Apply for this visa if you currently work or you have a job offer from an accredited employer, and qualify for 6 points for your skills and work in New Zealand. You submit an expression of interest (EOI). If it is accepted, we invite you to apply.
Indefinitely
55 years and under
Provide your details to make the experience more relevant to you.
Check if you are eligible to apply for this visa and what supporting documents and information you need to provide.
Prove your identity by providing:
Acceptable photos for a visa or NZeTA
After you apply, we let you know if we need to see your original passport.
Your photo must be less than 6 months old.
You must include acceptable photos of everyone in your application.
We check your identity documents — for example, your passport — to confirm your age.
If you are including your partner in your application, they can be over 55.
You, and your partner if they are included in your application, need to show us you have an acceptable standard of health.
Acceptable standard of health criteria for visa approvals
This means you, and anyone else included in your application, must complete a chest X-ray and medical examination.
If you have provided medical certificates to us before, you may not need to provide them again.
Who needs an X-ray or medical examination
The panel physician will prepare a medical certificate detailing the results of the examination and send it to us. It must be no more than 3 months old when you apply for your visa.
Getting an X-ray or medical examination
Dependent children aged 24 or younger included in your application must get a full general medical examination, but if they are:
If there are no INZ panel physicians in your country you can go to any registered, licensed medical practitioner. Take a copy of the General Medical Certificate form (INZ 1007) and 3 passport-sized photos to your appointment.
If you, or anyone else included in your application, are aged 17 or older you must provide a police certificate from:
Police certificates must be less than 6 months old at the time you apply.
There are 2 ways to show us you speak and understand English – through:
The results of your English language test must:
Find out about the citizenship requirements, the evidence needed for study and qualifications, or the test results required:
English language requirements for skilled residence visas
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.
To be considered a skilled job, the job or job offer must be:
If you have a contract for services you must prove you have:
Wage rate requirements for visas
Include the following evidence with your application:
The evidence you provide must show your occupation, hours and pay.
The job title and description for your role should mostly match the job title and description in ANZSCO.
You cannot claim points for a skilled job or job offer.
If you were invited to apply before 9 October 2023 you can use the previous visa criteria, which allowed you to claim points for skilled employment.
You can use your occupational registration to claim points if it is on our list of eligible New Zealand occupational registrations. Registrations that require more training are worth more points.
| Points | Requirements |
|---|---|
|
6 |
A minimum of 6 years of experience and/or training is required to gain registration. |
|
5 |
A minimum of 5 years of experience and/or training is required to gain registration. |
|
4 |
A minimum of 4 years of experience and/or training is required to gain registration. |
|
3 |
A minimum of 2 years of experience and/or training is required to gain registration. |
Find out what New Zealand occupational registrations are eligible, and the points awarded for each registration.
Claiming skilled resident points from occupational registration
If you are planning to use skilled work experience in New Zealand to claim further points, you can only use skilled work experience that you gained after getting your occupational registration.
Include evidence in your application that confirms:
You cannot combine points from your New Zealand occupational registration with points from your qualification or income. However, you can combine points from your New Zealand occupational registration with points from skilled work experience in New Zealand.
If you claim points for your qualification, you must show it is a recognised qualification.
A qualification is recognised if it:
Check if you need to apply for an International Qualification Assessment
Apply for an International Qualification Assessment (IQA) – NZQA website
You can claim between 3 to 6 points depending on the highest level of qualification you have and its NZQF level.
| Points | Qualification (Equivalent under the NZQF) |
|---|---|
|
6 |
Level 10 Doctoral Degree |
|
5 |
Level 9 Master’s Degree |
|
4 |
Level 8 Bachelor Honour's Degree or Postgraduate Diploma |
|
3 |
Level 8 Postgraduate Certificate Level 7 Bachelor’s degree |
If your IQA does not confirm your qualification is equivalent to a New Zealand qualification, you can still claim:
If you have a non-degree qualification at NZQF Level 7 or below, you cannot claim points. However if you were invited to apply before 9 October 2023 under the previous visa criteria - you can still use non-degree qualifications at NZQF Level 7 or below to claim points.
