Skilled employment

The best chance for a successful EOI is to have an offer of skilled employment (or current skilled employment) in New Zealand.

Skilled employment is employment that requires specialist, technical or management expertise.

Employment or an offer of employment in an occupation included as a skill level one, two or three occupation in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) may be considered skilled employment (providing certain policy requirements are met). All skill level one, two and three occupations are listed at Appendix 11 of the Operational Manual.

Assessment of skilled employment

To assess if employment or an offer of employment may be considered skilled the first step is to refer to Appendix 11 of the Operational Manual to determine if the occupation is included in the list of skill level one, two, or three occupations.

Providing we are satisfied that your employment or offer of employment substantially matches the description for the occupation (including core tasks) as set out in the ANZSCO, it may be assessed as skilled employment if:

• Your occupation is listed at Part A of the list held at Appendix 11 and you have either:
  • a relevant recognised qualification which is at, or above, the qualification level on the New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications (the Register) that corresponds to the indicative skill level described for that occupation in the ANZSCO; or
  • the relevant work experience that the ANZSCO indicates may substitute the required qualification; or
  • the relevant requirements specified in column three of the Long Term Skill Shortage List for your occupation (if your occupation is included in the Long Term Skill Shortage List); or 
  • five years of relevant work experience in a Skill Level One occupation.
    

OR

• Your occupation is listed at Part B of the list held at Appendix 11 and you have either:
  • a relevant recognised qualification which is at, or above, level four on the Register (a qualification at level four must be a National Certificate); or
  • the relevant work experience that the ANZSCO indicates may substitute the required qualification; or
  • the relevant requirements specified in column three of the Long Term Skill Shortage List for your occupation (if your occupation is included in the Long Term Skill Shortage List).

OR

• Your occupation is listed at Part C of the list held at Appendix 11 and you have either:
  • at least three years of relevant recognised work experience and a relevant recognised qualification which is at, or above, level four on the Register (a qualification at level four must be a National Certificate); or
  • at least three years of relevant recognised work experience and your employment, or offer of employment, has an annual base salary of at least NZ$45,000.

Exceptions

There are two exceptions to the above means of assessing skilled employment.

If your employment or offer of employment in New Zealand does not meet the requirements above, it may still qualify for points for skilled employment if:

• your employment in the occupation will enhance the quality of New Zealand’s accomplishments and participation in that occupational area because you have an international reputation and record of excellence in that field; and
• the required expertise for the occupation has been gained through relevant recognised qualifications or work experience.

If your employment or offer of employment in New Zealand is in an occupation included in the list of Occupations Treated as Exceptions held at  Appendix 12  of the Operational Manual, it may qualify for points for skilled employment if you can demonstrate that your employment or offer of employment substantially matches the description for that occupation (including core tasks) as set out in the ANZSCO and you have either:

• a relevant qualification which is at, or above, the qualification level on the New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications that corresponds to the indicative skill level described for that occupation in the ANZSCO; or
• the relevant work experience that the ANZSCO indicates may substitute the required qualification.

See the ANZSCO.

You cannot claim points for skilled employment if the position is self-employed. If you are, or will be, self-employed and wish to gain residence, you may be eligible under one of our business categories.

Points

Bonus points

If your job is particularly valuable to New Zealand, you will be able to claim bonus points. A job or job offer in an identified future growth area gives you 10 more points. Work in an area of absolute skills shortage, or located outside Auckland is another 10 points each. Additionally, if your partner (as a non-principal applicant on your application) has a skilled job or job offer, you can claim another 20 points.