Our Immigration Director of Absolute Immigration Legal, Alex Kaufman, provides us with takeouts from the recently released Government report – ‘A Migration System for a More Prosperous and Secure Australia’.

From 1 July 2023, New Zealand citizens who have been living in Australia for four years or more will be eligible to apply directly for Australian citizenship.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) more than half of Australia’s 3 million permanent visa holders, who arrived in the country between January 2000 and August 2021, are now Australian citizens.

To address skills shortages, the Australian Government is extending post-study work rights for international students that have graduated from an Australian higher education provider.

The Australian Government has announced the new Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV) that will allow up to 3,000 people from the Pacific region to migrate to Australia as permanent residents each year.

There are multiple types of bridging visas that come with different conditions and rights, depending on the applicant’s circumstances. Here you can find everything you need to know about Australian bridging visas.

New Zealand passport holders can travel to 186 countries and Australians have access to 185 international destinations, without having to apply for a visa prior to travel.

From 19 January 2022 to 30 June 2023, Working Holiday Makers (WHMs) working in any sector anywhere in Australia may continue to work for the same employer or organisation for longer than six months without requesting permission.

IELTS One Skill Retake (OSR) is now available for test takers of certain visa subclasses and the Department of Home Affairs has accepted this option for immigration purposes.

The Australian government has announced that from 1 January 2023, New Zealand stream Skilled Independent (subclass 189) visa holders will have the commencement of their permanent residence period for Australian citizenship purposes backdated to 1 January 2022.

Since 12 December 2022, the new Migration Tasmania Application Gateway is open for registrations of interest and applications for skilled visa nomination from Tasmania.

The Australian government has set a temporary pause on new applications of the New Zealand stream of the Skilled Independent (subclass 189). This means that a new application cannot be made from 10 December 2022 until 1 July 2023.