S6.15 Requirement to be Settled, Skilled or Scarce (to 01/08/2022)

Note: an applicant that meets the criteria for Settled, Skilled or Scarce must also meet the criteria for Holders of an Eligible Visa outlined at S6.10.1 in order to be eligible for a 2021 Resident Visa.

S6.15.1 Settled criteria

1. An applicant meets Settled criteria if they:
   1. first arrived in New Zealand before or on 29 September 2018; and
   2. have been in New Zealand for at least 821 days between 29 September 2018 and 29 September 2021 (inclusive).
2. An immigration officer will use information held in Immigration New Zealand travel records to determine whether an applicant meets Settled criteria.

S6.15.5 Skilled criteria

1. An applicant meets Skilled criteria if they are in employment with remuneration of $27.00 or more per hour.
2. An applicant met Skilled criteria on 29 September 2021 if they:
   1. were, on that date, in employment with remuneration of $27.00 or more per hour and working in accordance with the conditions of their visa, or
   2. had made an application, variation of conditions, or request for reconsideration for an eligible visa that was subsequently granted (or in the case of conditions, were varied) and had an offer of employment with remuneration at or above $27.00 per hour as at 29 September 2021.
3. Employment must be:
   1. full time (employment is full-time if the employment agreement demonstrates that the employment amounts to, on average, 30 hours per week over an agreed pay period); and
   2. genuine; and
   3. for a position that is paid by salary or wages or in terms of a contract for services (see (d) below).
4. A contract for services will be considered employment if the applicant:
   1. has a consistent history of contract work; and
   2. has a current contract for services.
5. Remuneration is calculated as per S6.15.20.
6. An applicant who had a temporary reduction to their pay rate and/or hours of work due to a COVID-19 related disruption to business activity can be assessed as having met Skilled criteria on 29 September 2021 or time of application provided that:
   1. the disruption arises directly from a Government order (e.g. level change or otherwise) which imposes an obligation on businesses to restrict their activities; and
   2. the applicant can demonstrate they were paid at least $27.00 per hour prior to the disruption; and
   3. any temporary change to pay rate and/or hours of work was agreed to in writing by the applicant and the employer; and
   4. the applicant has returned, or will be returning, to their normal pay rate and hours of work once the disruption has ended.

Note: An immigration officer has the discretion to allow for more than one temporary reduction in pay rate and/or hours if there have been multiple disruptions (as defined above) since August 2021.

S6.15.5.1 Evidence for Skilled criteria

1. For an applicant who holds a current work visa that specifies they may only work for a specific employer, immigration officers may consider information provided on the 2021 Resident Visa Application form and information provided with the previous work visa application to determine whether they meet the Skilled criteria, unless their remuneration has increased since the grant of their visa, in which case the applicant will need to provide evidence that this increase occurred before or on 29 September 2021.
2. An applicant whose remuneration has not previously been assessed or evidence was not previously provided will be required to provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that they meet Skilled criteria.
3. Evidence provided for remuneration must include an employment agreement or letter from the employer stating the pay and hours and one or more of the following:
   1. full bank statements showing salary payment; or
   2. summary of income details from Inland Revenue; or
   3. payslips.
4. In addition to (c) above, an immigration officer may request any additional evidence as necessary to determine if the applicant meets (and/or met) the Skilled criteria.
5. Evidence may be required to demonstrate an applicant’s current remuneration as well as their remuneration as at 29 September 2021.

S6.15.10 Scarce criteria

1. An applicant meets Scarce criteria if they are employed in one of the occupations listed at Appendix 11.
2. An applicant met Scarce criteria on 29 September 2021 if they;
   1. were employed in one of the occupations listed at Appendix 11 and working in accordance with the conditions of their visa; or
   2. had made an application, variation of conditions, or request for reconsideration for an eligible visa that was subsequently granted (or in the case of conditions, were varied) and had an offer of employment in one of the occupations listed at Appendix 11 as at 29 September 2021.
3. Employment must be:
   1. full time (employment is full-time if the employment agreement demonstrates that the employment amounts to, on average, 30 hours per week over an agreed pay period); and
   2. genuine; and
   3. for a position that is paid by salary or wages or in terms of a contract for services (see (d) below).
4. A contract for services will be considered employment if the applicant:
   1. has a consistent history of contract work; and
   2. has a current contract for services.
5. An applicant must hold provisional or full registration in New Zealand if the employment is in an occupation that requires New Zealand registration by law to be undertaken (see SM10.5), or the occupation is on the list of occupations in the health and education sector (Appendix 11).
6. An applicant working in an occupation that is indirectly related to the provision of health services, or corporate functions such as (but not limited to) human resources, office administration or property maintenance will not meet Scarce criteria based on an occupation listed under Personal Carers and other critical health workers in Appendix 11.
7. An applicant who had a temporary reduction to their hours of work due to a COVID-19 related disruption to business activity can be assessed as having met Scarce criteria on 29 September 2021 or time of application provided that:
   1. the disruption arises directly from a Government order (e.g. level change or otherwise) which imposes an obligation on businesses to restrict their activities; and
   2. the applicant can demonstrate they were employed full time prior to the disruption; and
   3. any temporary change to the hours of work was agreed to in writing by the applicant and the employer; and
   4. the applicant has returned, or will be returning, to their normal hours of work once the disruption has ended.

