Green List Pathway Visa
New Zealand's Green List turns a job title into residency
Tier 1 roles can apply for residence as soon as the offer lands. Tier 2 roles get there after 24 months on the job in New Zealand.
Immigration New Zealand publishes a list of the jobs the country can't fill on its own. If yours is on that list, residency stops being a points puzzle and becomes a hiring question. Find an accredited employer who wants you, and the route is already built.
Your tier sets the clock
The Green List is Immigration New Zealand's shortlist of work the country is short of: doctors and nurses, engineers, teachers, electricians, plumbers, machinists. Every listed role sits in Tier 1 or Tier 2; that one fact sets your whole timeline.
Tier 1 leads to the Straight to Residence Visa. You can file it the moment you have the job or written offer from an accredited employer. You can even file it from your kitchen table in Ohio. No New Zealand work history needed first.
Tier 2 leads to the Work to Residence Visa. You arrive on a work visa first. For a Green List role, this normally means an Accredited Employer Work Visa, put in 24 months in the role, then apply. Same residence at the end of it, longer road to get there.
The end point is identical either way: residence itself, not a temporary permit with a renewal date on it.
Four things worth writing down
NZD $6,450
What Immigration New Zealand charges to file, for either tier
Roughly US$3,700 in mid-September 2026
24 months
Work in a Tier 2 role in New Zealand before you can apply
Inside the 30 months before you file
12 months
Your window to arrive once an offshore application is approved
Only applies if you applied from abroad
Any employer
Residence isn't tied to the job that got you in
You can change jobs once residence is granted
Pay, papers and registration
Being on the list isn't the whole test. Each role carries its own line of requirements, and Immigration New Zealand reads that line literally.
Pay is the one that trips people. If your role has a rate written next to it, that's the rate you have to be paid. If it doesn't, the floor is whatever the immigration median wage is set at; since March 2026, that's been NZD $35.00 an hour, close to US$20. Teachers now have to sit on Step 5 of the pay scale instead of Step 4, which is exactly the kind of small print that can make or break a file.
There's a mercy built into the Tier 2 count. The rate you have to hit is the one that applied when you started counting your 24 months, not the rate on the day you file. In other words, a mid-stretch increase in the median wage doesn't wipe out your progress as long as your pay never slips below where it started. A five-month grace period covers you if the required rate goes up before your first day.
The rest of the paperwork remains the same for both tiers.
- A job with an accredited employer, full-time, permanent or fixed-term for at least 12 months
- The registration, professional membership or qualification your role calls for, plus an NZQA assessment for most degrees earned outside New Zealand
- An age cap of 55 when you file, English, a medical and chest X-ray, and police certificates under six months old
Green List Pathway Visa
Fast-track residency for those employed in high-demand (Green List) occupations. Faster processing than Skilled Migrant.
- Processing time
- ~60 days
- Timeline
- Residence in 6–12 months, permanent residency possible after 2 years
- Difficulty
- Moderate
Key requirements
- Employment in a Green List role
- English fluency
- Health and character checks
- Proof of qualifications
About that data card
Two lines up there need a footnote. The 60-day processing figure is our own estimate; Immigration New Zealand publishes a target of deciding 80 percent of Straight to Residence applications within three months, though busy stretches run longer. The "residence in 6 to 12 months" line describes the Tier 1 route only. On Tier 2, the clock starts with 24 months of work in the role before you can even file.
How a strong file goes wrong
Here's the catch. Immigration New Zealand matches your real duties against the occupation on the list, not the title on your offer letter. A job advertised as "developer" and a listed engineering occupation are not automatically the same thing; that mismatch is the quiet way a strong file falls apart. Get the role checked before you sign anything.
The list itself moves, too. Roles get added and dropped as the job market shifts, and ten metal trades occupations joined Tier 2 back in August 2025. The good news is that work you've already put in counts: if your Tier 2 role comes off the list after you start, the months you worked still go toward your 24. Changing employers doesn't reset you either, as long as the next job is another Green List role paid at the rate you started on.
