A weight lifted off her shoulders.
That's how New Zealander living in Australia Sandy Boyce describes changes that will mean people like her will soon have a direct pathway to citizenship in the lucky country.
This morning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the changes, which will mean from July 1, New Zealanders who have lived in Australia for four years and meet the standard Australian citizenship criteria will be able to become Australian citizens.
It will allow Kiwis in Australia access to services and benefits that citizenship allows - a process which has previously been a difficult and costly after rule changes in 2001.
It's also been a point of tension between the two nations.
Kiwi children born in Australia will also become citizens at birth - instead of having to wait until they turn 10.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has called the change "historic".
Boyce, who moved to Australia 15 years ago, said despite it being 3am in Perth, she had already started the online application for her "long-awaited citizenship".
"I can’t explain the feeling I have right now after reading the announcement.
"It’s a weight lifted off my shoulders. I’ll always be a Kiwi and will only ever support the All Blacks, but I’m proud to call Australia home."
Yesterday she told 1News of her frustration at the prospect of possibly having to move back to New Zealand for her retirement, despite she and her husband having made their lives in Australia - including working and paying tax, and owning a home freehold.
Kate Robertson, a Kiwi who now lives in Brisbane called it "a welcome, exciting change. I'm blown away, it's awesome, it's absolutely what I was hoping for".
For Robertson, the benefits are less financial and more psychological.
"Personally and emotionally and my connection to Australia it's everything," she said.
"We've been contributing members to society and to be told you're not welcome, it's difficult."
She said she still considers herself a Kiwi, but would be proud to be a dual citizen, having lived in Australia for over 20 years.
At the end of June 2021, there were about 560,000 New Zealand-born people were living in Australia, according to the Australian Government.
Albanese made the announcement this morning on the 50th anniversary year of the trans-Tasman travel arrangement, which allows each country's people to live and work in the other country.
Hipkins said it was the "biggest improvement in the rights of New Zealanders living in Australia in a generation" and it restored most of the rights Kiwis had in Australia before they were revoked in 2001.
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