The Skilled Independent visa (189 visa) is a permanent work visa for New Zealand Citizen residents of Australia who have been usually resided in Australia as the holder of a sc444 visa for five continuous years.
Applicants for this Australian skilled visa are required to have a taxable income at or above an income threshold for each of the four completed income years prior to visa lodgement. This work visa may be applied for inside Australia and is not a points-based visa.
Am I eligible for a Skilled Independent visa – NZ Stream?
- I am a NZ citizen and I have been residing in Australia since before 20th February 2016
- I have earned at least $53,900 for at least 3 completed financial years in the last 5 years
- I meet the health and character requirements.
What does this visa allow me to do?
- Reside in Australia indefinitely with my family who were included in the application
- Travel in and out of Australia for the five years from the date the visa is granted. Thereafter I would need to apply for a Residence Return Visa
- Work and/or study in Australia – if I choose to
- Buy property with the same terms and conditions as Australian citizens
- Enrol in Medicare, Australia’s scheme for health-related care and expenses
- Apply for Australian citizenship (once I am eligible) by completing the residence requirements in Australia
- Sponsor eligible relatives who are eligible to meet a family visa (for example, partner, parent, child etc) or certain skilled regional visas (subclass 491).
We chose Immigration Downunder for our spouse visa application as Joe had already had a great experience with them before with a work visa. From the beginning to the end of our visa application Ben and Kelly demonstrated their expertise in this area and they made us feel confident in our application. We also felt they went above and beyond our expectations, by helping us to lodge our initial application in a short time frame to assist us in starting the process on-shore before Joe needed to travel again for work. We are pleased to say we were successful with our application and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Immigration Downunder to others.