Do NZ citizens need a visa for Australia?

NZ citizens don't apply for a visa before they fly. The visa, subclass 444, is granted at the border on a New Zealand passport, and it carries full work rights. It is a temporary visa in law, which matters only if you later want citizenship or certain benefits.

How long can a New Zealander stay in Australia?

A New Zealander can stay and work in Australia for as long as they like, with no renewal. Since July 2023, New Zealand citizens who have lived in Australia for four years can apply for citizenship directly, without first holding permanent residency.

Can a New Zealand PR holder work in Australia?

A New Zealand permanent resident needs an Australian visa of their own to work in Australia, because the subclass 444 visa comes with a New Zealand passport, not residency.

What are the available FIFO jobs for New Zealanders?

The FIFO jobs available to New Zealanders are the same jobs available to Australians, because the work rights are the same. The common first jobs are utility, kitchen hand, cleaner, trade assistant and driller's offsider. Kiwis with a trade can go straight for trade jobs: boilermaker, fitter, diesel mechanic, rigging and scaffolding.

How easy is it for a New Zealander to move to Australia?

Moving to Australia is easier for a New Zealander than for anyone else from overseas, because there is no visa to apply for and no sponsor to find. The work is in the paperwork after you land. Your tax file number, bank account, phone, Medicare and licence transfer can all be done in the first week.

FIFO Jobs from New Zealand

A young man in a hoodie, shorts and slides stands at a rainy airport window with one bag, a boarding pass in his hand and a plane at the gate

I read about a bloke from South Auckland who heard about the mines from the boys on a building site, sold his car that week, and flew to Perth with no job and no room. He found a room on Marketplace, worked cranes in town for six months while he redid his tickets, and then got into drilling, then rigging, then offshore. If that's you, the good news is that the visa isn't the hard part. You get it at the border. The hard part is that the mines won't hire you from Auckland.

What FIFO from New Zealand means

FIFO from New Zealand means working fly in, fly out on an Australian mine site as a New Zealand citizen. The special category visa gives you the right to work the day you arrive, with no sponsorship and no time limit. The employer pays the flights between its Australian hub, usually Perth or Brisbane, and the site; the flight from New Zealand to that hub is yours.

FIFO jobs from New Zealand: Where to start

Still in New Zealand, thinking about itStart here
Already in Australia, no site experienceStart here
Have a trade or a licence from New ZealandStart here

Want to commute from New Zealand, not moveStart here
Partner or family staying in New ZealandStart here
New Zealand resident, not a citizenStart here

Find FIFO jobs from New Zealand

It's possible, and it usually works one way. You move to Australia first, set up an address, phone and bank account there, redo your tickets, and apply from there. Indeed's FIFO from New Zealand to Australia (opens in a new tab) search shows the same jobs Australians apply for, and SEEK New Zealand (opens in a new tab) includes some Australian employers advertising to Kiwis directly.

Before you apply, check where each ad's flights leave from, called the point of hire. Getting there is usually up to you.

FIFO from New Zealand at a glance

Possible?	Yes. New Zealand citizens get a special category visa (subclass 444) on arrival, with full work rights and no sponsorship
Which jobs	Camp and entry jobs to start; trades and operators once your tickets are Australian
Who is open to it	Any employer, once you're living in Australia with a local phone number
The catch	The employer pays site flights from its Australian hub; the Tasman leg is yours, every swing, in money and in days off
You'll need	An Australian White Card, a national police clearance, your licence transferred within three months, and a tax file number

Checked October 2026.

Can you get a FIFO job while still living in New Zealand?

Short answer

You can rarely get a FIFO job while still living in New Zealand. Employers hire to a point of hire, which is their Australian airport, and most won't consider an application with a New Zealand address or phone number. The usual way in is to set yourself up in Perth or Brisbane first and apply as a local.

Why the address matters

Look at it from the contractor's side. They need somebody at the terminal at five on Thursday morning, and a person who has to cross the Tasman first is a cancelled flight waiting to happen. An Australian address and an Australian mobile number tell them you can be there. A New Zealand one tells them you can't yet.

A tower crane lifting steel on a city building site, with the Perth skyline and the river behind and a plane climbing out — A city building job in Perth pays the rent while you get Australian safety tickets and a local address for your applications.

The resume page shows what an application looks like once you're here, and the no-experience page is the first job itself.

How do you get a FIFO job from New Zealand, step by step?

Short answer

You get a FIFO job from New Zealand by moving across first, with savings to live on, and applying as a local from Perth or Brisbane. The visa comes with your passport at the border, so the effort goes into the setup and the Australian tickets.

From New Zealand

Save about three months' money before you book, enough to live on while you set up and apply (is it worth the gamble).
Fly over on your New Zealand passport; the subclass 444 visa comes at the border, and you can work from day one (the visa).
Within a week, sort out a place to live, a phone, a bank account and a TFN (tax file number), and swap your licence for a state one (the licence).
Redo your tickets in Australia, starting with the White Card, because Kiwi site tickets don't count here (the tickets). Every course asks for your USI (Unique Student Identifier), a free number you can make only once you've landed.
If you're an electrician or plumber, get your registration recognised in the state you'll work in, before you apply for trade jobs (the trade).
Apply from your Australian address and phone number, to camp and beginner jobs or to your trade (the jobs for Kiwis).
Never pay an agency or anyone else to put you forward for a job (the fee rule).
Once you're offered the job, the employer books the medical and drug test and covers the flights to and from site.

