Whether its training opportunities, crucial support services or the chance to vote, Australian-based Kiwis are chomping at the bit to grab their Australian citizenship.
From Saturday, New Zealanders who have been living in Australia for four years become eligible for passports, and with it, a range of benefits.
Nicola Ferguson, who has lived in Queensland for 20 years this year without being able to apply until now, typifies why it's important.
"Everyone I know is excited to get the opportunity," the Cairns-based mother tells AAP.
Moving to Australia after serving in the New Zealand Defence Force, she was ineligible to work in the Australian armed forces and instead forged a career as a chef in child care.
She now works in a law firm, and during COVID-19, studied business studies and a paralegal course at TAFE.
The next goal is a law degree - which she can only do with the support of a student loan.
"To be an international student at law school, on those fees, it's just unattainable," she said.
A Melbourne-based woman, who asked not to be named, said she'll be applying straight away so her son can access support from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
"He wasn't able to access a lot of support through school and has fallen behind a lot in his learning," she tells AAP.
"He struggles with English and maths. He would benefit a lot from the NDIS and it's tailored to people like him to help him find work."
The woman said she "absolutely felt like a second class citizen" in Australia, and her Australian friends would often gasp when they learned of their ineligibility for basic services.
"They just look at you, shocked, and be like 'what? that's not fair," she said.
"A lot of Kiwis fall through the crack here because of the status we live under. It's heartbreaking."
Without citizenship, Kiwis in Australia cannot access welfare support including student allowance, public housing in some states, or work for the federal public service.
New Zealand Immigration Minister Andrew Little, one of a generation of Kiwi politicians to petition for changes from Australia, called it "an amazing, amazing development".
"It's a change a lot of New Zealanders in Australia and particularly advocates like Oz Kiwi, have been making vociferously for some time," he told AAP.
Georgie Herrick, a Wellington-raised lawyer who has called Melbourne home for five years, wants the franchise afforded to other taxpayers.
"Initially I wasn't going to take up citizenship for obvious reasons. I'm proud of my country," she told AAP.
"But I can't vote and that really frustrates me. I'd like to have my say."
Australians living in New Zealand are able to vote after just one year of residency.
Kiwis without citizenship aren't afforded the same rights in Australia.
Ms Herrick is eyeing off the voice referendum later this year to make her Australian voting debut.
That appears unlikely due to a Home Affairs backlog, even with more than 100 staff recruited to assist.
Current citizenship processing times are between four and 11 months, with an additional wait for a ceremony and another process to get on the electoral roll before voting rights are afforded.
Ms Herrick, who has two children with her Australian partner, said she found herself eligible for some parental support as a non-citizen but not others.
"When you pay tax, you should be able to access the services you need," she said.
