Residence New Zealand – New Visa pathways

• From September 2022 there is a new pathway for Residence – the ‘Straight to Residence Visa’. This residency visa will allow workers in certain fields to come directly to New Zealand as residents 
• From September 2023 there are two further pathways to residence: the ‘Work to Residence Visa’ and the ‘Highly Paid Residence Visa’.

Green List – Straight to Residence 

Straight to Residence is the pathway for those whose occupations are on the ‘Tier 1’ Green List. These occupations include jobs in construction (Project Builder), engineering professionals (eg. Civil Engineer) and medical positions (General Practitioner) among others. Applicants must be 55 and under, meet health and character requirements, and meet Skilled Migrant level English language requirements. Most importantly their employer must be accredited. 

Work to Residence 

This new work to residence pathway will be available for workers in occupations on the Tier 2 Green List. These positions include health care professionals, such as podiatrists and nurses, teachers, and tradespeople such as electricians and plumbers.

To qualify you must meet be 55 years old or under, meet health standards, good character requirements and English language proficiency and have worked for 24 months with an INZ accredited employer in New Zealand before applying. 

Applications are open on September 29th, 2023.