Note: An immigration officer has the discretion to allow for more than one temporary reduction in hours if there have been multiple disruptions (as defined above) since August 2021.

S6.15.10.1 Evidence for Scarce criteria

1. For an applicant who holds a current work visa that specifies they may only work for a specific employer, immigration officers will consider information provided on the 2021 Resident Visa Application form and information provided with the previous work visa application to determine whether they meet Scarce criteria, unless their occupation has changed since the grant of their visa, in which case the applicant will need to provide evidence that this change occurred before or on 29 September 2021.
2. An applicant whose occupation has not previously been assessed or evidence was not previously provided will be required to provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that they meet Scarce criteria including, but not limited to:
   1. an employment agreement or letter from employer stating the occupation and hours; and
   2. evidence of provisional or full registration in an occupation in New Zealand where this is required.
3. In addition to (b) above, an immigration officer may request any additional evidence as necessary to determine if the applicant meets (and/or met) the Scarce criteria.
4. Evidence may be required to demonstrate an applicant’s current occupation as well as the occupation they held as at 29 September 2021.

S6.15.15 Genuine employment and pay rate

1. Employment and employment offers must be genuine.
2. Employment will not be considered genuine if it is offered as a result of payment made by the applicant (or their agent or a third party) to the employer (or their agent or a third party) in exchange for securing that offer of employment. Such practices are contrary to the principles of the Wages Protection Act 1983, as well as to immigration instructions. This includes but is not limited to:
   1. payment(s) to secure or maintain an offer of employment; or
   2. partial or full repayment of wages to the employer, their agent or third party whether through payment or unpaid labour; or
   3. unlawful deduction(s).

S6.15.20 Calculating remuneration

1. Remuneration will be calculated on the basis of payment per hour.
2. For the purpose of determining whether remuneration meets the requirements of S6.15.5(b) evidence must be provided of hours of work in the employment agreement.
3. If the employment agreement specifies payment by salary, the payment per hour will be calculated by dividing the annual salary by 52 weeks, followed by the number of hours that will be worked each week.
4. If the employment agreement specifies payment other than by hour (including payment by salary) and the hours of work are variable, an immigration officer may request evidence of the range of hours to be worked to determine whether the variance in the hours worked would result in the per hour rate of pay being below the applicable remuneration threshold.
5. Hours of work per week will be considered variable if the employment agreement contains a provision allowing the employer to request or require the employee to work additional hours from time to time.
6. Where evidence of the range of hours is provided in terms of (d) above, or where the employment agreement specifies a range of hours, the maximum hours will be used to calculate whether the relevant remuneration threshold is met.
7. Each hour of work must be paid at or above the applicable per hour remuneration threshold, except for overnight hours described at S6.15.25 below.
8. For the purposes of S6.15.5 ‘remuneration’ includes:
   1. the agreed value of any reasonable deduction from the applicant’s salary or wages for goods or services; and
   2. in the case of accommodation provided in connection with the employment:
   3. the agreed value of any reasonable deduction from the applicant’s salary or wages for that accommodation; or
   4. if accommodation is provided by the employer, and there is no deduction from the applicant’s salary or wages for that accommodation, the market rental value of the accommodation provided; or
   5. if an accommodation allowance is provided, the amount of that allowance.
9. ‘Remuneration’ excludes any other employment-related allowances (for example tool or uniform allowances) and bonuses which are dependent on performance.

Note:
The meaning of accommodation, and the value of accommodation that is included in the definition of ‘remuneration’, reflects the definition of accommodation and the value of accommodation that forms part of a person’s income under section CE 1 of the Income Tax Act 2007.

S6.15.25 Overnight hours

1. Where an applicant is required to work overnight, but allowed to sleep during this time, any hours spent sleeping, may be excluded from S6.15.20(g) provided that:
   1. for any hours an applicant is sleeping, they are paid at or above the minimum wage; and
   2. for any hours an applicant is required to perform their duties, they are paid at least their normal rate; and
   3. the applicant works a minimum of 30 hours per week at their normal rate which must $27.00 per hour or above; and
   4. the applicant works in the Aged, Residential Care or Disability Care industry.

Effective 1/12/2021