Skilled Independent SC 189 (New Zealand stream) Visa

Residence requirement

The new pathway to obtaining Australian residency is provided only for NZ citizens. These citizens must be living right from or before February 19th, 2016 in Australia. You will have to showcase that you were living during this whole time. A short trip to Australia on a business or holiday purpose won’t make you eligible for this visa. On the contrary, if you stayed outside Australia temporarily on February 19th, 2016, but spent time in Australia as a resident before that, you might be able to confirm your eligibility. 

In this NZ citizens pathway to Australian residency, you should be able to showcase proof of being a resident for a minimum of 5 years continuously in Australia before submitting your application. This continuous residence duration has to have begun either on February 19th, 2016 or before that date. 

To showcase your continuous residency involves these two factors:

• Your physical presence for 5 continuous years in Australia.

• Your intent to reside permanently in Australia. Short visits to abroad such as holidays are acceptable, provided that you keep Australia as your main residence destination. If you buy a permanent house or accept a job outside Australia, it might impact your application and proof of usual continuous residence. 

You will need to be a holder of the Special Category Visa (SCV Subclass 444) for the last five years. This visa is granted usually to NZ citizens when they enter Australia.

Age requirement 

Unlike any other skilled visa, the 189 NZ stream contains no age-associated limit. However, from July 1st, 2017, the age limit was reduced to 45 years for the subclass 189 visa. And from March 2018, the age limit was reduced to 45 years for visas associated with permanent employer sponsorship. Hence, this stream of visa gives an advantage to older applicants. 

Including family members

Even if an applicant’s family members don’t have NZ citizenship, the applicant can include dependent children and spouses in his or her application. If you are applying onshore, they need to have a substantive visa. However, the holders of a Bridging A visa, Bridging B visa or Bridging C visa are acceptable as well. 

Health and character requirements

All members of a family added in the applied form should be able to fulfil character and health requirements. 

The waivable health criterion 4007 is applicable – within this waiver, if your particular health condition requires expensive medical treatment or community services, you may still obtain permanent residence unless no undue cost is available. For example, if your health insurance is solid or you hold significant assets, and you are able to show your capability in managing your medical costs on your own, the application might still end up in your favour. 

Most of the permanent visas include complete character and health assessments of every family member included or not included in the application. However, it is not required when you choose the new pathway to apply for permanent residency in Australia. Only the included family members in an application are supposed to go through the character and health assessment.

Summary 

NZ citizens who hold the SCV/SC444 visa and were staying in Australia on or before 19 February 2016, this NZ citizen pathway to permanent residence is highly advantageous. 

• It doesn’t require any English language assessment, points scoring, skills assessment or employer sponsorship.

• It contains no age-associated limit.

• The level of income is moderate – and several exemptions are applicable for people who are on a carer leave or parenting their kid. 

• Applicants and their family members can submit health waivers for their health conditions.

• The bigger part of the visa application fee is requested only after a complete assessment of all requirements and the authorities get ready to grant the visa. 

Every NZ citizen who meets the required eligibility criteria should think about using this new pathway to obtain a favourable way of acquiring the status of permanent status in Australia. In the current political conditions, this opportunity might not be accessible for long. The only limitation in this visa is that it is provided only for NZ citizens who were staying in Australia on the qualifying date or before that. Plus, they need to meet the requirement of income threshold and 5 years of continuous residence.