Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa

Visa details

This visa is for people who have the skills New Zealand needs for economic growth. If you submitted an expression of interest (EOI) before 16 August 2023 and have received an invitation to apply, you can apply for this visa.

Length of stay

Indefinitely

Age Range

55 years and under

Cost
From
NZD $4290
EOI selection
Final selection on
16 August 2023
With this visa you can
  • Live, work and study in New Zealand.
  • Include your partner, and dependent children aged 24 and under, in your residence application.
Things to note
Closed

The Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa is closed to new EOIs. It will re-open with new criteria on 9 October 2023. Changes to the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa

Who can apply

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

View All Evidence

Identity

You must provide proof of your identity

  • acceptable photo of your head and shoulders
  • a copy of your passport or certificate of identity.

Acceptable photos

Tips

If you cannot provide a copy of your birth certificate, we can accept your identity card as proof of your identity, as long as you did not provide your birth certificate because of the cost or how long it would take to get.

You don’t need to provide proof of your identity until you’re invited to apply for residence.

If you do not have a full birth certificate, you must provide all of the following:

  • a ‘No record of birth registration’
  • a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card or Voters Card or Indian driver’s license
  • a school leaving certificate or class 10th or 12th passing certificate which includes your name, date of birth and your father’s name
  • a statutory declaration or an affidavit sworn before a Magistrate/Notary Public which states your full name, date and place of birth and both your parent’s full names.

Also provide a copy of your Identity card.

Character

You must be of good character

If you, or anyone else included in your application, are aged 17 or older you must provide a police certificate from:

  • all the countries you are a citizen of, and
  • any other country you have stayed in for 12 months or more over the last 10 years, even if it was not all in the same stay.

How to get a police certificate

Good character for residence visas

Tips

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.

Health

You must be in good health

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

Getting an x-ray or medical examination

Tips

You don’t need to have an x-ray or medical examination until you’re invited to apply for residence.

English language

You must speak and understand English

There are 2 ways to show us you speak and understand English by:

  • taking English language tests, or
  • providing documents that show you already speak and understand English.

The results of your English language test must be acceptable to us and no more than 2 years old when you apply.

English language test results for resident visas

If you already speak and understand English, provide documents that show you speak and understand English because of:

  • your citizenship, or
  • where you studied and the qualifications you gained.

English-speaking background

Note

When we assess your application, we may ask for more evidence of your ability to speak and understand English. If we do, you may have to sit a test and send us the results.

Tips

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.

Age

You must be aged 55 or younger at the time you apply

If you’re invited to apply for residence, we’ll use the documents you provide as proof of your identity to confirm your age.

Skilled employment

Your current employment or offer of employment must be skilled

If invited to apply for residence, you must provide evidence of your skilled employment, including having the necessary:

  • work experience
  • qualifications
  • occupational registration.

Occupational registration

Tips

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.

Job offer scams are common in India and South Asia, ensure your job offer is genuine.

How to determine how realistic the job offer is

Qualifications

Your qualification must be recognised to qualify for points.

If you claim points for your qualification, you must show it is a recognised qualification.

A qualification is recognised if it:

  • is a New Zealand qualification
  • is on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment (LQEA)
  • has had an International Qualifications Assessment (IQA) from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA)
  • has been assessed by a New Zealand registration authority at the same level as a qualification on the LQEA as part of an application for New Zealand occupational registration, or
  • is a Washington Accord or Sydney Accord accredited undergraduate degree.

List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment (LQEA)

Tips

If you need an NZQA assessment, you must include a reference number for your International Qualifications Assessment (IQA) with your Expression of Interest (EOI).

Visit the NZQA website for more information about how to get an IQA.

Apply for an International Qualification Assessment (IQA) – NZQA website

A new version of the LQEA will be released on 29 September 2023. The new LQEA applies to people applying for the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa under the new criteria from 9 October 2023. However, if you submitted an EOI before 16 August 2023 and have received an invitation to apply you can still use the old LQEA.

