New Zealand Citizen Application: Fill & Download for Free

I married a kiwi, lived first 35 years of my life in Australia, now 12 years in Auckland and I would say that John Franks hit the nail on the head regarding work. If you can get a high paying job in Australia do it somewhere nice where housing is not overly expensive and live a great life. If you can get a high paying job in NZ, do the same, however what a high paying job is in both places differs. There is more opportunity in large corporate in Australia with higher wages, and if you are a minimum wage earner you are much better off in Australia. If you want to start a business, I would say that that it is easier in New Zealand, the people are kinder and not as aggressive commercially. NZ is a small first world country, you can go from rich to poor house in a city block sometimes, we have beautiful, beautiful coast and scenery, but you will need to have time away from your job to enjoy it. We don’t have all the medical support that Australia has for some illnesses.You are also much better to get your Australian citizenship if you can and then decide which country to live in.An Aussie going to NZ gets all benefits except unemployment on day one. As do their children. No paperwork, just show your passport. Free school for the kids in both countries up to University. NZ just recently started funding 1st year of university, aiming for 3 free years. NZ also will pay you a student loan, interest free of approximately $320 per week, if your parents are low income or a mature age student it is a social benefit not a loan. Australia will expect a kiwi in Australia to pay full price on their degree and you may not qualify for any social benefits.If you are a kiwi and want to go to Australia the you are shit out of luck, some medical is provided, but there are a lot of restrictions and you are resident on a special visa, you are not considered a citizen until you go through the same health and immigration checks and applications that any new migrant would which is expensive. Many kiwi’s who have lived in Australia have fallen foul of this situation, bought a home, started a business, then a medical event happens to them or a child and they find out that they are not covered for all their costs under medicare, their kids are not entitled to all the support for a disability at school or through the medical system and some workers compensations are also denied them. Their medical condition will likely exclude them from applying for citizenship, so then they are stuck, go back to a country they haven’t lived in for 15 years or stay where they are but be financially disadvantaged.To become a citizen of NZ as an Australian you just turn up. Seriously, you just hop a plane, tick, resident on the arrival card and you are done. 3 minutes on the phone or at the post office will get your a tax file number, if you have a postal address you can vote and show your passport at the first medical appointment and you get your national health identification. You can drive on your Aussie licence for up to 2 years and easily convert to a New Zealand one when you want to. New Zealanders can drive in Australia in the same way.The other big difference is that in New Zealand we don’t sue for personal injury. If you have any kind of accident from stubbing your toe to breaking your neck the government pays for it. This means payouts for injury (if there is any) are rather low, you will be covered by services. If you are looking for a big payday from a liability suit, New Zealand is not for you. If you don’t want to have to pay when kids break an arm, fall off a bike, stab each other in the eye, hurt your back at the gym, have a car accident, break a tooth falling in the pool etc then you are sorted.Housing is more expensive for what you get in New Zealand on average, but as always it depends where you live and what you can do for a living.New Zealand has a large Pacific Islander population, the largest outside of the actual Pacific Islands, Australia may have more immigrants from more diverse places. New Zealand accepts only 700 refugees per year as of 2018. Australia is vastly more than that.The colour of the landscape in NZ is green, from soft teals of the ocean to bright green grass. Australia is so much more diverse in it’s landscape, red desserts, olive coloured bush, bright white beaches, golden beaches, green lush pastures, bright blue tropical waters, dark green southern oceans.I miss Australia, I love New Zealand.

Welcome to New Zealand.If you are coming from a hot part of India be advised that New Zealand is cold. And many of our older homes are not well built for the cold because you were meant to tough it out.Speaking of moving in… I was once surprised how long the process for an Indian to move into a new home with all the rituals and prayers. This does not happen in New Zealand - there is a significant number of New Zealanders who are non religious post Christian i.e. they stopped believing, but still use Christian holidays for lack of a better reason. So long as your Indian religious practices don’t cause us trouble (and I doubt they will) you should be fine.Speaking of religion - if you give a donation to a registered charity (not a fee for a religious ritual) then your donation can be claimed back for taxes at 33.33%. But you will need the receipt.New Zealand works to live. You will have 4 weeks paid holiday, and 11? paid public holidays. When you are on your days off - you are on your days off - so please don’t interrupt your workers. The country will partially shut down between Christmas and 2nd of January with huge numbers of people going to the beach. Now make sure your boss is complying with all the minimum wage laws etc. Otherwise it can put your future applications for residency in jeopardy - Burger King was even caught out by this.If you wish to speed up your integration to NZ, then you need to have children - this forces you to meet up with other New Zealanders, with all the activities your children get up to. If you have residency in New Zealand then your child is a citizen from birth.New Zealand’s don’t do arranged marriages. Most kids organize their own relationships and have a far more liberal view on sex than many Indians. In fact there is sex education in schools. It is normal to have sex outside of marriage. There are also some which will do one night stands - that is meet up, have sex, and then break up the next day. Age of consent is 16 years old. Be aware that if you have a kid outside of a relationship (or you break up) - we have the IRD who will hunt you down for kiddy support.Now the drinking age is 18, and you may be asked for ID. Many workplaces occasionally head out for drinks on a Friday night (and expect a Christmas party near Christmas (even if everyone at work is not a Christian) - all it is a chance to have a meal and some drinks. The Police are ruthless on drinking and driving - so have a sober driver, or pay for a taxi home. The pub part of town will be very busy every Friday and Saturday night. But many Kiwis do have a bad relationship with alcohol. Be aware of that and don’t join in our bad behavior.If you smoke the government is out to get you - to stop. Smoking inside is banned - by custom at home, and the law at work. Smoking inside your home might get you evicted as landlords don’t like the mess and smell it causes. However a number of Kiwis do smoke - so they will either smoke outside of their homes, or in a smoking area outside at work - this is one place where people are able to communicate with others regardless of rank. Because many managers also smoke. The term ‘smoko’ is sometimes used to refer to the morning and afternoon tea breaks - even if you don’t smoke.Speaking of rank NZ companies are often smaller than ones in other nations. So you will often interact with higher management. New Zealand is not really focused too much on your rank and status - so leave your titles at home. New Zealand practices egalitarianism. This means that the cleaner is just as important as you. And we have never had servants - so we clean our own homes - if you hire a local to do your domestic work this will be very expensive. (and if you try and bring in an Indian to do it - trouble).And be aware our workers have rights. Not only holiday rights and minimum wage rights, but right not to be fired without cause (and a right to good process). And our courts will enforce this right - with significant penalties.Speaking of relationships - it is very common for NZ’s not to get around to marriage. Our PM for example has had a kid and only just got engaged. Some people will have multiple kids from different partners. (So just be a little careful when people introduce you to their Partner, because they might not be married). Mixed marriages are becoming far more common - so if your daughter marries a dark Maori/African (or becomes homosexual) and you get grumpy about this - most New Zealanders will think that you are at fault and bigoted. And we will not care at all that she married outside of your caste.As for family - think small. The New Zealand family is much smaller than the typical Indian family, and has much less strength. For example we expect the state to care for our elderly, divorce is much more common, and the family is not the basis of welfare (the government is). Be aware the government has made it much harder to bring over parents to live in New Zealand (Rich parents excepted). Birth control is widely practiced. Your GP will be happy to give a prescription for Condoms/pill which can be picked up on the cheap at a pharmacy.New Zealander’s don’t know much about India - except cricket, but for some the only sport that matters is Rugby - so this is a great way to build up friendships - but of course if you don’t like Rugby we understand, I get on fine with little interest in the game.Speaking of India, while each of your states have rich traditions, languages, and religion which such which is far deeper than that in the USA - we will just not know about it. Our media has historically provided content and news from Australia, the USA and the UK. We were little Britain in the pacific. Please help us out - by saying North, South, West etc. India when you tell us where you are from.But look thanks for reading this - the most important thing is ‘don’t be a jerk’ weird or strange, be a nice guy/girl and friendly. (and willing to laugh at yourself) So long as you do that you are already half way there in living in New Zealand.PS: If you have dietary requirements (no beef, Halal etc.) please let us know before meals.PS: New Zealand is always better than Australia - regardless of the facts.

New Zealand citizens are generally allowed to live and work in Australia, under what’s called a Special Category visa (subclass 444). This visa is available upon arrival.If your spouse is a New Zealand citizen and intends to move to Australia on such a Special Category visa, then you may be allowed to come along as well, using the New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship (Temporary) visa (subclass 461)