How we assess skilled employment for Skilled Migrant Category Visas
You must have specialist, technical or management expertise and meet the pay rate threshold to do skilled work in New Zealand.
How we assess if your work is skilled
If you are applying for a Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa, you need to find the closest matching Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupation (ANZSCO) occupation for your current job or job offer. Your job or job offer must be full-time. You must also be suitably qualified to do the job — your training and experience must match your occupation's ANZSCO skill level.
We assess your occupation as skilled if it:
- is described in the ANZSCO as a skill level 1, 2 or 3 occupation, and it
- mostly matches the ANZSCO description of that occupation
- meets the pay rate threshold of NZD $29.66 an hour (or equivalent annual salary) or more, or
- is described in the ANZSCO as a skill level 4 or 5 occupation, and it
- mostly matches the ANZSCO description of that occupation
- meets the pay rate threshold of NZD $44.49 an hour (or equivalent annual salary) or more, or
- has no matching description in the ANZSCO and meets the pay rate threshold of NZD $44.49 an hour (or equivalent annual salary) or more.
You can search for your ANZSCO occupation and skill level on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.
ANZSCO Version 1.2 | Australian Bureau of Statistics
We use Version 1.2 of ANZSCO to assess the skill level of most occupations. ANZSCO was updated in November 2019 and some occupations that were skill level 4 or 5 are now skill level 1 to 3 in the updated version. If you are paid at least NZD $29.66 an hour or above (or the equivalent as an annual salary) for one of these occupations, we will treat it as an exception and assess it as ANZSCO skill level 1, 2 or 3.
We are required by legislation to assess your application using the version of ANZSCO that was valid at the time you made your application. The new version of ANZSCO (Version 1.3) was released on 5 November 2019. We will continue to use ANZSCO Version 1.2 in the assessment of most applications, until we move to ANZSCO Version 1.3.
Dairy Cattle Farmer occupations
Applications made from 15 February 2021, for Dairy Cattle Farmer occupations with the ANZSCO code 121313 are assessed on version 1.3 of the ANZSCO. This includes:
- Dairy Farm Manager (Skill Level1)
- Assistant Dairy Farm Manager (Skill Level 3)
- Dairy Herd Manager (Skill Level 3)
Definitions can be accessed on the Statistics New Zealand Ariā site by entering the 121313 code on the front pages right-hand search function and then going to definitions.
If your occupation is ANZSCO skill level 1, 2 or 3
If your occupation is ANZSCO skill level 1, 2 or 3 you must have:
- a relevant recognised qualification at or above the level described in the ANZSCO
- the relevant work experience that ANZSCO states can be substituted for a formal qualification — for any skill level 1 occupation you can substitute the ANZSCO qualification with 5 years of work experience, even if the ANZSCO does not state this
- a job or job offer on the Long Term Skill Shortage List, and you meet its requirements, or
- a job or job offer that needs occupational registration in New Zealand, and you hold full or provisional registration for the job.
If your occupation is ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5, or not in ANZSCO
If your occupation is ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5 (including occupations treated as an exception), or does not have a matching ANZSCO description, you must have:
- a relevant recognised qualification at or above level 4 on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework, or a level 3 qualification included in the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment
- at least 3 years of relevant work experience
- a job or job offer on the Long Term Skill Shortage List, and you meet its requirements, or
- a job or job offer that needs occupational registration in New Zealand, and you hold full or provisional registration for the job.
When we update the Skilled Migrant Category pay rate threshold
We normally update pay rate thresholds annually. We publish a news item on this website before the updated thresholds take effect.