I have some exciting information for New Zealand citizens that visited Australia before 1994, and consequently may be able to apply for the Return Residents Visa (known as RRV).

More Visa information for New Zealanders living in Australia is also available in our EBook – cheap as chips on Amazon Kindle, or free to borrow in the Kindle library. Proceeds go to the New Zealand Forest and Bird Society.

If you were lucky enough to have come to Australia before 1 September 1994, you have the opportunity to apply for a Return Residents Visa (RRV). Why is that? When you came before 1994 you, and any other New Zealand citizen, were automatically given Permanent Residence upon arrival and so now you are effectively applying for that residence status back again. It’s not a well known visa but one that will enable kiwis who don’t qualify under any other visa, a window of opportunity.

All the information about this visa is on Department of Immigration website and it’s quite easy to follow:

http://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/155-157

Please do read through this when you’re getting together your application. I would also run it past a registered Migration Agent. There is one available at the awesome Nerang Community Centre on the Gold Coast, who will help you with these forms for FREE when you are ready to submit and/or if you have any questions or queries. Once you are ready, please ring or email them with your contact details which will be forwarded to the Migration Agent and they will contact you directly to make an appointment.

Here’s the forms you will need to complete;

1) This one is to get your travel dates of when you came in and out of Australia prior to 1994 (if you don’t have them already)

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1359.pdf

2) This one is the actual application once you get your travel dates back from the form above

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1085.pdf

In question 25 you need to detail your current ties to Australia – here you write things like;

· Your children/grand children live here

· Your family and/or support networks are here

· You run a business and/or have long term employment here

· This is your home now (you pay a mortgage)

· You have sporting ties here including player, coach…

In question 31 you need to detail the compelling reasons (to you) why you went back to NZ when you did, this could be things like;

· You were only a minor at the time and had to go where your parents went

· You couldn’t find work at the time or was offered work in New Zealand

· You got married or had a baby

· A relationship breakdown

· A family member was sick or died

· Have now come back under your own steam and with your family and have made a life here

This application will cost you $345.00 and is taking on average 3-4 weeks to be assessed. This visa is valid for a period of 5 years so once you are granted a RRV and have lived in Australia for a year as a permanent resident (on that RRV) and you have also satisfied the rest of the citizenship criteria ie: been here for a total of four years, then you need to apply for citizenship on the 12 month anniversary STRAIGHT AWAY. NB: If you travel out of Australia before the 12 months, before you apply for citizenship, then when you come back through customs you need them to stamp you in as a RRV not an SCV otherwise you may need to reapply for the RRV again.

The DIAC General Information Line is 131 881 to ask about permanent visas.

Good luck!

Tagged: new zealanders in australia, Return Residents Visa, RRV Visa, scv, Special Category Visa