- acceptable photo of your head and shoulders
- a copy of your passport or certificate of identity.
You don’t need to provide proof of your identity until you’re invited to apply for residence.
Meeting the criteria
The criteria and evidence below will provide you with the information you need to meet the requirements.
If you are 17 or over, you must provide a police certificate from:
- your country of citizenship
- any other country where you have spent 12 months or more over the last 10 years, even if you did not spend that 12 months all in one visit.
You don’t need to provide any Police Certificates until you’re invited to apply for residence.
If you provide a police certificate that is not in English, you must provide an English translation.
This includes police certificates that record no convictions.
You must have a chest x-ray and a medical examination as proof of your good health.
You don’t need to have an x-ray or medical examination until you’re invited to apply for residence.
You will need to provide one of these with your application:
- An acceptable English language test result.
- Evidence you are a citizen of Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom (UK) or the United States of America (USA), and you have spent at least five years working or studying in those countries, or in Australia or New Zealand.
- Evidence you have a recognised qualification that’s comparable to a New Zealand level 7 bachelor’s degree, which you gained in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK or the USA. You must have also studied for at least two years in any of those countries to get that qualification.
- Evidence you have a recognised qualification that’s comparable to a postgraduate New Zealand qualification, which you gained in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK or the USA. You must have also studied for at least one year in any of those countries to get that qualification.
English language test results for Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa
English language test results must be no more than 2 years old.
Regardless of the other evidence you provide, if you don’t provide an acceptable English language test result, we may ask for one as evidence you meet the English language requirements.
If you’re invited to apply for residence, we’ll use the documents you provide as proof of your identity to confirm your age.
If invited to apply for residence, you must provide evidence of your skilled employment, including having the necessary:
- work experience
- qualifications
- occupational registration.
If you are invited to apply you will be sent an Employer Supplementary Form that you will need to ask your prospective employer to complete.
If you claim points for your qualification, you must show it is a recognised qualification. A qualification can be recognised if:
- It is on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment; or
- It has been assessed by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA); or
- It has been assessed by a New Zealand registration authority at the same level as a qualification on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment as part of an application for New Zealand occupational registration; or
- It is a Washington Accord or Sydney Accord accredited undergraduate degree.
If you need an NZQA assessment, you’ll need to include an IQA reference number with your Expression of Interest.
Visit the NZQA website for more information about how to:
- Get international qualifications recognised for immigration
- Apply for an International Qualifications Assessment.
If you claim points for work experience, you must show it is skilled.
How we recognise skilled work experience for Skilled Migrant visas
You don't need to provide any evidence with your Expression of Interest (EOI).
For us to enter your EOI into our Pool, you must be able to claim at least 100 points under our points system.
You can use our Points indicator tool to get an idea of how many points you may be able to claim - scroll down to see the tool.
EOIs are valid for 6 months.
If invited to apply for residence, you must apply within 4 months of receiving your invitation.
Your invitation to apply will advise of the specific evidence you need to provide to support the claims you made in your EOI, which may include:
- an employment agreement
- a job description
- your full or provisional occupational registration, if New Zealand law requires you to have it to do your job
- copies of your qualifications and your course transcripts
- a report from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) confirming any qualification that isn’t on our list of recognised or exempt qualifications
- references, payslips, tax records or contracts that confirm your work experience
- evidence of your relationship to any close family you have included in your application
- proof that any close family you have claimed points for live in New Zealand.
If you’re unable to provide evidence to support the claims you made in your EOI, we may not be able to grant you a visa.
You must check if you have a recognised qualification. You may need to obtain a report from the NZQA assessing the level of your qualification compared to qualifications on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework.
A Pre-assessment result will give you an idea of whether you can claim points for your qualification, but you can’t use it as evidence if you’re later invited to apply for residence.
If you’re invited to apply, you will need to provide an International Qualifications Assessment.
More information is available on the New Zealand Qualifications Authority website.
Partner and dependent children
You can include your partner and any dependent children up to the age of 24 in your application
For your family to be included in a residence application, you must have included them in your Expression of Interest.
If invited to apply, you must provide evidence:
- of your relationship with your partner and dependent children
- that your partner and dependent children meet the identity, character, health, and English language requirements for this visa.
If your partner or dependent children have, or applied for, a New Zealand temporary entry visas based on their relationship with you, you must be include them in your residence application.
English language for family
Your partner and children 16 and over must speak English or pay for classes to learn English in New Zealand
If you are invited to apply for residence, you will be asked to provide evidence your partner and children speak English or to pay for them to have English language classes in New Zealand.
Evidence can include proof that one of the following apply, they:
- have an acceptable English language test result
- are a citizen of Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom (UK) or the United States of America (USA), and have spent at least five years working or studying in those countries, or in Australia or New Zealand
- have a recognised qualification that’s comparable to a New Zealand bachelor’s degree, which they gained in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK or the USA. They must also have studied for at least two years in any of those countries to get that qualification
- have a recognised qualification that is comparable to a postgraduate New Zealand qualification, which they gained in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK or the USA. They must also have studied for at least one year in any of those countries to get that qualification.
If your partner and dependent children 16 and over do not meet these requirements, they can learn English in New Zealand. You’ll have to pay us for English language classes before we can grant you a visa.
Learning English after you come to New Zealand
English language test results for Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa
Regardless of the other evidence you provide, if you don’t provide an acceptable English language test result, we may ask for one as evidence you meet the English language requirements.
Skilled Migrant Category – EOIs
To submit an expression of interest, you will first need to create an account. Once you have done this, you can then log in and submit an EOI. You can also use your log in to check the status of your EOI.
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