Guide on Skilled Migrant Category

If you have skilled, full-time employment and meet the points threshold, you may be eligible to apply under this category.

If you want to learn about Skilled Migrant Category, you've come to the right place.

This guide has everything you need to understand the basics of Skilled Migrant Category. You'll also find links to useful resources from our blog and video throughout, so you can plan your next steps.

What is it?

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.

What are the requirements?

General

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

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

This category operates a points system. From the following table, you will need to work out that you can claim at least 160 points.

Calculate EOI Points to Apply for Skilled Migrant Category Residence Visa

Employment

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.

Qualification and work experience

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.