His original target was Australia. He'd applied twice for Australian skilled migration over three years — declined both times for insufficient points. He'd tried getting his company to sponsor him across; Australia's employer-sponsored visa scheme had tightened to the point where his company eventually gave up. On the third try, he started looking at "which country is closest to Australia".
His opening line when he came to us: "I'm not really here for New Zealand. I'm here to get to Australia. This is just a stop on the way."
Most consultants would have skipped the topic or sent him packing. We didn't. We had an honest conversation with him about whether the two-step approach actually worked.
New Zealand citizens can live and work in Australia, unrestricted — this part is real. The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement has been in place for decades: New Zealand citizens fly to Australia on their passport and can work, rent, pay taxes, settle, without any additional visa. From 2023, New Zealand citizens who've lived in Australia for four years can also apply directly for Australian citizenship.
But this road is slower than it looks:
- First, New Zealand residence. Given his profile (30, IT background, undergraduate degree, IELTS reachable at 6.5), the realistic path was work visa to skilled residence — 2-3 years total.
- Then, New Zealand citizenship. New Zealand requires holders of residence to have accumulated 5 years of physical presence before applying for citizenship, with limits on how many days you can be out of the country each year (specifics to verify at the time of application).
- Total timeline. From start to a New Zealand passport: roughly 7-8 years. Plus another 4 years in Australia to qualify for Australian citizenship: 10-12 years overall.
We drew the timeline out for him. He went quiet, then asked: "What if I want to switch directly to Australia partway through?"
You can. We told him:
- Holding New Zealand residence (not citizenship) doesn't let you live in Australia long-term. New Zealand residents can only visit Australia short-term.
- But the work experience, skills, and English credentials you build in New Zealand can strengthen your next Australian skilled migration application
- Which gives you two options: Plan A (stay in New Zealand five years, get citizenship, move to Australia), or Plan B (stay in New Zealand 2-3 years to upgrade your profile, then reapply to Australia). The two aren't mutually exclusive.
We were also direct about the hidden costs of the New Zealand route:
- He had no emotional attachment to New Zealand. He might genuinely not like it once here. That's a real risk.
- New Zealand pace of life is much slower than Australia. Salaries are lower too — the same IT role pays 20-30% more an hour in Sydney than in Auckland.
- If he wanted to bail partway, the money and time already spent would be sunk costs.
He chose Plan B in the end: come to New Zealand to build the profile, reassess at 2-3 years, switch to Australia if possible, otherwise stay the full five years.
What we did with him:
- Selected an engineering-related Master's (matched to his Bachelor's background)
- Rebuilt his CV in New Zealand format, with emphasis on the skills most portable to the Australian market
- Mapped out the specific decision points for reassessing Australia at the two-year mark
He's now in his first semester. He told us: he came expecting "making do", but he's actually enjoying the pace. "Maybe I won't go to Australia in the end. Who knows."
“At first I was completely fixated on 'how do I get to Australia'. Edustar laid out both routes — but more importantly, what each one would cost and how long it would take. No one had ever shown me that before.”
This case has been anonymised. Outcomes depend on individual circumstances and policy changes.