There are big news in relation to New Zealanders

New Direct Pathway to Australian Citizenship for eligible New Zealand citizens.

From 1 July 2023, New Zealand citizens who are long-term residents of Australia will be able to apply for Australian citizenship without first having to obtain a permanent visa

New Zealand citizens in Australia will be able to apply for citizenship after four years of residence in Australia without having to obtain a permanent visa first.

This will be viewed favourably by many New Zealand Citizens.  

There may be some talent drain from NZ, plus migrating to NZ just got a whole lot more attractive!

When Will the Australian Citizenship Changes for NZ start?

From 1 July 2023.

Children of New Zealanders born in Australia – straight to Citizenship

From 1 July 2023, any child born in Australia on or after 1 July 2022 to an special category 444 holder - may at birth automatically acquire Australian citizenship.

Please note, the changes effectively backdate eligibility to 1 July 2022. 

Positives for Australia from Giving Access to Citizenship to NZ Citizens:

How will the changes to NZ eligibility to Australian Citizenship be effected?

The changes will be effected through the residence requirements for Citizenship by Conferral in the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.

To meet the general residence requirement an applicant must be lawfully present in Australia for four years, including 12 months as a permanent resident, immediately before the date of application.

From 1 July 2023, directy from the Home Affairs Website:

• “All New Zealand citizens holding an SCV will be considered permanent residents for citizenship purposes.
• New Zealand citizens granted an SCV before 1 July 2022 will have their period of permanent residence for citizenship purposes backdated to 1 July 2022.
• New Zealand citizens granted an SCV for the first time on or after 1 July 2022 will be considered a permanent resident for citizenship purposes from the date of their SCV grant.”

Positives of NZ eligibility to Australian Citizenship for Australia:

The changes will provide a strong incentive for New Zealanders to consider moving to Australia.

Negatives for of NZ eligibility to Australian Citizenship for Australia:

There is no cap or control on how many NZ turn up on temporary work visas – the Special Category Visa 444. So this move could put pressure on:

-          Housing

-          Infrastructure

Australia’s rugby teams will improve!

Negatives of Australian Citizenship changes of 2023 for New Zealand?

New Zealand will face the challenge of a brain drain or loss of talent to Australia.

Living in South Australia, this is a challenge for where many young people choose to move to Melbourne and Sydney for employment or the bright lights.

Unfortuntately, NZ may experience the negatives of many of its young adults choosing to go to Australia.

Positives for New Zealand in Giving Access to Australia Citizenship:

New Zealand Citizens will be able to feel more confident about having a real future for themselves and their children in Australia. 

There the announcement that the TSMIT, or Temporary Salary Minimum Income Threshold, will go up from 1 July 2023, from $53,900 to $70,000.
The TSMIT questions are going to start with the simple ones and get increasingly more complicated.

Watch the video below to have your questions answered:

Question 1:

I Holding a 482 visa granted in March 2022, with a salary of 55,000 and my Visa expires in March 2026. Will my salary go up to the new TSMIT of $70,000 from 1 July 2023?

A: Sorry to break the bad news, that for existing 482 holders your salary will not go up from 1 July 2023.

Question 2:

Do I have to lodge both my nomination and visa applications before 1 July 2023 if my salary is under $70,000?

A: No, the TSMIT is only a nomination requirement. As long as the nomination is lodged before 1 July 2023, the visa can be lodged after that.

Question 3:

Working holding the 482 visa since October 2020, my employer is planning to sponsor me for 186 temporary residence transition stream once I meet three years on the 482 in . I am a veterinary nurse* earning just above award $55,000, will the TSMIT apply to my new 186 TRT application?


A:  Your salary of $55,000 would not meet the nomination requirements for 186 TRT after 1 July 2023. Your employer would need to nominate a salary of at least $70,000. This may even extend to certain applications for 186 under the labour agreement stream.

A short-term occupation can access due to working 12 months between 1 February 2020 and 14 December 2021,
clause 8 of LIN 22/038 https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2022L00340

Question 4

Will the income requirement for 491 visa holders, in terms of applying for a 191 visa, be subject to the TSMIT going up to $70,000?

A: The income requirement is to be provided by 191.222(3) which provide the Minister may, by legislative instrument, specify an amount. The Minister is yet to put a legislative instrument in place for the 191 visa. This means that there is a legislative vacuum or lack of details on what the salary amount might be. This lack of criteria could lead to any and many refusals being appealed to the AAT and courts and could ultimately cost the Australian government and taxpayers millions in cost. Not to mention all the lives put on hold and legal fees paid by those appealing. Let’s hope a legislative instrument is put in place soon. What is the saying - A stitch in time saves nine. If you would like to take some active steps to encourage the Department of Home Affairs to clarify the situation, then you could ask your local Federal Politician to contac the Minister of Immigration. 

