Originally Posted by
Croupier
Very complex and confusing.
i guess i need to apply for a resident return visa?
Travelling as a permanent resident
As an Australian permanent resident, there is a 5-year travel facility attached to your visa. You need to renew this when it expires if you want to travel outside Australia and return.
This also applies to New Zealand citizens who lived in Australia before 1 September 1994.
More information is in
overseas travel as a permanent resident.
Interestingly I have never been asked for a resident return visa in all my years traveling in and out of Australia.
Yes. Can be complex. SCV444 is not a permanent resident visa
(~Peter Dutton). What travel out of AU that resets the clock is difficult to know. Exceptions that, as your 1994 reference? If you had never left AU would be clearer. From your post 1 Border Force says you are SCV444. Does it state "protected" or "unprotected"?
Nothing to lose by applying for (federal) permission to leave and re-enter.
I got my AU citizenship ~30 years ago. Now have AU & NZ passports. IMHO since 2001 has been worthwhile for NZ citizens living in AU to get the formal permanent resident visa or AU citizenship. In some ways refugees in AU have more rights in AU than someone from NZ who has been living/paying tax in AU for 20-30-40-50-60 years.