Include the following evidence with your application:
If you have recently completed your PhD in New Zealand, you can upload a letter from your university stating you are eligible to graduate. You can request this from your university. You do not need to upload your finalised degree certificate if you do not have it yet.
You cannot combine points from your qualification with points from your New Zealand occupational registration or income. However, you can combine points from your qualification with points from skilled work experience in New Zealand.
If you need an NZQA assessment, you must include a reference number for your IQA with your Expression of Interest (EOI).
| Points | Wage threshold |
|---|---|
|
6 |
Job or job offer in New Zealand at 3 times the median wage (currently NZD$94.83 an hour) or more. |
|
4 |
Job or job offer in New Zealand at 2 times the median wage (currently NZD$63.22 an hour) or more. |
|
3 |
Job or job offer in New Zealand at 1.5 times the median wage (currently NZD$47.41 an hour) or more. |
The median wage is updated every year.
Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa wage rate thresholds
If you are planning to use skilled work experience in New Zealand to claim further points, you must meet the wage threshold throughout the skilled work experience period.
For example, if you are claiming 4 points for being paid 2 times the median wage, you must earn this wage during your 2 years of skilled work experience in New Zealand.
You must provide evidence that you met the wage threshold at both the beginning and end of your skilled work experience period.
Include the following evidence with your application:
The evidence you provide must show your occupation, hours and pay.
You cannot combine points from your income with points from your qualification or New Zealand occupational registration. However, you can combine points from your income with points from skilled work experience in New Zealand.
Applications for the Highly Paid Residence Visa were planned to open on 29 September 2023. If you intended to apply for the Highly Paid Residence Visa, you can apply for the Skilled Migrant Category Residence Visa instead and claim points from your income.
You can claim 1 point for each year of skilled work experience you have in New Zealand, up to a maximum of 3 points.
The skilled work experience must be in a full-time job (minimum of 30 hours a week).
There is also a wage threshold depending on the ANZSCO level of your job:
Wage rate requirements for visas
You can claim points for skilled work experience in New Zealand from:
You must meet the wage threshold at the beginning of the skilled work experience period you are claiming points for. If the median wage increases during your skilled work experience period your income does not need to increase, as long as you stay in the same job. If you change jobs you must meet the new wage threshold applicable at that time.
Include the following evidence with your application:
The evidence you provide must show your occupation, hours and pay.
You can combine points from skilled work experience in New Zealand with points from your qualification, income or New Zealand occupational registration.
The job title and description for your role should mostly match the job title and description in ANZSCO.
If you take an extended period of leave during your skilled work experience period, you may still be able to include this time if it is for parental leave, ACC leave or sick leave.
If you were invited to apply before 9 October 2023 you can use the previous visa criteria, which allowed you to claim points for skilled work experience gained outside of New Zealand. The previous visa criteria also allowed you to claim extra points for work that is on a skills shortage list.
Skilled work experience for the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa (Pre October 2023)
Provide documents — like marriage and birth certificates — that prove your relationship to your partner and dependent children aged 24 or younger.
If your partner or dependent children already have, or are applying for, a work, student or visitor visa based on their relationship to you, you must include them in your residence application.
There are 3 ways your partner or dependent children aged 16 or older can show us they speak English – through:
The results of their English language test must:
Find out about the requirements around citizenship, study and qualifications, the test results required, and how to buy English language lessons:
English language requirements for skilled residence visas
We may ask for more proof of your family's ability to speak English to support your application. If we do, they may have to sit a test and send us the results.
Check if you have enough points to be invited to apply. You need 6 points in total. You still need to meet all requirements and provide evidence in your visa application.
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.
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Enter country detailsThese are the conditions that you must meet once you have your visa.
You must apply for entry permission when you arrive in New Zealand. You can do this by completing a digital New Zealand traveller declaration (NZTD), or an NZTD paper declaration.
New Zealand Customs and Biosecurity also check that you meet their entry requirements.
You can be refused entry permission if:
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.
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.
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: