Kiwis reassured of one-year pathway

New Zealanders living in Australia have been assured a crackdown on citizenship requirements has not shifted the goalposts on the ‘‘pathway to citizenship’’ hammered out last year.

In February last year, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a streamlined pathway to citizenship for Kiwis who had been living in Australia for at least five years and met income and character tests. As many as 100,000 Kiwis were expected to be eligible for the process, which would allow applicants to first receive permanent residency then citizenship one year later.

But in a surprise move last week Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announced a stringent new citizenship test and said that all new citizenship applicants must have been permanent residents for at least four years. That raised fears Australia reneged on the 2016 deal and those eligible would have to wait for four years, not one.

However, yesterday a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Bill English said the PM and Turnbull had spoken about the recently announced Australian citizenship changes, and the scope of their impact on New Zealanders who had moved to Australia between February 2001 and February 2016. ‘‘Prime Minister Turnbull confirmed that the Pathway to Citizenship for eligible New Zealanders, announced in February 2016, has not been changed. It remains in place and on track, and is separate from the citizenship changes which Australia announced last week,’’ she said. ’’Prime Minister English has thanked Prime Minister Turnbull for this confirmation.’’

The reassurance means those who meet the eligibility requirements for the Pathway announced in February 2016 would be eligible to apply for permanent residency under the ‘‘pathway’’ from July 1, 2017 - New Zealanders who moved to Australia between 26 February 26, 2001 and February 19, 2016 and meet the other eligibility criteria - would be exempt from the four year qualification period and will only have to wait one year between receiving permanent residence and applying for citizenship.