A Special Category Visa is a type of Australian visa granted to most New Zealand citizens on arrival in Australia. New Zealand Citizens may then reside in Australia indefinitely under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement.
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The Special Category Visa was introduced on 1 September 1994 by the Migration Regulations 1994. It is known as a subclass 444 visa. Prior to 1 September 1994, New Zealanders were generally treated as exempt non citizens in Australia.
Most New Zealanders are eligible for a Special Category Visa (SCV) except:
The SCV is granted upon arrival to Australia. It ceases when the holder departs Australia (for any reason) but a new SCV is granted on return.
The SCV is technically a temporary visa. However, prior to 26 February 2001, SCV holders were generally treated the same as permanent residents in Australia. In 2001, Australia legislated that newly arrived New Zealanders would henceforth lose the benefits of permanent resident status but would be able to continue living and working in Australia as long term temporary residents.
Transitional arrangements were put in place to allow many New Zealanders who were in Australia at the time of the change in the rules to be exempted [1] and Form 1154 (pdf)
Those New Zealanders covered by the transitional arrangements are considered to hold protected Special Category Visas. If they leave Australia and re-enter they will continue to be granted a protected SCV on arrival.
Many long term residents have slipped through the gaps of the transitional arrangements such as Russell Crowe, who was at The Brit Awards on 26 February 2001 [2] and working on A Beautiful Mind in the period preceding.
Differential Treatment of special category visa holders by State Governments or corporations is illegal under state Human Rights legislation (see [3] [4] [5] [6]). There is no Federal Human Rights legislation, so federal legislation is not subject to the same tests. A petition has been formed and an official response from the New Zealand government can be found here [7].
However the distinction between a protected SCV and any other kind of Special Category Visa is made by Australia's social security and citizenship legislation. There is no distinction under the immigration laws.
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