (SCV 444) on arrival at the airport. It is in the immigration system, but you may not realise that you have a TEMPORARY visa. (We can check your immigration status for you… FREE!)
What does this mean? It means that you can live and work in Australia as long as you like but you are still only a temporary resident. There are important government benefits (unemployment benefits and University fee help are examples) that you will not be entitled to and regardless of how long you live here (on this visa) you CANNOT get Citizenship unless you go through the process of getting Permanent Residency. This is the same for migrants from any country. Yes, you can live and work here but you do not have any long-term certainty against immigration law changes.
STOP and read this:
I was born in New Zealand and migrated to Australia in 1988. I am a dual Australian/NZ citizen. I value BOTH citizenships but for practical reasons living in Australia, Australian citizenship is the most valuable. Australian pension, children get study support, health care at all levels is free, an NZ citizen misses a lot of this. I see many migrants from countries like India, Vietnam, many others pay good money for an Australian visa and then citizenship, they see the value of it for the future.
Most New Zealanders in Australia are NOT prepared to pay for quality advice and a visa, they believe they are entitled to a permanent visa and citizenship. They do NOT realise they are foreigners here who get a much better temporary visa than any other country, including Canadian, English etc.
If you genuinely want a safe future in Australia, I can help you. If you believe you are entitled to this free, then I cannot help you, do not contact me.
A new visa came out for Kiwis to get PR who came after 2001. Check it out here:
Only 5,000 out of an estimated 75,000 who qualify have applied. Be thoughtful of your family’s future.
Were your children born in Australia? If you arrived after 26 February 2001 and you have children born here, they may NOT be entitled to Permanent Residency and Citizenship.
Had problems with the law in New Zealand or significant health issues? If you have not yet arrived in Australia it is possible you may not be allowed to enter Australia when you arrive at an Australian airport. You may be sent back on the next flight.
We can advise you about your Australian Immigration options. Citizenship has many important benefits and you do not even have to stop supporting the All Blacks!!! How good is that? (But you may have to have an operation to fix that accent… Sorry!!)