Philippines Special Work Visa

Visa details

Apply for this visa if you are a registered nurse, farm manager or engineering professional from the Philippines. You must have a job offer, qualifications and experience.

Length of stay
Up to

3 years

Quota
Each year

140

Cost
From
NZD $700
Processing time
90% within
49 days
With this visa you can
  • Come to New Zealand to work as a registered nurse, farm manager or engineering professional.
  • Study for up to 3 months in any 12-month period.
Things to note
  • At any one time, under the Philippines Special Work Instructions, New Zealand can have 100 Philippines nurses, 20 Philippines farm managers and 20 Philippines engineering professionals.
  • The length of your stay will depend on the length of your job offer. If you are granted a visa for less than 3 years, you can apply for another visa for the balance of the time while in New Zealand. You will need to continue to meet all of the criteria to be granted another visa.
  • You cannot include a partner or dependent children in your visa application, but they can apply for visas based on their relationship to you.
    Explore family visa options

Who can apply

The criteria and evidence below will provide you with the information you need to provide to meet the requirements of this visa.

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Identity

You must provide proof of your identity

You must provide proof of your identity:

Acceptable photos

You may provide your original passport, or a certified copy when you submit your application. If you provide a certified copy we may request your original passport to complete your application.

Tips
  1. Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after you plan to leave New Zealand.

Character

You must be of good character

You may need to provide police certificates as proof of your good character.

If you are aged 17 or older and plan to stay in New Zealand for more than 24 months (including any time you have already spent in New Zealand), you must provide police certificates from:

  • any country you are a citizen of
  • any country you have spent more than 5 years in since you turned 17.

You do not need to provide police certificates if:

  • you have provided them to us with an earlier visa application, and
  • they were issued in the previous 24 months.

Good character

How to get a police certificate

Citizenship

You must be a citizen of the Philippines

You must provide a valid Philippines passport.

Location

If you're a farm manager or engineering professional, you must be living in the Philippines when you apply

Any documents that prove you are living in the Philippines now. Examples include:

  • current utility bills
  • recent pay slips.
Tips
  1. Registered nurses don’t have to be living in the Philippines when they apply.

  2. If you’re already in New Zealand on a Philippines Special Work Category visa and you’re applying for another visa under this category for the balance of the 3 year maximum, it’s OK to apply while in New Zealand.

Ordinarily resident

If you're a farm manager or engineering professional, you must live in the Philippines permanently

Any documents that prove you live in the Philippines permanently. Examples include:

  • letters sent to your home address
  • tax records
  • references from your employer.
Tips
  1. Registered nurses don’t have to live in the Philippines permanently to be eligible to apply.

New Zealand job offer

You must have an offer of full-time work

You must provide a copy of your employment agreement for full-time work, which must include:

  • a description of the work you’ll be doing as a registered nurse, farm manager or engineering professional
  • your employer’s name and contact details
  • details of your pay and other conditions of your employment
  • your working hours
  • the length of your contract
  • details of any qualifications, experience or occupational registration you’ll need to do the work.

ANZSCO Skill Level (excludes nurses)

If you’re a farm manager or engineering professional, the work you’ve been offered must be assessed as equivalent to ANZSCO Skill Level 1

We use the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) to assess if your job offer has the appropriate Skill Level for us to grant you a visa under the Philippines Special Work Instructions.

If we’re not sure about the skill level of the work you’ve been offered, we may contact you or your employer for more information.

Tips
  1. If you’re a registered nurse, we don’t use ANZSCO to assess the skill level of your job offer.
    For more information about the ANZSCO, visit:
    Australian Bureau of Statistics

Qualifications (nurses)

You must be qualified to do the work you’ve been offered

You must provide a certified copy of your qualification that is assessed as equivalent to either:

  • a New Zealand Bachelor of Nursing
  • a New Zealand Diploma in Comprehensive Nursing, which can be a diploma or hospital-based certificate.
Tips
  1. Overseas qualifications are assessed for their equivalence to New Zealand qualifications by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA).

    For more information on the NZQA, visit:

    New Zealand Qualifications Authority

Qualifications (farm managers)

You must be qualified to do the work you’ve been offered

You must have a qualification or practical work experience relevant to your New Zealand job offer as a farm manager.

Your evidence may include a certified copy of:

  • your qualification
  • a letter from your current or previous employer(s) explaining the work you’ve done for them.
Tips
  1. Farm managers don’t need occupational registration to work in New Zealand.

Qualifications (engineering professionals)

You must be qualified to do the work you’ve been offered

You must provide a certified copy of either:

  • a bachelor’s degree (level 7 or above) and registration on the International Professional Engineers Register or Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Engineers Register
  • a Washington Accord accredited engineering degree.
Tips
  1. Overseas qualifications are assessed for their equivalence to New Zealand qualifications by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA).

    For more information on the NZQA, visit:

    New Zealand Qualifications Authority

Occupational registration (nurses)

You must have New Zealand registration

You must provide us with a certified copy of your New Zealand occupational registration.

Tips
  1. You’ll need to have New Zealand registration before we can grant you a visa.

    For more information about New Zealand registration for nurses, visit: 

    www.nursingcouncil.org.nz

Process and costs

The information below will help you understand the process, timeframes and costs involved in applying for this visa, so you can plan ahead and have the best chance of submitting a complete application.

Notes

We cannot display any process or costs information until you have provided your country details. Enter your country details in the panel above to view information relevant to your situation.

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How to submit

Payment methods and receiving centre details if applicable.

Notes

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Conditions

These are the conditions that you must meet once you have your visa.

Entry permission

You must apply for entry permission when you arrive in New Zealand. You can do this by completing an arrival card, which you are given on the way to New Zealand.

Arriving in New Zealand

Notes
  • You can be refused entry permission if:

    • you don’t meet our character requirements
    • your circumstances have changed since you were granted a visa
    • you refuse to let us to take your photo, or provide us with your fingerprints or an iris scan, if we ask you for them.

Travel

You have to come to New Zealand within 6 months of the date your visa is granted.

After you arrive in New Zealand, you can come and go from New Zealand as many times as you like before your visa expires.

Work

You may work only in the specific occupation, for the employer and in the location specified on your visa.

Study

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

Visa expiry

You must leave New Zealand before your visa expires.

Notes
  • If you’ve been in New Zealand on a Philippines Special Work Category visa for 3 years, you can only apply for another Philippines Special Work Category visa after you’ve been outside of New Zealand for 3 years.