New Zealand Special Category Visa holders - access to HELP loans

The Australian Government recently passed legislation to make Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) loans available to New Zealand citizens who are Special Category Visa (SCV) holders and meet the requisite criteria. This new legislation came into effect on 1 January 2016.
Eligibility:

• If students hold a New Zealand SCV they will be able to access HELP loans, providing they:
• first entered Australia as a dependent child aged under 18 years of age;
• have been generally living and resident in Australia for the previous 10 years or more (that is, they have been physically present in Australia for at least eight out of the past 10 years) and 18 months out of the last two years at the time of application for the loan; and
• are otherwise eligible for the loan.

Note: just being a New Zealand citizen, or holding a Special Category Visa, will not automatically entitle students to HELP loans - they must meet all of the required eligibility criteria under this category.

Specific enquiries about the Special Category Visa, and other visas, should be directed to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection http://www.border.gov.au.