“I’m on the Green List” is the sentence we hear most often from nurses, engineers, and software developers who have just received a job offer will I get a work visa. Sometimes they are right about the occupation and wrong about the tier. Sometimes the job title matches and the qualification does not. The Green List is a residence pathway for specified hard-to-fill roles. It is not a blanket approval for anyone working in health, construction, or tech.
The version of the list in force took effect on 23 March 2026. It replaced the old long-term skill shortage settings. Two tiers remain, and they lead to different visas.
Tier 1 and Tier 2, side by side
Tier 1 roles support the Straight to Residence Visa. You can apply as soon as you have the offer or the job with an accredited employer, and you meet the qualification, registration, or pay rule attached to that occupation. There is no requirement to have already worked in New Zealand for a set period.
Tier 2 roles support the Work to Residence Visa. You apply after you have worked in the Green List role in New Zealand for 24 months, and that work must fall within the 30 months before you apply. The employer must be accredited. The job has to stay within the occupation you are claiming.
Both tiers share a few hard edges. You must be 55 or under when the residence application is made. The role must meet the pay rate the list sets for it. Where the list does not set a special rate, the fallback is the median wage, $35 an hour from 9 March 2026. Residence fees for these visas start from about $6,450 before levies and family members. A partner and children are not included automatically. They need their own eligibility checked.
After you hold the resident visa, the usual later step is a permanent resident visa, generally after enough time living in New Zealand on the resident visa and meeting the commitments on it. The Green List visa is the residence grant. It is not, by itself, permanent residence.
The requirement is attached to the occupation, not the sector
This is where offers fall over. INZ assesses the ANZSCO description and the evidence you hold, not the industry you work in.
Health is the clearest Tier 1 example. Registered nurses in the listed specialisations, and midwives, sit on Tier 1, provided they hold Nursing Council or Midwifery Council registration and are paid at least the median where no higher rate is set. General practitioners need Medical Council registration, or a letter of eligibility where that is what the list accepts. A healthcare assistant role is not a nurse role, however long you have worked on the ward.
Engineering roles such as civil, structural, electrical, and mechanical engineer are widely listed on Tier 1. The list accepts a defined set of qualifications: a Washington Accord degree, a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours, a level 7 or higher qualification with a letter from Engineering New Zealand, or Chartered Professional Engineer registration, alongside the pay rule. A diploma and a job title of “engineer” in a previous country will not automatically meet that.
Secondary and primary teachers are Tier 1 where they hold Teaching Council registration and a practising certificate, and meet the pay rule. Registration is the gate. A teaching degree on its own is not.
ICT roles — software engineer, developer programmer, ICT security specialist, ICT project manager — are on the list, but they are wage-gated. The published rate for many of these roles is $72.80 an hour, which is 208 percent of the $35 median. Contractors face a higher bar again, in the region of $109.20 an hour plus a long relevant work history. An Auckland software offer at a ordinary market salary can be a perfectly good AEWV job and still miss Straight to Residence.
Construction splits. Construction project managers and quantity surveyors can be Tier 1 if the named qualification or professional membership is held. Several site and trade roles are Tier 2. An electrician (general), for example, is a Work to Residence occupation tied to Electrical Workers Registration Board registration, with 24 months of work in the last 30 at the required rate. Welders and some metal trades sit on Tier 2 with no set qualification, but with pay at 1.3 times the median — $45.50 an hour — across the qualifying period.
Always match the six-digit code. A supervisor role and a tradesperson role in the same company can be different tiers, or one of them may not be on the list at all.
How the two-year Tier 2 clock actually runs
The 24 months must be work in the Green List occupation, for an accredited employer, at the rate the list requires. Months on a different visa, in a different occupation, do not count just because you were in New Zealand. A gap that pushes the qualifying work outside the 30-month window can force you to wait.
Keep the payslips. A residence application that claims 24 months at $45.50, when three months were paid at $42, has a problem that is tedious to repair after the expression of interest is in. If you change employer, the new employer must be accredited and the new role must still be the listed occupation. A variation or a new work visa may be required before the residence clock keeps running.
Tier 1 applicants should not treat “straight to residence” as “no evidence”. Registration letters, qualification assessments, and an employment agreement that describes the listed occupation are still mandatory. A job offer that starts in four months may be acceptable. A job offer that does not meet the hours or the pay will not be.
Choosing between the Green List and the Skilled Migrant Category
Some people qualify for both. A registered nurse on Tier 1 will usually find Straight to Residence the direct route. A tradesperson who is not on Tier 2, but who has a level 4 qualification and enough New Zealand experience, may fit the trades and technician pathway under the Skilled Migrant Category instead. Someone paid at three times the median may reach 6 SMC points on income alone, whether or not the occupation is listed.
The wrong choice is the one that needs a document you will not have in time. Registration that takes 18 months makes a Tier 1 plan an 18-month plan. Know that before you decline another offer.
Have the occupation checked against the current list
The Green List moves. Roles have been added, and nurses and midwives were shifted to Tier 1 in an earlier amendment. What a recruiter printed on a slide is not the appendix in the operational manual.
Immigration Matters maps Green List offers against the current tier, the registration rule, and the pay rule, then lodges the residence application if the file supports it. The resident visa service is the page to start with. Work visas that hold the role while you complete Tier 2 time sit under the work visa service.
The practice is at 137 Kolmar Road, Papatoetoe, Auckland, led by Jagjeet Singh Sidhu (IAA licence 201400260). Call 09 392 0079 or 029 770 7979, or write via the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I apply for Straight to Residence from outside New Zealand?
Yes, if you have a Tier 1 job offer with an accredited employer and you meet the occupation’s requirement. You do not need to have worked in New Zealand first.
Does any healthcare job qualify?
No. The list names occupations and, for regulated roles, requires New Zealand registration. Support roles and unlisted specialisations are outside it.
What if my pay is a salary, not an hourly rate?
INZ converts pay to an hourly rate using the hours in the agreement. A salary that looks high on a 40-hour week can fall short if the contract requires more hours. Have the figure checked against the rate for your code.
