New Zealand · Work authorisation

Straight to Residence Visa (Green List, Tier 1)

Issued by Immigration New Zealand. It is checked against conditions rather than scored, so the question is whether you meet each one, not how many points you gather.

Basis
Checklist
Steps
4
Possible outcomes
3
Last checked
2026-09-15

Conditions

What this permit
asks of you.

Which desk decides

The authority, exactly

Available only where the specific role is published as a Tier 1 role on Immigration New Zealand's Green List — the list of roles the country has identified as needing workers for immediately, searchable by role on Immigration New Zealand's own site. Most roles are not on it. The job also has to be with an employer Immigration New Zealand has already accredited under the AEWV scheme; this visa does not bypass that requirement.

Qualification

What it wants from your degree

Whatever qualification, registration, income or experience threshold Immigration New Zealand has published for the specific Tier 1 role — the requirement is set per role on the Green List, not by a single rule that applies to every Tier 1 role alike.

Not a licence

Academic comparability

International Qualification Assessment (IQA), issued by New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA).

This compares your degree to a local one. It is an academic statement and it does not authorise you to practise any profession.

Standard IQA (evaluates one qualification): NZD $445. 10 weeks

The procedure

4 steps,
in the order they happen.

Prepare your documents

  1. Search the Green List for the specific role and confirm it is published at Tier 1 rather than Tier 2 — the two tiers lead to two different visas, published separately below.
  2. Be aged 55 or younger, and secure an offer of, or already be working in, that Tier 1 role with an Immigration New Zealand accredited employer, meeting the wage, qualification and registration conditions the Green List entry for that specific role publishes.The age limit applies on the date you apply, and Immigration New Zealand publishes it as a requirement of the visa rather than of the role.

Get your qualification assessed

  1. Where the role's qualification requirement was met by a qualification gained outside New Zealand, get an International Qualification Assessment from NZQA before you apply.Immigration New Zealand's own guidance: 'Some Green List jobs require you to have a qualification. If you did not gain this qualification in New Zealand, you may need an International Qualification Assessment.'

Register and start working

  1. Apply for the Straight to Residence Visa.

Cost and time

What it costs,
and how long the authority says it takes.

Fees

Resident visa application
From NZD $6,450

Timeframes

Visa decision
80% within 3 months

Published processing times, not a prediction about your case.

Both halves together

Guides that use this permit.

Each one takes a profession into New Zealand and runs the recognition branch and the authorisation branch side by side, including what your country of qualification adds.

Evidence

Every claim on this page, and where it came from.

2 official pages, each with the jurisdiction it speaks for and the date a human last opened it. The oldest is 2026-09-15, and that is the date this page is only as fresh as.

Is this the right permit for you?

That depends on where you qualified.

The planner compares every route New Zealand opens to your country of qualification, and adds the recognition branch when your profession has one.