And if your job isn't listed at all, you're not stuck. The Skilled Migrant Category was rebuilt on 24 August 2026 and now offers three separate routes: the old points test, a route for people who built their skills on the job, and a route for qualified tradespeople and technicians. New red and amber occupation lists decide which of the three a given role can use.
What residence gets you
Study, no extra visa
Residents can study anywhere in New Zealand, for any length of time, without a student visa.
A partner who works
At NZD $35.00 an hour or more, a Green List worker can support a partner's work visa.
Family on one file
A partner and dependent children aged 24 or younger go on the same application.
Public healthcare
Residents are eligible for the public health system, no private policy required.
Travel without limits
Two years on, a Permanent Resident Visa lifts the time limit on coming and going.
A passport, later
Five years living here as a resident is the usual door to New Zealand citizenship.
Worth a call before you sign
The tier question and the pay rate are worth an hour with someone who reads the immigration manual for a living. These two know the country from the inside.
Working In New Zealand
New Zealand Relocation Specialist
Relocation and visa specialists whose whole practice is skilled work into New Zealand, from the job search through to the residence file.
Sean Novak
New Zealand Local Guide
A local guide in Hawke's Bay for the part no visa covers: where to rent, which school, how to make friends in your first winter.
Straight answers on the Green List
Does a Green List visa lead to permanent residence and citizenship?
Yes on both counts. A Green List grant is residence rather than a temporary permit, so there is no renewal treadmill. The travel conditions attached to it last two years, and clearing that mark opens the Permanent Resident Visa, which drops the travel limits for good. Immigration New Zealand says citizenship is possible for most people after five years of living in New Zealand as a resident.
Is there an age limit on the Green List pathway?
Yes, and it's firm. Both Green List visas cap the applicant at age 55 at the point of filing, and Immigration New Zealand confirms it against your passport. Anyone near that line should work backward from their 56th birthday, because the filing date is what counts, not the date the job offer arrived.
What does a Green List residence application cost?
Immigration New Zealand charges from NZD $6,450, which worked out to roughly US$3,700 in September 2026. Budget on top of that for medical exams and a chest X-ray, police certificates from every country you've lived in, an English test if you need one, and an NZQA assessment of an overseas degree.
Green List or Skilled Migrant Category, which route is faster?
A Tier 1 Green List job is the fastest route on paper, because the job offer alone makes you eligible for residence. The Skilled Migrant Category is the fallback for skilled work that isn't listed, and since 24 August 2026 it runs three pathways built around points, work experience, and trades and technician qualifications.
How long does a Green List residence decision take?
Immigration New Zealand aims to decide 80 percent of Straight to Residence applications within three months of filing, and a complete file, with every document attached the day you lodge it, is what keeps you inside that window. Tier 2 applicants add the 24 months of New Zealand work that comes first.
How do I know if my job is on New Zealand's Green List?
Search Immigration New Zealand's Green List tool by occupation. The result tells you whether the role is Tier 1, which means you can apply for a Straight to Residence Visa with a job offer, or Tier 2, which means residence comes after 24 months of work in New Zealand. Match the duties, not the job title.
What happens if my role is dropped from the Green List while I am working?
The months you've already worked still count. Immigration New Zealand keeps your Tier 2 work experience toward the 24-month requirement even if the occupation comes off the list after you start, as long as you were paid the required rate for the role when you began counting that time.
Can I apply for the Straight to Residence Visa from the United States?
Yes. If your job is Tier 1 and the offer is from an accredited New Zealand employer, you can file the residence application before you ever land. Immigration New Zealand then expects you to arrive within 12 months of the visa being issued, so book the move once the decision is in hand.
Find out where your work actually fits.
Tell the Expatsi Test what you do, what you earn and who's coming with you, and see where the numbers land.
Why not you?