Recently, the Morrison government is reforming the ways for New Zealand citizens to obtain permanent residency in order to support eligible New Zealand citizens to obtain permanent residency in Australia.

This visa is applicable to New Zealand citizens who have lived in Australia for five years, and requires the applicant to start living on or before February 19, 2016.

The reform will take effect on July 1, 2021, and by reducing the number of years that applicants must meet the specified income threshold, it will provide greater flexibility to the income requirements of applicants for the 189 (New Zealand) visa category.

Starting from July 1, 2021, applicants must prove that they have obtained taxable income exceeding the prescribed threshold within three years of income within five years (previously four years of income within five years) before submitting the application. This includes meeting requirements for income thresholds completed in the most recent year.

The income threshold will be in line with TSMIT, which is currently set at 53,900 Australian dollars and will remain at that level in 2020-21.

In order to further assist New Zealand citizens to obtain permanent residency, the Australian government is taking measures to assist temporary visa holders who were applying for PR before COVID-19 to maintain their eligibility for the 189 (New Zealand) category visa. These measures stipulate:

If they can prove that their taxable income for 2019-20 is adversely affected by COVID-19, they can make concessions to their income requirements.

The time spent abroad due to COVID-19 travel restrictions is allowed to be recorded as applicants who are meeting the "usually resident" visa requirements to live in Australia.

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