The little-known immigration loophole entitling New Zealanders to permanent residency on the Gold Coast for $405

Kiwis who visited Australia before September 1, 1994 can exploit a little-known immigration rule that gives them permanent residency for $405. FIND OUT ABOUT THE LOOPHOLE

A CHEAP and legitimate way for New Zealanders to become permanent residents in Australia exists thanks to a little-known immigration loophole.

The Resident Return Visa (RRV) is an option for Kiwis who came to Australia on a New Zealand passport before September 1, 1994 for any reason, for any length of time.

People who visited before that date were automatically given permanent residency upon arrival, so this visa enables New Zealanders to apply for that residence status back again.

GOLD COAST KIWI CAMPAIGNER EXPLOITS POLITICAL LOOPHOLE IN LAST-DITCH ATTEMPT FOR RECIPROCITY

Nerang Neighbourhood Centre co-ordinator Vicky Rose has joined the ALP party to fight for reciprocity for Kiwis in Australia. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Once they have this they can then apply to become Australian citizens, without giving up their New Zealand passport, and be given rights to vote, the NDIS scheme and benefits if they become unemployed.

At $405, the RRV is an affordable online option for Kiwis who arrived after February 26, 2001. It also enables those who’ve earned less than $53,9000 for all four incomes years a chance to apply for permanent residency, something needed if they wish to become citizens.

The residency debate sprung to life when hundreds of out-of-work Kiwis contacted

Nerang Neighbourhood Co-ordinator and Kiwi campaigner Vicky Rose during COVID-19 to They were ineligible for emergency subsidies despite many of them living here for many years and starting families.

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New Zealand passport holders who visited Australia before September 1, 1994, for any reason for any length of time maybe eligible for a Returned Resident Visa.

“It’s (RRV) not a well-known visa but one that will enable New Zealanders who don’t qualify under any other visa, a window of opportunity to become an Australian permanent resident and then have a pathway to Australian citizenship,” she said.

She warned Kiwis that applying for a RRV was quite a comprehensive process but there was help online in regards to how to fill out the form correctly.

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As part of the process applicants must detail their current ties to Australia, such as home ownership, family, sporting and business connections. Kiwis must also provide compelling reasons why they went back to New Zealand when they did. It could include being a minor when they visited, no work opportunities, a relationship breakdown or a birth, death or marriage.

Kiwi hairdresser Kayla Urwin lost her job during COVID and wasn’t entitled to any financial support so set up a home hairdressing studio at Pimpama home. Picture: Jerad Williams

Ms Rose recently joined the Australian Labor Party in a last-ditch attempt to fight for New Zealand migrants to get a direct pathway to Australian citizenship.

She plans to attend both their state conference and national conferences and be fully present and heard at the conference(s) where the ALP decide on party policies.

“I will be actively aiming to get a commitment from the ALP to a direct pathway to Australian citizenship for New Zealand migrants.”

Detailed information on this visa is available on Department of Immigration website immi.homeaffairs.gov.au or by calling 131 881.

Gold Coast Kiwi Kylie Rewi with her daughter Laila 3, who has lived in Australia for years and pays taxes but isn’t eligible to become a permanent resident. Picture Glenn Hampson

EARLIER …

CRISIS WORKER TELLS HOMELESS KIWI WIDOW TO ‘GO HOME’

Despite being homeless, jobless and without access to any government support, New Zealand citizen and widow Francis* is not looking for a handout.

“All I want is a hand up and an opportunity to restructure and rebuild my life for me and my family,” said the Gold Coast mother-of-three in her 40s.

“I’ve sold all my worldly possessions in order to survive, given away my beloved animals who have been part of my family and I am desperate to get a job so I can pay my bills and get into a property, just so we have somewhere that we can call home again,” she said.

On the brink of homelessness, a Gold Coast Kiwi says she doesn’t want a handout but a hand up to get her life back on track after her husband died and she lost her job.

She’s applied for help from Centrelink and sought help from crisis centres and women’s refuges only to be told she’s not eligible for any support because she’s on a New Zealand passport.

“I also called many charity lines for assistance with no prevail and I was treated like a third-grade citizen and was told perhaps I should go back to New Zealand,” she said.

“And I’m like, ‘really?’ This has been my home for more than 10 years, I’ve worked, paid taxes, been a good citizen, worked for some of Australia’s top companies and done everything by the book.

“My three sons live here, all of our friends and family live here and I love Australia and the people here so much. This is my home.”

To be eligible for any financial support she has to be a permanent resident, something that’s financially out of reach at the moment.

KIWIS TOLD TOO BAD SO SAD BY AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern calls for the Australian Government to adjust its rules on financial support for Kiwis during the COVID-19 pandemic have fallen on deaf ears. Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

She’s surviving by using the little money she has to pay for holiday accommodation because real estate agents told her not to bother applying for a rental without a job.

Despite being stuck in a vicious cycle of poverty, completely foreign to her, she is determined to crawl out of the hole she’s stuck in.

“Never in my life would I ever dreamt I would be a widow, jobless and wondering how I would pay for my next meal or provide a roof over my children’s heads,” she said.

Growing up in Auckland with a professional government job, she and her husband moved to Melbourne in 2008 before moving to the Gold Coast in 2016.

Her husband stayed in Victoria due to work commitments and they lived apart for 18 months before he joined her in 2017. Cruelly, after only being reunited for a short period of time, her life took a tragic turn.

SISTERS HELP STRUGGLING KIWIS STRUGGLING DURING COVID-19

Sisters Marama Gray and Awhi Gray are helping Kiwis on the Gold Coast who are struggling financially because of the global pandemic. Picture: Jerad Williams

“One week after returning from a family holiday, the man who I fell in love with when I was 18, my soulmate had tragically became ill and died. I thought at the time, ‘I’m a widow at 44, this isn’t the way my life was supposed to be’.”

