Skilled Migrant Visa is for those people who can show to Immigration New Zealand that they have the skills that New Zealand
wants. In most cases, you will need to have a full time employment performing a role that would be seen as "skilled"
in the eyes of the Immigration Officer processing your application.
You will need to satisfy each of the following requirements:
meet general requirements; and
meet English language requirements; and
meet points requirements; and
meet employment requirements; and
meet work experience and/or qualification requirements.
Let's take a look at each in turn.
General requirements
General requirements for skilled migrant visa include paying correct application fee, using prescribed Immigration New Zealand form, meeting
health/character requirements, and being a 'bona fide' (genuine) applicant. You cannot apply under this category
as the principal applicant if you are aged 56 and over.
English language requirements
You will need to provide evidence to show that you have English proficiency equivalent to an
IELTS exam score of at least 6.5. Your partner and your dependent children aged 16 years or over will need
to provide evidence to show that they have English proficiency equivalent to an IELTS exam score of at least
5.0. Partners and dependent children have the option of pre-purchasing ESOL training if they are unable to meet
the English language requirement.
Points requirements
This category operates a points system. From the following table, you will need to work out that you can claim
at least
160 points.
Employment requirements
There is a string of requirements you have to meet in terms of your employment, which include the following:
full time employment, at least 30 hours per week; and
skill level 1, 2 or 3 on the ANZSCO; and
duties should "substantially match" the ANZSCO description; and
be paid minimum $24.29 per hour; and
salary/wages should be within market range; and
employer should not be running at a loss; and
employer should be compliant with relevant employment/immigration laws.
Work experience and/or qualification requirements
Depending on what skill level your position is according to the ANZSCO, you will need to show that you are suitably
qualified by training or experience to carry out the tasks associated with the position.
Get advice
Many issues that you were not aware of could surface when you lodge a Skilled Migrant visa NZ application, so
it will be worth getting proper advice and guidance from the beginning.
