New Zealand Skilled Migration Visa. Changes in 2026

One of the biggest changes coming in August 2026 is the introduction of two brand-new pathways under the Skilled Migrant Resident Visa.

For those wondering how to relocate to New Zealand, this opens the criteria to a lot of people. Especially those who haven’t been eligible to move to New Zealand for the last two or three years.

Introducing the New Zealand Skilled Migration Visa Changes

Liz: Charlotte, welcome back to the NZ Ahead podcast. We are thrilled to have you here, as always.

Charlotte: Thank you so much for having me again. I’m thrilled to be back.

Liz: You’re our favourite immigration advisor down there at NZ Shores, and today we’re talking about exciting news happening in August 2026 for the skilled migrant resident visa. So let’s jump on in. What’s happening, Charlotte?

Charlotte: In August 2026, we are seeing a complete revamp of our long-standing skilled migrant resident visa. A lot of people will know what the skilled migrant category is, especially those who have been looking at migrating to New Zealand.

You’ve probably seen it on the immigration website, or heard people talking about it in the Slack group or on Facebook forums.

It has been traditionally our most common pathway to residence for probably about 90% of skilled migrants.

That’s changed slightly now that we have the Straight to Residence category, but this skilled migrant resident visa is still our catch-all category for skilled migrants that don’t fit into those other lists.

If you’re not eligible under one of those particular categories, chances are you’re either currently eligible or you will be eligible from August 2026 when these new changes come in.

Why Are These Changes Happening?

Liz: Fantastic. You were saying it’s making it easier for people, which is always such a relief because it is not the easiest country to get into, is it?

Mine was 90 days. I had to work in the trade for 90 days, even though I worked in it for the next 10 years. But what’s the main sort of change?

Charlotte: The main change is they’re broadening the criteria of who is eligible.

We saw a big shift after the border opened in 2022, when the government’s aim was to simplify how this category worked.

It used to be a points category where you’d claim points for age, job offer, qualification, work experience, and long-term skill shortage lists.

The way points were claimed was quite complex, so they aimed to simplify it.

They did that to some degree, but in that simplification, they actually excluded a large number of people, particularly in those trades and technician roles, from being able to apply for residence. There was this massive gap for about the last three years.

Those who were eligible often had to work in New Zealand for up to three years before applying for residence. Three years is a long time.

For you it was 90 days, so to have to work in a country, pay tax, and live here with that uncertainty for three years is a long time before knowing you can apply for residency.

So they’ve loosened the criteria and broadened who can apply, and they’ve made it much more favourable.

The longest amount of time you will have to work in New Zealand is now up to two years. We’re seeing it return to what older policy looked like.

Two Brand New VISA Pathways

Charlotte: One of the biggest changes coming in August is the introduction of two brand-new pathways under the skilled migrant resident visa. This opens up the criteria to a lot of people who haven’t been eligible for the last two or three years.

Pathway 1: Skilled Work Experience Pathway

Charlotte: The first is called the Skilled Work Experience Pathway.

You must work in a skilled ANZSCO role. ANZSCO is a classification system used by immigration to categorise occupations and their skill levels.

Skill level 1 is doctors, lawyers, CEOs, and senior managers. Our tradesmen are skill level 3. If you’re in some kind of trade or professional role, you’ll likely fall between ANZSCO skill levels 1 and 3. If you’re on that list, that’s awesome.

You then need at least five years of directly relevant skilled work experience. Directly relevant doesn’t mean you have to be a builder for a total of five years.

You could have started as a labourer and moved into building. The work experience just has to be relevant. It doesn’t have to be a direct match.

At least 2 of the 5 years of your work experience must have been obtained in New Zealand. If you had 10 years work experience outside of New Zealand, you then only have to work in New Zealand for two years before you’re eligible to apply.

The one catch is you must be earning 1.1 times the median wage.

That is slightly higher than the minimum for a work visa, currently $36.92. The median wage typically increases sometime in the middle of the year, every year.

Before you even start looking at things like buying a house in New Zealand or deciding on the best time to go to New Zealand, understanding these wage thresholds is key.

Liz: With that type of wage, it means you are skilled. You can’t just get a job for minimum wage.

Charlotte: Correct. Immigration put checks and balances in place.

There’s a lot of ignorance that migrants can be paid less, but that’s not true. You must be paid market rate for a role.

If the market rate for your role is $50 an hour, immigration will look at that. It’s a myth that migrants can be paid less.

