An eligible New Zealand citizen is defined in the Migration Regulations as follows:
- Eligible New Zealand citizen means a New Zealand citizen who:
- at the time of his or her last entry to Australia, would have satisfied public interest criteria 4001 to 4004 and 4007 to 4009; and
- either:
- was in Australia on 26 February 2001 as a holder of a subclass 444 (Special Category) visa that was in force on that date or;
- was in Australia as the holder of a subclass 444 visa for a period of, or periods that total, not less than 1 year in the period of 2 years immediately before 26 February 2001; or
- has a certificate, issued under the Social Security Act 1991, that states that the citizen was, for the purposes of that Act, residing in Australia on a particular date.