Updates to List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment ahead of Skilled Migrant Category opening

Invitation to apply for residence

You must be invited to apply for residence

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.

Occupational registration

Tips

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.

www.nzqa.govt.nz

Relationship with family

If you include your partner and children in your application, you must have a genuine relationship with them

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.

Partnership
Dependent children

Tips

If your partner or dependent children have, or applied for, a New Zealand temporary entry visa based on their relationship with you, you must 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

English Language Information (INZ1060) PDF 254KB

Tips

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.

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.

Enter country details

How to submit

Payment methods and receiving centre details if applicable.

Notes

We cannot display any receiving centre or payment method information until you have provided your country details. Enter your country details in the panel above to view information relevant to your situation.

Enter country details

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 a paper arrival card or a digital traveller declaration. If you are completing a paper arrival card you will be given this on the way to New Zealand.

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

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.

Work (if you have an offer of skilled employment in Auckland)

If you were awarded points for an offer of skilled employment in Auckland, you must:

  • take up that job within 3 months of coming to New Zealand
  • stay in that job for at least 3 months.
  • continue to be paid at or above the level of remuneration for which skilled employment points were awarded to you, for at least 3 months.
Notes

You must provide evidence within 5 years of your first day in New Zealand as a resident that you stayed in your skilled employment for at least 3 months.

So we can get in touch with you to check your evidence, you’ll need to let us know if your address changes during this time.

Work (if you have an offer of skilled employment outside of Auckland)

If you were awarded points for an offer of skilled employment outside of Auckland, you must:

  • take up that job within 3 months of coming to New Zealand
  • stay in that job for at least 12 months
  • continue to be paid at or above the level of remuneration for which skilled employment points were awarded to you, for at least 12 months.
Notes

You must provide evidence within 5 years of your first day in New Zealand as a resident that you stayed in your skilled employment for at least 12 months.

So we can get in touch with you to check your evidence, you’ll need to let us know if your address changes during this time.

Work (if you have current skilled employment in Auckland)

If you were awarded points for your current skilled employment in Auckland, and you’ve been working in that job for less than 3 months, you must:

  • stay in the job for at least 3 months
  • continue to be paid at or above the level of remuneration for which skilled employment points were awarded to you, for at least 3 months.
Notes

You must provide evidence within 5 years of your first day in New Zealand as a resident that you stayed in your skilled employment for at least 3 months.

So we can get in touch with you to check your evidence, you’ll need to let us know if your address changes during this time.

Work (if you have current skilled employment outside of Auckland)

If you were awarded points for your current skilled employment outside of Auckland, and you’ve been working in that job for less than 3 months, you must:

  • stay in the job for at least 12 months
  • continue to be paid at or above the level of remuneration for which skilled employment points were awarded to you, for at least 12 months.
Notes

You must provide evidence within 5 years of your first day in New Zealand as a resident that you stayed in your skilled employment for at least 12 months.

So we can get in touch with you to check your evidence, you’ll need to let us know if your address changes during this time.

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 my visa to a new passport

Notes

To transfer your visa, you must:

  • send us your old and new passports
  • complete an ‘Application for Transfer or Confirmation of a Visa’
  • pay a transfer fee.

Application for transfer or confirmation of a visa

Application for Transfer or Confirmation of a Visa (INZ 1023) PDF 381KB

Fees, decision times and where to apply

Travel

You can travel in and out of New Zealand as often as you like until your travel conditions expire — normally 2 years from the date you first arrive in New Zealand as a resident.

Alert

If you are outside New Zealand when your travel conditions expire, your visa will expire as well.

 

To travel in and out of New Zealand after your travel conditions expire, you need to apply for:

  • a variation to your travel conditions, or
  • a Permanent Resident Visa.

Extending the travel conditions of a resident visa

Resident to permanent resident