It’s part of immigration’s commitment to migrants to make sure people aren’t being exploited. You will be paid the correct wage for that role.

Pathway 2: Trades and Technicians Pathway

Charlotte: This one is probably more exciting than the first. With the policy that came in after COVID, a lot of our tradies fell through the gaps.

If you weren’t on those green lists and you didn’t have a bachelor’s degree or higher, it was incredibly hard to get residence in New Zealand.

There are three points you need to be aware of to be eligible.

You still need to fit in that ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3. Most tradesmen and technicians will fall in skill level 3.

You also need a relevant Level 4 qualification, which is our standard apprenticeship level or red seal type qualification.

Most of our tradies have a Level 4. Even if in your country it’s called something different, chances are in New Zealand it would be assessed as Level 4. Typically, studied for three to four years is the threshold.

You need at least four years of work experience after completing your trade or qualification. The work experience must be directly relevant to that.

You have to work in New Zealand for 18 months at the median wage, which is $33.56 at the moment.

To me, this is actually quite an easy one if you are a tradie or a technician.

There will be a specific list released of what those trades and technician roles are.

We don’t have the list yet. Immigration, being Immigration New Zealand, will probably only release it close to the new policy.

We will post updates on our website, and as soon as we know, I’ll definitely let Liz and Brian know. We can probably do another podcast once we have that information.

For those wondering why move to New Zealand, changes like these show that skilled people are truly wanted here.

Liz: Do you think they’ll have added loads more trades?

Charlotte: It’ll be much broader than the Green List. The Green List is roles in high demand that are really, really hard to recruit in New Zealand.

This will open it up quite significantly. It’ll affect a lot of our fitter turners, CNC machinists, and builders.

Anyone in a trade that doesn’t fit a particular category will fall under this list. It will be a lot broader. Could be 100 occupations. We’re just not sure yet exactly.

Brian: It always fascinated me that plumbers were allowed in as a skilled migrant, but gas fitters weren’t. You could get a work permit, but you couldn’t go to residency through gas fitting.

I always thought that was more of a skilled trade. There was no pathway to residency through it.

Charlotte: It’s definitely dangerous. The likes of gas fitters will 100% be on that list.

Revamping the Six-Point System

Charlotte: What they’re doing is revamping the existing criteria. The skilled migrant category outside these two new pathways is still points-based.

We moved from claiming 180 points based on all those complex factors to claiming a total of six points.

They’ve simplified it, but it excluded a lot of people. So they’ve revamped the six-point criteria.

Six Points – Direct Residence to New Zealand

Charlotte: If you fit one of these criteria, you can actually apply directly for residence. From August, if you have a PhD obtained in New Zealand or abroad, or you have come to New Zealand, studied, and obtained a master’s degree here, once you’ve got skilled employment, you can apply for residence immediately.

I’m really excited about this.

We’ve had a lot of people come in the last 12-18 months under this study pathway, particularly for master’s degrees. Now those people can apply for residence as soon as they’ve completed their qualification and have skilled employment.

The second option is income of three times the median wage.

That’s circa around $190,000 per year. If someone is willing to pay you that, you’re incredibly skilled. Immigration want to give you residence quickly because we want to retain you.

The third option is for people who hold occupational registration—doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants. Nine times out of ten, rather than applying under this category, you’ve got better options elsewhere that are easier to meet.

If you think you fall into that category, reach out.

We’ll look at whatever those quicker pathways are for you. If you have concerns about health requirements for a NZ visa or worry about a NZ visa denied situation, this is where professional guidance is invaluable.

Liz: Who is being paid $100 an hour? What are they doing, because I’m going to go and do that job.

Charlotte: A really good example that would tick both the income box and the six-plus years of training would be doctors.

Our doctors typically get paid well over that threshold, but their easier, faster pathway is under straight-to-residence. Otherwise, it’s typically very, very high-level people in the IT space.

Liz: I’m glad you said that. You could look at this and think, well, that’s me out. I’m a builder or a hairdresser. I’m not going to be earning that much.

I’m glad you’ve made it clear, don’t be frightened off. There are other ways to get your points.

Five Points – Plus 12 Months Work

Charlotte: For people who can claim five points, to get their sixth point to be eligible, you have to work in New Zealand for 12 months. You get your five points from one of these criteria, and 12 months work experience equals one point.

