Cambodia eVisa for NZ Citizens Living in Australia (Subclass 444): The 2026 Eligibility Guide

What the Subclass 444 Special Category Visa actually is (and is not)

Quick reminder for anyone who has lived on the 444 so long they have stopped thinking about it. The Subclass 444 Special Category Visa is the residency mechanism baked into the 1973 Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. Every New Zealand citizen who arrives in Australia on an NZ passport is granted a 444 automatically at the border, indefinitely renewable, no application, no fee. It gives you the right to live and work in Australia indefinitely, but it is not Australian citizenship, and it is not a permanent residency visa in the usual sense — it lapses if you leave Australia.

The 444 does not change your nationality, your passport, or your Cambodia eVisa eligibility. It also does not give Cambodia any reason to treat you as an Australian for visa purposes. The only documents that matter for Cambodian Immigration are the bio page of the NZ passport you will physically present at the airport check-in counter in Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane.

The pricing being identical is the bit most Kiwis don't quite believe at first. We are not running a separate Kiwi pricing tier — the Cambodian government applies the same evisa schedule across every eligible nationality, and our service margin sits on top of that uniformly. So whether you are an Aussie in Melbourne or a Kiwi in Melbourne, the line item on your card is the same.

How to apply as a Kiwi-on-444 — the actual sequence

Mechanically the application is the same as any Kiwi applying from Auckland. The difference is purely cosmetic — your Australian phone number on the contact field, your Sydney return address on any reservation paperwork the airline might ask about — none of which affects the eVisa itself.

Step 1 — confirm your NZ passport is valid for 6 months from your Cambodia arrival date. This is non-negotiable, enforced by the airline at the Australian gate, and the most common reason Kiwis-on-444 get bounced before boarding. If your passport expires inside that window you renew through the NZ Passport Office (online, ~10 business days standard, faster for urgent) — not through DFAT, because you are not renewing an Australian passport.

Step 2 — scan the NZ passport bio page on a plain white background. Confirm the nationality field on the scan reads NZL or New Zealand. Take or source a passport-style photo, 35mm × 45mm, plain off-white background, neutral expression. The same chemist that does Australian passport photos will do this for you with no fuss.

Step 3 — apply through us. You enter the data exactly as it appears on the NZ passport — given names, surname, nationality, passport number, expiry. The Australian address you live at does not need to appear anywhere binding in the application. We submit to Cambodian Immigration, approved in 3 business days on the standard schedule, and the printable PDF lands in your email inbox to print at any Officeworks or your home printer.

Step 4 — separately file your e-Arrival Card in the 7 days before flight. This is mandatory for every air arrival, 14 fields, $5 USD (~$7.50 AUD) verified through us. The nationality field on the e-Arrival Card asks 'Nationality', not 'Country of residence', so you answer New Zealand even though you board in Sydney. The Cambodia e-Arrival 14-fields walkthrough covers every field in detail.

Edge cases that catch Kiwis-on-444 out

There are three scenarios that come up repeatedly on the eligibility desk for Kiwis living in Australia, and all three have clean answers once you know the framework.

Dual NZ/Australian citizens

If you became an Australian citizen at some point — Kiwis can naturalise after living here long enough — you now hold two passports, and you choose which one to use. Most dual citizens travel on the Australian passport because it gives easier consular cover, but Cambodia treats both equally on the eVisa pricing schedule. Whichever passport you book the flight on is the passport you use on the eVisa, the e-Arrival Card, and at the Cambodia border. Do not mix them mid-trip. The Cambodia visa dual citizens guide covers the full decision tree.

Kiwi kids on a Subclass 444 in Australia

Same rule — passport nationality drives the eVisa. A child born in Auckland holding an NZ passport applies as a Kiwi. A child born in Sydney to NZ parents will hold an NZ passport (and possibly an Australian one) and applies on whichever passport they will travel on. Children get their own separate eVisa application at the full $80 USD (~$122 AUD) tourist rate — no family discount, no parent's-passport-covers-the-kids loophole. The application is the same form, filled out by the parent, with the child's own NZ passport bio page and photo.

Returning to Australia after the Cambodia trip

This is the bit that occasionally worries newer 444 holders. You leave Australia on your NZ passport, fly to Phnom Penh on your Cambodia eVisa, and return to Sydney 2 weeks later. At the Australian border the 444 is automatically re-granted on presentation of your NZ passport — there is no re-entry visa, no separate application, no fee. The 444 system handles this automatically every time a Kiwi crosses the Australian border inbound. The only exception is if you have been outside Australia for an extended period or have a character-related restriction on file, in which case Border Force may ask additional questions on re-entry. The Cambodia visa edge cases for Australians piece covers the related 'long absence' scenarios.

The Kiwi-on-444 summary in one paragraph

You are a New Zealand citizen for Cambodia eVisa purposes, regardless of how long you have lived in Australia or what Australian permissions you hold. Same $80 USD (~$122 AUD) tourist or $90 USD (~$137 AUD) business pricing as any Aussie, same 3 business days, same single entry, same 30-day stay. You answer New Zealand on every nationality field including the e-Arrival Card. Your Subclass 444 looks after itself on the return to Australia. If you want the full eligibility framework for everyone living in or under an Australian permission, the Cambodia visa for Australian permanent residents guide covers the parallel case for non-citizen PR holders.

One last realistic note. Most Kiwis-on-444 we deal with have not used their NZ passport for international travel in a while because the trans-Tasman crossing has been almost frictionless and any further travel is rare. Worth pulling the passport out a fortnight before you apply just to confirm it is still in good shape — no water damage, no torn pages, no expiry within 7 months of arrival. That is the only practical gotcha that catches this cohort out, and it is easily solved by an NZ passport renewal before you book the trip.

Next steps and related reading for Australians: apply for your Cambodia eVisa when you are ready to lodge, bookmark our Cambodia visa hub for Australian citizens as the single canonical reference, skim the FAQ on Cambodia visa eligibility for quick answers, and use our glossary of Cambodia visa terms to decode any acronym in this guide.