Pacific Quotas Programme

Each year approximately 1,750 people from the Pacific are granted residence under the Samoan Quota Scheme and Pacific Access Category (PAC). You can to apply to become a Pacific Quota Employer (PQE) if you are interested in employing through this programme.

Overview

Duration	One year

With this option employers can

Employ workers drawn from the ballot for permanent employment of business activity – you don’t have to check if any New Zealanders are available to do the work first.
Hire people within the annual quota from: Samoa 1,100, Fiji 250, Tonga 250, Kiribati 75 and Tuvalu 75.

Things to note

There is no requirement for a labour market test.
The income threshold for the 2019 – 2020 Quota period is $18.90 an hour for a worker with no dependants and $38,577.76 a year for a worker with dependants.
Minimum hours per week must be at least 30 hours.
Applicants selected in ballot need to meet health and character requirements, English language requirements, be aged between 18 and 45 years.

What is involved

1 Apply to become a Pacific Quota Employer

To be able to hire staff using the Samoan Quota (SQ) or Pacific Access Category (PAC) you will need to meet criteria to demonstrate you are a good employer.

Check criteria & apply

2 Hire candidate's from Samoa

If you want to hire someone from Samoa who’ll be able to work for you permanently, and you can offer them a full-time job, you may be able to so under the Samoan Quota Resident visa.

3 Hire candidate's from Fiji, Kiribati, Tuvalu, or Tonga

If you want to hire someone from Fiji, Kiribati, Tuvalu, or Tonga who’ll be able to work for you permanently, and you can offer them a full-time job, you may be able to do so under the Pacific Access Category.