Long Term Skill Shortage List Work Visa

Check if you are eligible to apply for this visa and what supporting documents and information you need to provide.

Identity

As proof of your identity, you must provide:

• 1 acceptable photo if you apply online, or 2 photos if you use a paper application form.
• your passport or .

Visa and NZeTA photos

If you apply online, you must upload a copy of your passport when you apply. We will let you know if you need to send your passport after you have applied.

Sending your passport for an online visa application

If you submit a paper application, provide your original passport or a certified copy. We can usually process your application faster if you provide your original passport.

Citizens of China applying from China

You must also provide your:

• Hukou (household registration book)
• Chinese identity card.

Citizens of China applying from China

If you are a citizen of China and you are submitting a paper application form in China, you must also complete a supplementary form.

Applicants from Hong Kong or Macao applying within Hong Kong or Macao

You must also provide a copy of your identity card.

If you are submitting a paper application form, you must provide a supplementary form for Hong Kong and Macao visitors, workers and students.

Health

You must be in good health.

You must have a chest x-ray and a medical examination as proof of your good health.

How to get an X-ray or medical examination

Applicants from China, Hong Kong or Macao applying within China, Hong Kong or Macao

You must provide a chest X-ray completed in the last 3 months, even if you have provided one to us previously, if:

• you have spent 6 months in a row in China since the last X-ray certificate was issued, and
• you are now coming to New Zealand for more than 6 months.

Character

You must be of good character.

If you are aged 17 or older, you must provide a police certificate from:

• your country of citizenship
• any country you have lived in for 5 years or more since you turned 17 years old.

Character requirements for New Zealand visas

How to get a police certificate

Genuine intentions

You must genuinely intend to meet the conditions of your visa.

When we decide if your intentions are genuine, we consider all the information that:

• you provide to support your application
• we have about your personal circumstances, and
• you provided in any previous applications.

Genuine intentions to visit, study or work in New Zealand

Making another application

You must already have a current or expired Long Term Skills Shortage List Work Visa and meet one of the 2 criteria for reapplying.

You meet the criteria for reapplying if you either:

• are waiting for your Long Term Skill Shortage List Resident Visa application to be processed, or
• have been unable to complete the visa’s work requirements because you were outside NZ when the border closed.

If you are waiting for your Long Term Skill Shortage List Resident Visa application to be processed, you must:

• hold a Long Term Skill Shortage List Work Visa at the time you apply
• have made an application for residence under the Long Term Skill Shortage List category and be waiting for a decision
• have a job offer for a period of at least 12 months, for an occupation that is either on the Long Term Skill Shortage List, or is the same occupation that your current Long Term Skill Shortage List Work Visa is for.

If you have been unable to complete 24 months of NZ employment because you were outside NZ when the border closed, you must:

• have started work in New Zealand while holding a Long Term Skill Shortage List Work Visa
• left New Zealand before 19 March 2020 and returned after 31 October 2021
• have a job offer for a period of at least 24 months, for an occupation that is either on the Long Term Skill Shortage List, or is the same occupation that your initial Long Term Skill Shortage List Work Visa was for
• be in New Zealand when you apply.

New Zealand job offer

You must have a job offer for work on our Long Term Skill Shortage List.

Your job offer must:

• be current at the time you apply for your visa
• be for .

You must provide a copy of your employment agreement as evidence of your job offer. The employment agreement must include:

• your employer’s name and contact details
• your name and contact details
• your job title
• the address for your place of work 
• the kind of work you will be doing and your responsibilities at work
• details of any necessary qualifications or work experience
• information about whether you will need New Zealand registration to do the work
• how long the work will be for
• how long you have to take up the job offer
• pay and work conditions that comply with New Zealand employment law.

We will not normally grant a visa if your employer is included on the list of non-compliant employers maintained by the Labour Inspectorate.

Employment agreements and rights

List of non-compliant employers

Qualifications

You must be qualified to do the work you have been offered.

You must have the qualifications required by the LTSSL to do work the work you have been offered in New Zealand.

You must provide:

• original or of your qualifications
• evidence the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) recognises your qualification.

Check if your qualification is on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment. If it is not, you must provide an assessment report from the NZQA, unless:

• you have full or provisional registration, and
• your qualification has been assessed by a New Zealand organisation as being comparable to a New Zealand qualification on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment.

List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment

New Zealand Qualifications Authority

Applicants from Eastern Europe

If you are from and you need to provide evidence of relevant work experience in Eastern Europe, you should provide a copy of your from that country.

Applicants from Europe applying from within Schengen member states

If you need to provide evidence of work experience in a European country but are not a citizen of a , you should provide evidence of your right to work in that country.

Evidence of your right to work is a copy of your Schengen visa for the time you were working.

Work experience

You must have the work experience required by the LTSSL to do the work you have been offered in New Zealand.

You must provide documents that show:

• the work that you did
• the dates you did the work
• how many hours a week you worked (on average)
• the contact details for your employer or employers
• how your work experience relates to the work you have been offered in New Zealand.

Occupational registration

You may need New Zealand registration.

If the Long Term Shortage List lists New Zealand registration as a requirement for your occupation, you must provide evidence you have the full or provisional registration required to work in your occupation in New Zealand.

Check if you need occupational registration for your job

After your visa is granted, you have 3 months to arrive in New Zealand, if you are not already here.

Entry permission

You must apply for permission to enter New Zealand. You do this by completing a New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD) form.

You can start your digital declaration any time, but the earliest you can submit it is 24 hours before starting your travel to New Zealand.

A paper declaration form is available for travellers who cannot complete it online.

New Zealand Traveller Declaration

New Zealand Customs and Biosecurity also check that you meet their entry requirements.

Arriving in New Zealand

These are the conditions that you must meet once you have your visa. Your visa conditions are recorded in your eVisa.

Travel

After your visa is granted, you have 3 months to arrive in New Zealand, if you are not already here.

After your arrival, you can travel in and out of New Zealand for up to up to 30 months.

Work

You have to work in the specific occupation from the Long Term Skill Shortage List, for the specific employer, and in the specific location detailed in the job offer that was the basis of your work visa application.

Study

You can study for up to 3 months in any 12-month period.

Keep your visa in a valid passport

If you want to travel, your visa must be in a valid passport.

If your passport expires, you must apply to transfer your visa to a new passport before you can travel.

Transferring a visa to a new passport