22 February 2016 - Good news for New Zealanders in Australia!

The Australian government has announced a new pathway for New Zealanders living in Australia to apply for Australian citizenship. The new option for permanent residency will be available to tens of thousands of New Zealand expats currently living and working in Australia. The Turnbull government have stated the following: 

In acknowledgment of our special bilateral relationship, the Australian Government will provide an additional pathway to permanent residence, and therefore citizenship, for New Zealand Special Category visa (SCV) holders who arrived after 26 February 2001, who have lived in Australia for the last five years and shown a commitment and contribution to Australia.
The additional visa pathway will be available from 1 July 2017, for New Zealand citizens who arrived post 26 February 2001, but on or before, the date of the announcement, 19 February 2016.

Requirements for this visa pathway will include mandatory residence, contribution and community protection criteria. This includes:

• have been resident in Australia for the five years immediately prior to visa application
• contributed to Australia, demonstrated through income tax returns (Notice of Assessment) for the period of residence evidencing taxable income at or above the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) ($53,900 at present but could increase)
• mandatory health, character, and security checks.

More information can be found here: 
http://www.border.gov.au/Visasupport/Pages/an-additional-pathway.aspx