Am I able to work in Australia if I only have NZ Permanent Residency?
I have a NZ permanent residency visa but am planning to move with my kids to Australia. I want to know if I need a special visa to work and live there, or would it be better for me to get citizenship here in NZ before moving over?
We emmigrated to NZ 5 years ago from the UK, and applied for NZ Citizenship after 3 years this changed to 5 years in 2005? I think. The only way you can get a SCV (Special Catergory Visa) in OZ is to have NZ Citizenship (not just permanent residence) which entitles you to live and work in Oz permanently,automatically. The only things you won't be entittled to as far as we could see were are long term sickness benefit (which is means tested) the dole and voting rights. So you will need to get either Australian Permanent Residence before you go or NZ Citizenship.