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Simplified applications and residence pathways
The Green List will make it easier for employers to hire and attract migrants for specified high- skilled, hard-to-fill occupations, with guaranteed residence pathways for eligible people.
The Green List only contains a small number of highly skilled roles that have been identified as being in high demand globally and in ongoing shortage in New Zealand.
These roles will have registration, qualification or experience requirements, and more detail on these is available on the Immigration New Zealand website.
Employers won’t need to provide proof of advertising for these occupations when progressing an Accredited Employer Work Visa job check application.
Eligible migrants working in these occupations will have clear pathways to residence, either through a direct to residence application or after working in New Zealand for two years, depending on the role. Their partners will have open work rights. Both residence pathways will be limited to migrants 55 years or younger, which is aligned with the Skilled Migrant Category requirements.
The Green List is about making it easier to attract globally in-demand workers, but it is not the only pathway to residence available. Other employers will still be able to access skilled migrants, and many of them will also have a pathway to residence through the Skilled Migrant Category.
Eligible migrants employed in the below occupations can come to New Zealand on a work visa and apply for residence. Residence can also be applied for directly from offshore.
Minimum salary requirements apply where specified, and these are indexed to the median wage and change over time.
(Please note that since 2022 the Green List has been updated with many professions added and taken off the list)
Construction Project Manager Project Builder
Quantity Surveyor
Surveyor
Chemical Engineer
Civil Engineering Technician
Civil Engineer
Electrical Engineer
Electronics Engineer
Electrical Engineering Technician
Electronic Engineering Technician Environmental Engineer Geotechnical Engineer
Industrial Engineer
Materials Engineer Mechanical Engineer Production or Plant Engineer Structural Engineer
Engineering Professionals (Not Elsewhere Classified)
Telecommunications Engineers
Telecommunications Network Engineers General Practitioner
Anaesthetist
Psychiatrist
Specialist Physicians Not Elsewhere Classified Surgeons (Including General Surgeons Cardiothoracic Surgeon Neurosurgeon Orthopaedic Surgeon Otorhinolaryngologist Urologist And Vascular Surgeon)
Other Medical Practitioners (Including Dermatologist Obstetrician And Gynaecologist
Ophthalmologist Diagnostic And Interventional Radiologist And Radiation Oncologist)
Resident Medical Officer
Medical Laboratory Scientist
Clinical Psychologists & Psychologists Physicist (Medical)
Orthoptist
Veterinarian
Other Spatial Scientist Environmental Research Scientist Food Technologist
ICT Managers ($120,000)
Software Engineer ($120,000)
ICT Security Specialist ($120,000) Multimedia Specialists ($95,000)
Eligible migrants in the following occupations can apply for residence after two years:
(Please note that since 2022 the Green List has been updated with many professions added and taken off the list)
Anaesthetic Technician Midwife
Medical Laboratory Technician Teachers - Secondary with specialisations and
Medical Imaging Technologist Medical Radiation Therapist Occupational Therapist Sonographer
Podiatrist Audiologist
All Registered Nurses (including but not limited to Aged Care)
Registered ECE Automotive Electrician
Diesel Motor Mechanic (including Heavy Vehicle Inspector)
Electrician (General) –registered
Plumber – registered
Dairy Farm Managers
Migrants paid at least twice the median wage in other roles can also apply for residence after two years.
The existing skills shortage lists (the Long-Term Skill Shortage List, Regional Skills Shortage List, and Constructions and Infrastructure Skill Shortage List) will be replaced by the Green List.
This means any roles that are currently on a skills shortage list, but not on the Green List won’t be exempt from a labour market test unless they pay at least 200% of the median wage.
