New Zealanders who have lived and worked in Australia for five years will find it easier to become citizens under a new deal struck between the two nations.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the deal after meeting with his NZ counterpart John Key in Sydney on Friday.
Previously most New Zealanders moving to Australia have fallen into special visa categories that have prevented them seeking citizenship and leaving them unable to access welfare services.
"This step today will help tens of thousands of those New Zealanders to one day potentially become Australian citizens," Mr Key said.
The deal will enable those who have lived in Australia for five or more years and during that time earned income in excess of the temporary skills migration income threshold of about $54,000 to become citizens.
Health, character and security checks will also be part of the deal.
The visa discussions also focused on Australia's crackdown on foreign-born criminals resulting in the revocation of visas for those who have spent more than a year in Australian prisons.
The tough action has resulted in 183 Kiwis being detained in offshore immigration detention centres out of 500 who have fallen foul of the laws.
So far 36 detainees have won appeals out of the 73 finalised.
"We've made it crystal clear that people who are deported can pursue their appeals from New Zealand, so they are not prejudiced in their appeal by being back in New Zealand," Mr Turnbull said.
He maintained the policy applied across the board and was not singling out Kiwis.
The two leaders also called for an easing of tensions around the South China Sea following reports China had deployed surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island.
"Any actions, regardless of their motivation, which undermine that, which create tensions, are working against the best interests of everybody in this region," Mr Turnbull said.
At a business event, the two leaders were full of praise for each other and singled out the opportunities open to both nations by working together.
New Zealand is often able to do things more quickly and efficiently than Australia, Mr Turnbull told a Trans-Tasman Business Circle luncheon the pair attended together.
Mr Key said the Trans Pacific Partnership and middle income growth in China offered amazing opportunities for Australia and New Zealand to increase their wealth together.
"I think from an Australian-New Zealand perspective the real challenge for us is to continue to think about how we can collaborate, how we can work together, how we can get access into these markets and how we can actually capture that," he said.
The leaders and their wives will continue to build on the relationship during a sleepover at the Turnbulls' Point Piper mansion on Friday, shunning the prime ministerial residence at Kirribilli.
Mr Turnbull said while there had been a lot of speculation about the "pyjama party", it would be a quiet dinner with a few glasses of red wine.
