New Zealand work visa in 2026: how a foreigner can get one

The Accredited Employer Work Visa, the Green List, skilled migrant points, documents, family and the road to residence and citizenship

To work in New Zealand, a foreigner needs a work visa, and the main one is the Accredited Employer Work Visa. Only an employer accredited by Immigration New Zealand can hire you on it: the employer passes a job check for the role, sends you a link, and you apply online. The rules are the same for every nationality: the employer, the job, your experience, health and character decide the outcome.

New Zealand work visas compared

Accredited Employer Work Visa

This is the main route. You need an offer of full-time work from an accredited employer with an approved job check, for at least 30 hours a week and paid at least the market rate. You show 2 years or more of relevant experience, confirmed by someone other than you, or a qualification at level 4 or higher of the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework. With a bachelor's degree or higher, the field of study can be any.

• English: jobs at skill levels 3 to 5 need proof of English; levels 1 and 2 do not.
• Length: up to 5 years for most jobs, 3 years for skill levels 4 and 5. After the maximum stay you spend 12 months outside New Zealand before another visa of this type.
• Study: up to 3 months in any 12 months, or any study the job requires.
• Evidence waived: no extra skills evidence is needed for Green List jobs, with occupational registration, or at pay of NZD 67.12 an hour or more.

The employment agreement names the job, workplace, hours, pay and duration and follows New Zealand employment law; trial periods and bonding clauses that make you repay money for leaving are not allowed.

Green List: residence straight away or after 2 years

The Green List names the jobs New Zealand needs most and sets their qualification, registration and pay requirements.

• Tier 1, Straight to Residence: doctors, engineers and other in-demand specialists apply for a resident visa straight away. You are 55 or younger and work for an accredited employer, or have an offer from one, in a Tier 1 job. Fee from NZD 6,450, 80% decided within 3.5 months.
• Tier 2, Work to Residence: after 24 months in a Tier 2 job within the last 30 months, on a work visa, you apply for residence. Fee from NZD 6,450, age 55 or younger.
• Pay: where a Green List job has no rate of its own, it pays at least NZD 35.00 an hour, the 2025 median wage. Trades such as welders and fitters have rates of NZD 45.50 an hour.

Skilled Migrant Category: 6 points

The Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa is for skilled workers employed by an accredited employer. You need 6 points: from 3 to 6 points from one skill category, your qualification, New Zealand occupational registration or income, plus up to 3 points for skilled work in New Zealand.

The wage threshold is NZD 35.00 an hour. Age is 55 or younger, with health, character and English requirements. A second pathway counts skilled work experience: at least 5 years, 2 of them in New Zealand.

How to find an employer in New Zealand

Search New Zealand job boards and company career pages, and check every employer against the list of accredited employers that Immigration New Zealand publishes. Before you sign, make sure the employer is accredited and has an approved job check for your role: the link to the visa application comes only after that.

New Zealand employers and their agents cannot charge you fees for a job or make you pay their recruitment costs. The Green List is a good map of demand: it covers jobs in health, engineering, construction and the trades.

Documents for a New Zealand work visa

• passport and photo;
• the employment agreement, job description and signed job offer from an accredited employer;
• evidence of 2 years of experience from third parties, such as certificates of employment, pay slips and tax certificates; a CV alone is not enough;
• qualifications, and an International Qualification Assessment from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority for qualifications from abroad below a bachelor's degree;
• occupational registration for regulated jobs;
• English test results no more than 2 years old, for skill levels 3 to 5;
• police certificates for countries where you have lived 5 years or more since the age of 17;
• a chest X-ray if you spent more than 3 months in the last 5 years in a country without a low incidence of tuberculosis.

You apply online. Employment certificates are on the employer's letterhead and show your positions, dates and the employer's contacts.

Step by step: from job offer to arrival

Complete documents, health checks and police certificates keep the decision on schedule. After 2 years of work in New Zealand, you can add the points for a skilled migrant resident visa.

Bringing your family

What you can support for your partner and children depends on the skill level of your job and your pay.

If you and your partner both hold this work visa, you combine your incomes to reach the threshold for the children.

Changing employer

The visa links you with the employer who offered you the job. To move to another accredited employer, job or location, you apply to vary the conditions of your visa, apply for a job change, or apply for a new visa; the new employer passes its own job check. We plan the move in advance so that you keep working legally throughout.

Fees and timelines: what a New Zealand work visa costs

Each application carries its own fee. A manager will work out the total for your family in the chat.

How to get your New Zealand work visa approved the first time

• the employer is accredited and the job check for your role is approved;
• your experience is confirmed by pay slips and tax certificates, not only a reference letter;
• English results are ready for jobs at skill levels 3 to 5;
• the job is full-time, at least 30 hours a week, and paid at least the market rate;
• medical checks and police certificates are recent.

We check the employer's accreditation, the skill level of the job and your documents before you pay the fee.

Moving to New Zealand without an employer

Investors and entrepreneurs move to New Zealand without a job offer: the conditions are on the page New Zealand residence permit by investment. Strong specialists also compare New Zealand with talent visas in other countries and the Australian talent programme.

From a work visa to residence and citizenship

A resident visa comes through the Green List, straight away for Tier 1 or after 24 months of work for Tier 2, or as a skilled migrant with 6 points. After 2 years in a row on a resident visa you apply for a permanent resident visa, which lets you travel in and out of New Zealand indefinitely. After 5 years of living in New Zealand as a resident you can apply for citizenship, with no need for permanent residence first.

More in permanent residence in New Zealand and New Zealand citizenship, and taxes in taxes in New Zealand.

This topic in other countries

Work visas in other countries:

• US work visa in 2026
• UK work visa in 2026
• Canada work visa in 2026
• Spain work visa in 2026
• Japan work visa in 2026
• working holiday visas

Residence and life in New Zealand:

• moving to New Zealand
• taxes in New Zealand
• buying an apartment in New Zealand
• sending money to New Zealand

FAQ