Green List New Zealand
14/09/2026
If you’ve already read up on New Zealand’s Green List, you’ll know it splits into two routes to residence: Straight to Residence and Work to Residence. What’s less obvious is which one actually applies to you — because the answer depends less on your profession in isolation and more on where you’re standing right now: onshore or offshore, mid-visa or job-hunting, Tier 1 or Tier 2.
This guide skips the general explainer and goes straight to the decision. Work out which situation below matches yours, then follow the link through to the pathway that applies.
If you’re still living outside New Zealand and you’ve secured a job offer in a Tier 1 occupation — say, a registered nurse, civil engineer, or auditor role — with an accredited employer, you don’t need to set foot in the country first. This is exactly the situation the Straight to Residence Visa NZ pathway was built for: apply from offshore, and move once your residence is approved rather than the other way around.
If you’re onshore, working in a Tier 2 occupation such as a registered plumber, gasfitter, diesel motor mechanic, or early childhood educator, your route isn’t immediate — it’s earned. Once you’ve clocked 24 months in that qualifying role with an accredited employer, you become eligible to apply. That’s the Work to Residence Visa NZ pathway, and the dedicated page there walks through exactly what counts toward your 24 months and what evidence you’ll need to show it.
This is more common than it sounds — tier placement isn’t always intuitive, and it shifts as Immigration New Zealand updates the list. Roles like internal auditor, surveyor, and building associate have specific inclusion criteria beyond just the job title. Before you assume either pathway applies, it’s worth confirming your exact tier — a licensed adviser can check this against the current list in minutes rather than you guessing from a job title alone.
Not every skill shortage role makes the list, and that doesn’t mean you’re out of options. Depending on your qualifications, experience, and wage level, you may still have a route through the wider set of New Zealand residence pathways — including the points-based Skilled Migrant Category, or an industry-specific sector agreement if you work in care or transport.
Even once you know your tier, the two pathways carry genuinely different trade-offs — and this is where the decision gets personal rather than mechanical.
Straight to Residence trades nothing for speed. You get residence status without a waiting period, which matters most if you’re trying to relocate a family in one move, or if your circumstances (a partner’s job, a child starting school) make a staged approach impractical. The cost is that you need to already meet a higher bar — a Tier 1 role, with all the specific qualification or registration requirements that come with it.
Work to Residence trades time for a lower bar to entry. If your occupation sits on Tier 2, you don’t need to meet Tier 1’s stricter thresholds — but you do need to sustain 24 months in a qualifying role without a break that resets the clock. That’s a real risk if your employer’s accreditation lapses, your role changes scope partway through, or you’re made redundant. If you’re already established in a stable NZ job, this rarely bites. If you’re newer to the country, it’s worth planning around.
There’s also a middle scenario worth naming: if your Tier 2 role gets upgraded to Tier 1 while you’re partway through your 24 months, you may become eligible for Straight to Residence sooner than planned. The Green List is reviewed periodically, so it’s worth checking your occupation’s status again if you’re partway through a Work to Residence timeline — a change could work in your favour.
If you’re still narrowing down which tier your role sits in, these occupation-specific guides cover current placement and requirements in more detail:
Tier 1 (Straight to Residence): registered nurse, midwife, civil engineer, surveyor, external auditor, internal auditor
Tier 2 (Work to Residence): registered plumber, gasfitter, diesel motor mechanic, registered electrician, building associate, project builder or site foreman
A few edge cases come up often enough to flag here rather than leave you to discover them mid-application:
The scenarios above cover the common cases, but tier placement, accreditation status, and timing all shift as policy settings change. If you want a definitive answer rather than a best guess, a licensed adviser can check your occupation against the current Green List, confirm your employer’s accreditation and job check status, and tell you exactly which pathway — if either — applies to you right now.
If you’re ready for that conversation, book a consultation or start with our free visa assessment.
Check your exact job title and duties against the current Green List, since tier placement is occupation-specific and can change. A licensed adviser can confirm this quickly if you’re unsure.
Yes. Straight to Residence applications can be lodged from offshore, provided you hold a qualifying Tier 1 job offer from an accredited employer.
You may become eligible for Straight to Residence sooner than your original 24-month timeline, since Tier 1 doesn’t require the same qualifying work period. It’s worth checking your occupation’s current status if this happens.
Only if your occupation is reclassified to Tier 1, or you secure an offer in a different Tier 1 role. The pathways themselves don’t have a formal “switch” mechanism outside of that.
Neither pathway is automatically faster just because you hold an AEWV — it comes down to your occupation’s tier. A Tier 1 role still moves to Straight to Residence immediately; a Tier 2 role still needs the 24-month period, regardless of your current visa type.
Both pathways allow you to include a partner and dependent children in the same application, so differing tiers between partners doesn’t necessarily mean applying separately — but the sequencing is worth checking with an adviser.
It can. Moving to a role or employer that doesn’t meet the Tier 2 accreditation and occupation criteria may interrupt your qualifying period.
Look at the wider New Zealand residence pathways, including the Skilled Migrant Category or a relevant sector agreement, depending on your industry and qualifications.
Yes — checking your occupation’s current tier, your employer’s accreditation, and your personal circumstances against both pathways is exactly the kind of check an adviser can do quickly and accurately.
If you already hold a visa or have a residence application in progress, a later change to the list doesn’t affect it. The change only applies to new applications lodged after the update.
New Zealand Licensed Immigration Adviser and Australia Registered Migration Agents
Eddie Dhiman is a dual-licensed immigration adviser (IAA NZ) and registered migration agent (MARA Australia). As an immigrant himself, he leverages first-hand personal insight and regulatory expertise to guide clients seamlessly through their migration journey.
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