New Australian citizenship laws are to favour New Zealand citizens

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Headlines

From 1 July 2023,

• Many New Zealanders will be able to apply for Australian Citizenship directly (without needing to apply for permanent resident status first).
  • New Zealanders who have been living in Australia for 4+ years should be able to apply for Australian Citizenship from 1 July 2023.
  • Relative newcomers may have may need to accrue more time in Australia (you need 4 years to apply).
• Babies born to New Zealand citizens in Australia will receive Australian citizenship at birth.

Details

I haven’t seen the draft new laws yet, so there are lots of details we don’t have.

What we do know is…

Some of the details pages below refer to “SCV” which is a Special Category Visa. That’s the invisible visa most New Zealand citizens get automatically when they enter Australia and flash their NZ passport.

The official press release is here: https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/ClareONeil/Pages/direct-pathway-to-australian-citizenship-for-new-zealanders.aspx

Immigration’s webpage about New Zealanders is here: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/entering-and-leaving-australia/new-zealand-citizens/pathway-to-permanent-resident-and-citizenship

Immigration’s news article about the changes to citizenship laws is here: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/news-media/archive/article?itemId=1047