175 permanent residency and new zealand?

[Fraggleoz 10]

Hi

I was granted a 175 permanent residency visa for Australia 3 yrs ago. I have not made the move to Oz yet but have now been offered a job in New Zealand. Does anyone know if having permanent residency visa for Oz allows that person to live and work in new Zealand as well?

many thanks for any advice.

[Ike 36]

As a permanent resident, no. 2 different countries. If you was a citizen I suspect things would differ.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Ike

[Fraggleoz 10]

Hi Ike

thanks for your response. According to the Australian government website people with Australian permanent residency can also live and work in New Zealand so I was just wondering if the 175 visa also allows this. I do appreciate that they are two different countries.

[Ike 36]

My apologies, it seems you are right. Best best would be to speak to NZ immi to confirm :-)

[scattley 13]

The problem is that ...sure you can work in NZ with only Australian PR but once the 5 year period or your PR expires...if you ever leave NZ for any reason, holiday etc, you can no longer return to NZ as you will need a RRV and if you have not lived in Australia during those five years you cannot get one.

[MaggieMay24 1,515]

You can live and work in NZ if you hold a valid Australian PR visa. Although the travel rights on your Australian PR expire after 5 years, I've never seen anything definite about whether that affects your ability to stay or return to NZ after that time.

[rammygirl 1,613]

Interesting. You would also need to consider if you ever wanted to move to Australia as well. Even NZ citizens only have basic rights to live and work in Oz and I think it takes 5 years to become one.

 

you would need to research carefully on this one and go into it with your eyes open and a plan for the future.

[buzzy--bee 35]

So here's the way it works.

 

As an Australian PR you can enter NZ permanently. However at the end of your Australian visa (another 2 years in your case), it will expire and because you don't live in Australia you won't be able to get it "extended". So at that point you'll need to make sure you have a way to stay in NZ. So long as you don't leave NZ, that won't be a problem, and you'll eventually qualify for NZ citizenship. But if you leave NZ, you may not have any way to return to either country.

 

HTH

 

BB

Edited July 10, 2016 by buzzy--bee

[James Willingery 10]

My wife was able to travel to NZ on Oz PR Visa and was grant NZ PR visa on arrival. I understand that once you have lived in NZ for two on PR visa, you can apply for Indefinite Resident Visa which will allow you to travel in and out of NZ freely without having to worry about your OZ PR Visa expiring. Just like Oz, NZ is a great place having lived there myself for 10 years. Good luck with your decision.

[toOZ2012 14]

I think there is some confusion in terminology and this is my understanding of how the whole thing works.

 

Australians/PRs get what's called a "resident visa" on arrival into NZ. That is a resident class similar to our SCV (Special Category Visa) here. Can stay, work etc. As others have said, it expires on leaving so the first thing that has to be done is to apply and be granted a "Variation in travel condition" so it doesn't expire. After 2 years on a non-expiring resident visa, you become eligible to apply for NZ PR - still have to meet some criteria but nothing even remotely as difficult as a skilled migrant visa. Make sure you get the timing right or you'll end up in a limbo.

 

If things are not going according to plan, jump ship to Australia before your 5 years are up - stay for a bit - apply for a 1year Resident return visa, go back to NZ to continue with the PR visa process.

 

PS: Seek proper advice.

[Fraggleoz 10]

Thank you all for your advice, even though it's all very complicated, it has made things a lot clearer! Lol thanks again and see you all down under! Annie