What do a New Zealand licence, tickets and trade count for in FIFO?

Short answer

A New Zealand driver's licence transfers to an Australian state licence, and you can drive on it for three months after you move. New Zealand site tickets don't transfer; the White Card and the high-risk licences have to be Australian. A trade qualification counts with most employers, but electricians and plumbers need a state licence before they can work at the trade.

Hands holding a New Zealand passport and a New Zealand driver licence at a transport office counter, with the officer at her computer behind the glass, people waiting on chairs and queue number 028 on the screen above — Swap your New Zealand licence for an Australian one in your first week, so your application shows the licence the ads ask for.

The licence

Swap it early. The ads ask for a manual C-class licence from the state you fly from, and a recruiter reading "NZ Class 1" has to stop and think, which is a bad thing to make a recruiter do. The transfer is a visit to the transport office with your passport and your New Zealand licence.

The tickets

A New Zealand Site Safe passport means nothing on a mine here. The White Card is a one-day course, and the tickets for heights, confined space, forklift and rigging are each a day or two more. The tickets page has the prices and the providers by city. Budget for the tickets before you fly, because they're the first thing standing between you and an application.

The trade

A boilermaker, fitter or diesel mechanic with a New Zealand trade certificate can do the job here, because those trades aren't licensed in Australia; the employer decides whether the certificate is enough, and most accept it. An electrician or a plumber registered in New Zealand can get the matching state licence under the Trans-Tasman mutual recognition arrangement, by applying to the state's licensing body and paying its fee. Check what it needs before you book a flight.

Can you commute to FIFO from New Zealand instead of moving?

Short answer

Some workers commute to FIFO from New Zealand on a roster with long breaks, such as 8:6, 7:7 or 2:2, paying the Tasman fare themselves every swing. It costs a return fare and a day of travel each way, out of your days off.

The sum you have to do

A 2:1 roster is seventeen swings a year, so seventeen return fares across the Tasman, booked at short notice because rosters change, and a day lost to airports at each end. A return economy fare runs about $900 to $1,450 from Perth to Auckland and about $450 to $750 from Brisbane. Over a year that is roughly $15,000 to $25,000 out of Perth and $8,000 to $13,000 out of Brisbane, before the days off you spend in transit.

Fares from Kayak and Google Flights, October 2026, economy return, booked ahead. December and school holidays run higher.

Two things follow. The money can still work, because the pay is set for the hours and not for where you sleep on your week off. And if you mean to commute, look at Queensland first: the Brisbane page covers the hub that's three hours from Auckland rather than six and a half.

Tax on both sides of the Tasman

If you stay a New Zealand tax resident while earning here, get advice on tax and ACC before the first pay. The two countries' systems overlap, and the bill from the one you forgot about arrives at the end of the year. The pay calculator does the Australian side.

Is FIFO from New Zealand worth the gamble?

Short answer

FIFO from New Zealand is worth it for the Kiwi who arrives with three months' money, a clear reason for earning it, and a date to review it. It goes wrong for the one who flies over on the strength of a video and applies from a hostel with a New Zealand phone number. They run out of money before the first offer.

The ones it works for

One Kiwi family wrote online that they came across with little more than the clothes they stood in. Four years later they had paid off every debt and were building a house. They lived on almost nothing for the first year, treated the twelve-hour days as a sacrifice with an end date, and kept the end date.

The ones it doesn't

Entry jobs draw hundreds of applicants, and the Kiwi who lands with no tickets, no local address and a fortnight's money is competing with people who have all three. One worker on a mining forum wrote that a lot of Kiwis spend a fortune getting over here, fail at FIFO because they can't get in or can't hack it, and go home sadder but wiser.

The difference between the two is rarely effort. It's whether the move was funded and planned, or booked the week the idea arrived. The worth-it page is the long version of the question, and the families page is for the person who stays in New Zealand while you fly.

Is FIFO from New Zealand right for you?

Two honest questions

The question isn't whether you can do the work. Kiwis have a good name on site, and the work isn't the problem.

Can you fund three months in Australia with no site job? Rent, tickets, the licence transfer, and food, while you work a city job or none. If the answer is a fortnight, the move is a gamble, not a plan.
Who is staying in New Zealand, and have they priced it? A week off that starts with a flight from Perth and ends with one back is five days at home. If the person at home hasn't agreed to five, they've agreed to something else.

Ready to look?

If you've read this far and still want in, the jobs are here. Apply from this side of the Tasman.

Fake ads turn up on real job boards too. An ad that asks you to pay a fee before you start is a warning sign: report it to Scamwatch (opens in a new tab).

The job is one question. Whether the life suits you is six more. Three minutes. Free.

Is FIFO right for me?