Click here to acess the list of Federal Politicians

Work Visa Lawyers is doing what it can to encourage clarification on this issue. We have asked the peak professional membership body for migration professionals, the Migration Institute of Australia to raise the 191 salary issue. We have also directly emailed the Department of Home Affairs General Skilled Migration section to raise the 191 salary issue. Thanks for your questions. We will do further posts on the 191 visa requirements as soon as details become available. We do our best to bring all the latest updates and most relevant news for potential migrants.

We are also now on Tiktok for on the spot short updates

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Stay informed about the February immigration News by watching this video and have a privilege information about States Nomination in ACT, SA and WA for 190 - 491 visas and NZ path to PR. The article will bring highly important topics related to processing times and new actions from the Australia Government.

General Skilled Migration

The federal government has given out 35,000 189 invitations in December.

This is the biggest round on record for Australian immigration.
This is causing many ripple effects across the migration system.
The skills assessment bodies are now getting clogged up with new applications as everyone rushes to put in a skills assessment to try take advantage of these new opportunities.

Another example is that many of the states are trying to come up with more attractive criteria because of all the 189 visas that are providing competition.

Queensland State Nomination

Queensland has adjusted its policies and is now prioritizing skilled workers living and working in Queensland.
Those who meet the requirement should get ready for an application.
More details are in the article below.

South Australian State Nomination

The final allocations for South Australia are for GSM subclass for 190 and 491 8,000 Places, for Business Innovation and Investment Program 70 Places.

There is no more business visa allocations to the states and territories as of the announcement in December.
It's clear that the new government is focusing on skilled migration and that business visas are on the backburner as each state nomination.

ACT State Nomination

The ACT has received 4050 nomination places equally distributed across the 491 and 190. Only ten places have been given to the Business and Investor Program.
This is a significant uplift in nomination places compared to the previous years for the 190 and 491.

WA State Nomination

Western Australia is one of the high-performing states at the moment.
There were over 5000 invitations in December for skilled migrants from Western Australia.
The state has seen a successful year so far with easier requirements and more generous invitations.

Today, a total of 16,085 invitations have been sent out for migrants both onshore and offshore for western Australia.
One of the reasons for the increased numbers is that the foreign on one visa does not now require a job offer or a job contract.

The Western Australian Government will have an invitation round every month.
The invitation round will occur in the first week of every month.
This allows adequate time for the processing of the large number of applications.
I feel like every time I meet with a client and they want to know about their best state nomination options, I end up talking about Western Australia.

This is because the Western Australian criteria are often lower than the other states

We will be making a separate video to discuss the WA state nomination requirements in detail.

Working Holiday Visa

Working holiday visas from the 19th of January 2022 to the 30th of June 2023, working holidaymakers in any sector anywhere in Australia may continue to work for the same employer or organization for longer than six months without requesting permission.

Backlog Status Update.

The new government was left with almost 1 million visas in the department in June 2020, so Andrew Giles has posted on his Twitter account saying that there have been over 4 million visas processed since June 2020 to the backlog is now down to 600,000, with a promise to improve this by the middle of 2023.

Migration is expected to rebound to the pre-pandemic levels, according to a recent report.

General News

In other general news, recently, universities in Australia have backed a reset in migration policies.
It states that the current migration system is not delivering the required talent to meet the needs of the economy.
This comes as the country faces a skills crisis leading to calls for a refresh of the migration system.
The Government is now aiming for a more targeted approach to migration that aligns with the country's economy and needs.

New Zealander’s path to PR.

Good news for New Zealanders. The process of obtaining permanent residency in Australia has become easier with the elimination of the income and health checks for those who have already lodged a 189 New Zealand stream. This helps make the process a lot quicker. The change is aimed to improve the relationship between New Zealand and Australia.

International Students are Back in Fashion.

International students are seen as a key to the migration program. International students are not only a source of revenue for universities, but also a potential source of future migrants.
The fact is that many international students end up staying and becoming permanent residents.
Now the government is recognizing that these students bring a wealth of knowledge, skills and cultural diversity to Australia.

We hope that international students may be given more pathways when the reviews to the migration program are announced later this year.

Pacific Workers and Their Families.

Labor is being urged to boost regional migration.
The Pacific Worker families are expected to join their mine applicants in 2023-2024 under a new scheme.
There are calls for an increase in skilled migration cap and for early learning pathways to be added to universities for free.
A former official has stated that Australia is on track for a migration boom in 2023, with arrivals exceeding Treasury forecast.

Please if you have any questions you can Contact us or book your appointment.

Early in October 2020, the Federal Budget was announced, along with various changes to partner visas for the 2020-21 migration program year.

The migration planning level was released with the Federal Budget and the Global Talent Independent Visa was the big winner of the visa subclasses.