They have changed it slightly. Master’s degrees obtained outside of New Zealand, or NZ master’s degrees where you haven’t got a prior bachelor’s degree—there are options where universities offer pre-masters courses. Those people would be eligible for five points rather than six.

It’s largely qualifications-based. The key changes are that bachelor’s degrees obtained in New Zealand are now worth five points when they used to be worth three. Honours degrees and postgraduate diplomas used to be worth four points and now they’re worth five.

Basically they’re encouraging people to study in New Zealand.

This feeds into their initiative of increasing fee-paying students. You’ve come to New Zealand, you’ve studied, you’ve paid lots of money to do so. Here’s a much, much quicker pathway to residency.

This is a great pathway.

We have another podcast on this, which I’d 100% recommend listening to. The new-zealand-work-visas landscape is constantly evolving.

Whether you’re considering moving-to-new-zealand-from-america or anywhere else, understanding these pathways is key.

Four Points – Plus 18 Months Work

Charlotte: For our people who can claim four points, much like the five-point category, you get your one extra point from working in New Zealand.

Our four-point people will now only have to work in New Zealand for 18 months, as opposed to two years. Again, they’ve brought that time frame down.

18 months will fly by if you’re here and loving life anyway. Again, it’s largely focused on qualifications. This includes honours degrees, postgrad diplomas, and graduate certificates gained outside of New Zealand.

If you’ve studied a bachelor’s degree in New Zealand—a three or four-year commitment—you can apply for residence after 18 months.

Some occupational registrations apply, but have a chat to us. I’d rather look at quicker options for you.

Or a job offer that pays two times the median wage—$67.12 an hour, roughly $145,000 per year. Deciding where to settle is a big part of the journey.

Our guides on cities in new zealand and new-zealand-south-island-or-north-island can help you start thinking about that.

Three Points – Plus 24 Months Work

Charlotte: Historically, people who could claim three points had to work in New Zealand for three years before being eligible for residence.

That was the longest anyone had ever had to work to be eligible to apply for a residency visa. It wasn’t making New Zealand attractive.

It wasn’t motivating migrants to move here or stay here. That’s a long time to live in a country before being told, yes, you can stay forever.

A good portion of our clients fell into this category. I have a whole cohort due to apply for residence this year after migrating at the end of 2022 or the start of 2023. That’s a long time to wait.

So they are changing it. You still need a job or job offer that pays at least 1.5 times the median wage.

That’s $50.34 an hour, roughly $90,000-$100,000 per year. It’s quite hard to meet.

If you don’t have a bachelor’s degree or any form of qualifications, and you’ve got no trade certificate, this is where people were getting caught out.

They had to earn that really high pay threshold. If you’re a builder or a fitter turner, you’re not going to earn almost 100K a year. This is where it got really tricky.

If you do meet that criteria, and you don’t meet any of the other criteria—the new skilled work experience pathway, or you’re not on that trades and technicians list—you would only have to work in New Zealand for 24 months as opposed to three years.

I actually think now that we have these new pathways, we won’t see that many people applying under this category. It’ll be far less common than the huge cohort I have to apply for residence soon.

Brian: That is the big thing. When you talk about having a license or recognised registration, I always go back to what I had to do. Although I was a licensed plumber, electrician, and gas fitter in the UK, there are no licenses for me here. I have to do the exams.

You can be on a limited license, which means you’re under supervision of someone else. It’s just getting someone to go, “Yeah, I’ll put him on my license.” It’s doable, but it’s a process.

For those already in the planning stages, our moving-to-new-zealand-reminder is essential reading.

What Charlotte Is Most Excited About

Liz: What are you most excited about with these changes? If there’s one thing, what would that be?

Charlotte: It’s definitely those two complete new pathways—the trades and technicians and the skilled work experience pathway. We’re going to see a lot of people who will be eligible who haven’t been eligible to date, particularly in that trade space.

New Zealand needs tradies. We really, really do. We’ve gone through a bit of a downturn the last 12 months, but even we’re starting to feel things slowly increasing. New Zealand’s going to need you. We’re going to need you to build more infrastructure and more houses.

Because we need you, we need to say, yes, we recognise how skilled you are, and give you a pathway to residency. It is very much a return to 2019 policy. Even though it’s got different names and it looks slightly different, it is broadening it back up.

New Zealand is a really great place to migrate. We will honour your skills. We will appreciate you being here. We will give you a pathway to residency. That’s what I’m excited about.

