Changes announced for New Zealand 189 visa

Related: COVID-19 Concessions for 189 New Zealand Stream visa

Changes to legislation on 1 July 2022 allow the subclass 461 visa to be granted regardless of your location. The new wording is the applicant may be in or outside Australia, but not in immigration clearance, at the time of grant.

The government has amended the New Zealand Pathway to permanent residence to support eligible New Zealand citizen temporary visa holders in Australia to obtain permanent residence.​

The Pathway is available to New Zealand citizens who were usually resident in Australia for a continuous period of five years immediately prior to their visa application and commenced that period of residence on or before 19 February 2016.

Changes came into effect on 1 July 2021 providing greater flexibility in the income requirement for the New Zealand stream of the Skilled Independent (Subclass 189) visa by reducing the number of years in which an applicant must meet the specified income threshold.

From 1 July 2021 applicants will be required to demonstrate that they have earned a taxable income at or above a specified threshold for three out of the five income years (reduced from four out of five years) before lodging an application. This includes a requirement to meet the income threshold for the most recently completed income tax year.

The income threshold will align to the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) – currently set at $53,900 – and will remain at this level for the 2020-21 income year.

In addition, to further assist New Zealand citizens on their pathway to permanent residence, the Government is implementing measures to assist temporary visa holders who were on a pathway to permanent residence prior to COVID-19 to maintain eligibility for a permanent Skilled Independent visa (Subclass 189) New Zealand stream. The measures provide:

• An income requirement concession if they can demonstrate that their 2019-20 taxable income was adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Allowance for time spent offshore due to COVID-19 travel restrictions to be counted as residence in Australia for applicants who were on a pathway to meeting the ‘usually resident’ requirement for the visa.

Related: COVID-19 Concessions for 189 New Zealand Stream visa (Financial year 2019-2021)