The Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa will allow you to live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely, and your partner and children will be allowed to join you.
You must
If you meet the three core requirements of the SMC, you can submit an Expression of Interest, EOI, and will subsequently be invited to apply for your Resident Visa if Immigration New Zealand accepts your EOI.
Here is a short version of the basics:
You must have 6 points to be eligible for the Points-based pathway.
You can claim up to 6 points from either your:
If you cannot claim all 6 points from one of these categories, you may be able to claim an additional 1 to 3 points from skilled work experience in New Zealand.
These work experience points can be combined with the points you claim from your qualification, income, or occupational registration to reach 6 points.
This pathway is for migrants who have gained their skills through work experience rather than through a formal qualification (such as a university degree, diploma, or trade certificate).
To be eligible, you must have at least 5 years of directly relevant work experience, including at least 2 years of skilled work experience in New Zealand.
This pathway is for migrants working in eligible trades or technician roles who have developed their skills through a combination of qualifications and work experience.
To be eligible, you must have a relevant qualification and at least 4 years of post-qualification work experience, including at least 18 months of skilled work experience in New Zealand.
To help you find out more about the SMC and its intricacies, we have gone into far more detail in our Self Assessment | Points Guide below. Fair enough if that is more information than you will ever need. Maybe joining our Immigration and Job Hunt Webinar is all you want.
A pre-requisite for all three Skilled Migrant Category pathways to residence: You must have an acceptable job or job offer in New Zealand.
This will depend on three aspects:
You can claim
The good news is that you can improve your points score if you do not meet the minimum of 6 points right at the start.
If your current points score is three, four, or five, you can increase it by providing evidence of your work experience in New Zealand.
Each year of work experience in New Zealand earns you one point, with a maximum of three points for three years of work experience.
Do you qualify for a resident visa under the Skilled Work Experience pathway?
Effective 24/08/2026
To be eligible for this pathway to residence, your job or offer of employment must fulfil additional requirements.
To be eligible for a resident visa under the Skilled Work Experience pathway policy, you must meet strict requirements for your work experience.
When calculating the duration of your work experience, you cannot count both, directly relevant and skilled work experience in New Zealand.
Directly relevant work experience must be:
Directly relevant work experience can be accrued in any country (including New Zealand), unless the applicant’s skilled employment is in an occupation in The Amber List, in which case, it must be accrued in New Zealand.
Work experience must not be self-employment.
Skilled work experience in New Zealand for the Skilled Work Experience pathway must be:
Do you think the Trades and Technicians pathway might lead to residence in New Zealand for you? Check it out.
Effective 24/08/2026
To be eligible for this pathway to residence you must have current employment, or an offer of employment, in New Zealand that:
When applying via the Trades and Technician pathway, you must
Where the qualification is gained in New Zealand, it must be made up of
To successfully apply via the Trades and Technician pathway you must have a total of 4 years work experience, including
The same time period cannot be counted for both relevant and skilled work experience in New Zealand.
All work experience must be accrued after receiving their relevant level 4 (or above) trade qualification.
Your work experience must be "directily relevant" in order to fulfil the requirements for the Trades and Technician pathway. It must be
Directly relevant work experience can be accrued in any country (including New Zealand).
Work experience must not be self-employment.
Your work experience in New Zealand must be "skilled". To be recognised, it must be
"The essence of a successful resident visa application under the Skilled Migrant Category lies in aligning your New Zealand employment with your international professional background.
In order for your visa process under one of the Skilled Migrant policies to be successful, your role in New Zealand has to meet the prescribed level for your job title as well as the description of the relevant occupation.
Right at the start we undertake a substantial match assessment for each of our clients to ensure that their job hunt takes off in the right direction and is substantially consistent with SMC requirements."
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At first, Maj kindly explained the whole process and what to expect. I was coached and introduced to New Zealand job market by their Job Search team, and getting assistance until I got a job in the country. The Visa team would also follow me up on my pending documents, so I never felt left out. Truly recommended for those seeking out an option to live in New Zealand. Big thanks from me and my whole family for things NZIC did for us..!
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