If you’ve ever wondered about the downside-of-moving-to-new-zealand or why some people consider why-people-leave-new-zealand, knowing your visa pathway gives you the confidence to make an informed decision.

How to Start Your New Zealand Journey

Liz: If you are watching this, this is going to be massively helpful to you. We’ve done so many podcasts with you, Charlotte—coming over as a partner, coming over as a student. You can go back and listen to all those podcasts.

Charlotte is part of our NZ Ahead private membership group, our Slack community. She’s got her own channel over there and is there to answer questions. I absolutely love having you on that channel. It’s fantastic.

If you are considering a move, understanding your visa pathway is the crucial first step before you even start looking at things like buying a house or deciding on the best time to go. As Charlotte says, the job is the hardest hurdle. Once you’ve got that, you’ve done the hard bit.

Charlotte: The eligibility assessment is a really good place to start. Probably the best place to start before you even look at cost of living, or where you want to live, or getting your pets over. Because if you’re not eligible for visas, or you don’t understand your pathway to residency, the rest of it’s a pretty futile exercise.

Definitely reach out. We won’t send you something that looks like what you’ve seen today. We will send you a beautiful report that says these are your best options. We take out all the noise and all the jargon.

You’ll know, okay great, I’m coming on a work visa, this is how long I have to work for, these are what my points will look like. We also offer a free 30-minute Zoom consultation with a licensed advisor as well.

Liz: Simplify is the key word there. We’re just normal people coming to New Zealand. We just want a different life, a better life in a different country. We just want it as simple as possible.

Charlotte: We’ve been around since 2009. Most of our clients for that entire duration have been offshore migrants with job offers. That’s been our bread and butter. We’ve done over 20,000 visas—23,000 at the moment.

80% of those would have come through with job offers. It is possible. It just takes perseverance. For those with family considerations, our resources on parent-visa-new-zealand and new-zealand-partner-visa are a great place to start.

The Power of Community when Moving To New Zealand

Charlotte: I actually love that your community members almost treat us like family. I feel like because we’re part of your community, when people become our clients, it adds an extra layer to that relationship. We hold hands through some pretty intimate stuff for people.

Because we’re part of that massive, amazing group, it makes you feel like you’re friends with people. Which I really like.

Liz: Especially when you see them all meeting up together. My clients who come through your community will say, “Oh, we landed in Auckland and we had coffee, or lunch, or dinner with such and such.” Or, “They picked us up from the airport.”

I’m like, isn’t that so cool? To have this virtual community of people that you can send a message out to and say, “Hey, I’m landing in wherever, can someone help?” And someone’s gonna put their hand up. That’s such a special thing you guys have created.

And for those already here, articles on life-in-new-zealand, mistakes-in-new-zealand, and even swapping-taranaki-new-zealand-for-auckland can help you navigate your new life.

Final Thoughts

Charlotte: Some days we’re advisors, some days we’re property managers looking for houses, some days we’re counsellors.

I’ve got about 60 hats I probably wear in a week. I think the cool thing about New Zealand Shores—I’ve been with them for 12 years—we don’t treat people like a number.

You are not a number to us. We know that there are real humans at the end of all of these processes. Even though it’s something we do every day, we know life happens, we know grief happens, we know changes happen.

We just get to ride that roller coaster with you. We feel the highs, we feel the lows. If we can make any of it easier, then that’s what we love to do.

Liz: Have we covered everything? Is there anything else you’d add?

Charlotte: It’s definitely information overload today, but big changes are coming. If anyone’s got questions, feel free to reach out. Even if you’re already in the country and you’re watching this, you think, “I don’t understand what this means for me come August,” please do reach out and we can give you some guidance.

Liz: Watch out for this space, literally this space. As soon as you do get an update, we’ll post it here. Charlotte, thank you so much for joining us today. We’ll speak to you on the next podcast.

Charlotte: Thank you so much for having me, guys. Pleasure to be here. Bye!

Ready to Make 2026 Your Year?

These changes are genuinely exciting. If you’ve been sitting on the fence, wondering if your skills are valued in New Zealand, the answer is now clearer than ever. Whether you’re a tradie, a professional, or someone considering studying here first, there is a pathway for you.

Your next steps:

1. Head over to nzahead.com/free for our free 5-day video guide on life in New Zealand.

2. Reach out to Charlotte at NZ Shores for a free eligibility assessment.

3. Join our private NZ Ahead community on Slack for support from people on the same journey.

Your new life in New Zealand is closer than you think. Let’s make it happen!