Life spiralled downhill rapidly but she continued to work until the COVID-19 virus impacted her life, as it did for thousands of her fellow Gold Coasters.

“Providing a roof over me and my family’s heads, putting food on the table and not being on the streets is one of my biggest concerns.”

Sadly, Francis’s story is all too common. Another New Zealand citizen contacted the Bulletin admitting she had lost her job due to COVID-19 and she and her husband were living on the breadline. With no access to financial support because they’re ineligible to become permanent residents, they have to accept charity.

AUSTRALIA GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TELL KIWIS TO “GO HOME”

Acting Minister for Immigration Alan Tudge has in the past told New Zealanders who couldn’t get financial support in Australia during COVID pandemic to “go home”. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“We moved here for a better life for our children and we can’t just go home. And how would we pay for our quarantine in New Zealand, where would we go after that? What about all our stuff here?

“Because we’re Kiwis we don’t qualify for anything, but we’re lucky compared to people who have children born with brain damage, they’re entitled to nothing, yet they pay the disability levy.”

She said half of her extended family was eligible for citizenship and they were going down that path.

“If we could become Australian citizens we would, but it’s almost impossible for so many of us to get permanent residency. We don’t want to go back to New Zealand, this is where we’ve made our home, we love it here.”

* Name has been changed to protect her identity.

MY KIWI BLOOD IS BOILING – editorial by Emily Toxward

I just read Facebook comments on an article I wrote in March about New Zealanders struggling to stay afloat during COVID-19 because they aren’t entitled to any government support.

Here’s a sample …

“Kiwis always wanting free handouts.”

“Is it true that all kiwi males have had romantic liaisons with sheep by the age of 14?”

“Go back to your own country to get money.”

“Become a permanent resident or citizen and you can get all the benefits … simple really.”

Vicky Rose is joining the ALP party to help fight for a pathway for citizenships for tens of thousands of New Zealanders who have made Australia home but are ineligible to become permanent residents so can’t become citizens. Picture: Tertius Pickard

And over the weekend some 120 comments from an article on Friday clearly explaining that thousands of us simply don’t qualify for citizenship, despite being here for 16 years and making a home here.

Here’s a sample …

“If you have been here for years you should become a citizen. Or if not have savings for times like this.”

“So entitled”

“If they are not happy let them go back home.”

“Here’s a loophole, you can go back to NZ.”

NEWSFLASH: Unlike other immigrants there is no direct pathway to citizenship for some 647,000 New Zealanders living in Australia. And quite frankly I’m fed up with all the ignorants racists telling Kiwis to go home. In fact I’d guess most aren’t indigenous to Australia themselves.

There is no direct pathway to Australian citizenship for New Zealand citizens, first they must apply for permanent residency, which half of Queensland’s 650,000 aren’t eligible for.

What we’re after is for legislation to change so hardworking New Zealanders who love Australia and have made it their beloved home have the same access to citizenship as everyone else.

For hundreds of thousands of us who arrived after 2001 we must first be permanent residents. But to do this we must meet a myriad of conditions, including earning at least $53,900 for four consecutive years.

This rules me out because even though I arrived in 2004, have Aussie-born kids, built a house and have lined the pockets of State and Federal Governments through taxes, I only earned about $45,000 a year because I was self-employed for 10 years.

LAST CHANCE: READ EVERYTHING ON THIS SITE FOR $1

Thousands of New Zealanders who made Australia home want to become citizens can’t because they aren’t ineligible to become permanent residents because they haven’t earnt more than $53,900 for 4 consecutive years. Picture: Tertius Pickard

It feels like I’m being punished for choosing to stay home to raise three children while making an income.

I don’t think my wage was anything to sneeze at, and neither is $52,000 a year, but it’s not enough to prove to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton that I’m making a valuable contribution to society.

As a non-citizen I can’t vote, can’t access any benefits if I’m made redundant and I will be sent to an immigration detention centre if I’m involved in a car accident and found guilty of manslaughter. All because I can’t become a citizen of a country I love. A country that belongs to First Nations people but is populated with a melting pot of cultures from across the globe.

TRAPPED KIWIS UNABLE TO ACCESS SUPPORT DESPITE PAYING TAXES HERE

Emily’s children were born in Australia, she has lived in the country since 2004 and she calls the Gold Coast home. But she’s not entitled to become a permanent resident so therefore can’t become a citizen of Australia.

WHEN WILL FLIGHTS BETWEEN NZ AND AUSTRALIA RESUME

But I’m one of the privileged ones, I have a full-time job, good health and a stable relationship. This is not the case for thousands of the 50,000 fellow Kiwis on the Gold Coast.

It should be them telling you their stories but they won’t (I’ve asked dozens) because they fear negative abuse, they know they'll get told to “go home” or “stop bludging”.

Fact is, we are NOT dole bludgers, we are hardworking members of society. We volunteer alongside you at the tuckshop, our husbands coach your son’s footy team, our kids flip burgers alongside yours and we stack supermarket shelves at midnight. But we’re treated like second-class citizens.

I wonder if savvy politicians realise there’s potentially more than 500,000 votes up for grabs across Australian by giving Kiwis a fair go.

Or do they fear constituents will snub them if they’re seen to be giving money to Kiwis?

Time will tell.

There is no direct pathway to Australian citizenship for New Zealand citizens, first they must apply for permanent residency, which half of Queensland’s 200,000 Kiwis aren’t eligible for.

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Originally published as The little-known immigration loophole entitling New Zealanders to permanent residency on the Gold Coast for $405