The National Occupation List (NOL) Explained
The National Occupation List is New Zealand's own occupation classification, built to replace ANZSCO for immigration purposes. It applies to Job Check and Accredited Employer Work Visa applications submitted on or after 3 November 2025. It classifies roles into five skill levels. It does not govern the Green List or the Skilled Migrant Category, which still run on ANZSCO.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail (as at August 2026) |
|---|---|
| What it is | New Zealand's occupation classification for immigration |
| Replaces | ANZSCO, for some visa products only |
| Applies to | Job Check and AEWV applications submitted on or after 3 November 2025 |
| Also applied to | The temporary Specific Purpose Work Visa pathway, for applications lodged September–November 2025 |
| Skill levels | Five. Levels 1–3 carry materially more immigration benefit than 4–5 |
| Expanded | 9 March 2026 — 47 further occupations recognised at skill levels 1–3 for AEWV purposes |
| Update cycle | Described by INZ as updated annually |
| Does it govern the Green List? | No. The Green List still uses ANZSCO |
| Does it govern the SMC? | No. The SMC skilled-work test is written in ANZSCO skill levels |
| Cost to use | Free — it is a reference list, not an application |
Why New Zealand built its own list
ANZSCO — the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations — is a shared classification, and it has aged. Roles that barely existed when it was last substantially revised sit awkwardly inside it, and roles that matter to the New Zealand labour market are described in Australian terms.
The National Occupation List is Immigration New Zealand's answer: a classification described as better reflecting the New Zealand labour market, maintained here, and updated annually.
What it is not is a clean replacement. ANZSCO has not been retired. The transition has been partial, deliberate and, for migrants, genuinely confusing — a single journey can require both classifications.
What the NOL governs, and what it does not
| Instrument | Classification used |
|---|---|
| Job Check | National Occupation List |
| Accredited Employer Work Visa | National Occupation List |
| Green List (Appendix 13) | ANZSCO |
| Skilled Migrant Category | ANZSCO skill levels |
The cut-off is precise. Job Check and AEWV applications submitted on or after 3 November 2025 are classified under the NOL. Earlier applications were classified under ANZSCO. The temporary Specific Purpose Work Visa pathway also used the NOL for applications lodged between September and November 2025.
Immigration New Zealand maintains both reference tools side by side — one called "Find your job's skill level" (ANZSCO) and one called "National Occupation List occupations used for an AEWV". Two live lists, two purposes, one website. That is not a transitional accident; it is the current design.
The five skill levels
The NOL classifies every listed occupation into one of five skill levels. Levels 1 to 3 carry materially more immigration benefit than levels 4 and 5.
Skill level drives, among other things, which roles attract particular AEWV conditions, which are subject to maximum-stay rules, and which fall inside the scope of policy changes as they are announced. The occupation skill levels page sets out what each level controls in more detail.
On 9 March 2026, Immigration New Zealand recognised 47 additional occupations at NOL skill levels 1–3 for AEWV purposes. That expansion is the most significant change to the list since it took effect.
We do not publish the identities of those 47 occupations. The announcement was confirmed; the occupation-by-occupation list was not retrievable at the time this page was researched, and publishing a guessed list would be worse than publishing none. Check INZ's own NOL page for the current contents.
What the NOL did not change
Two things are worth stating flatly, because both are widely misreported.
The NOL did not introduce a pay rule. The general median-wage requirement on the AEWV was removed on 10 March 2025, well before the NOL took effect. Since then AEWV pay is set by New Zealand market rate for the occupation and must not fall below the minimum wage. The NOL classifies the job; it does not price it. See market rate pay for the AEWV.
The NOL did not replace ANZSCO everywhere. It replaced ANZSCO for two products. The Green List and the SMC were untouched.
Where the median wage still bites
The immigration median wage — NZ$35.00 an hour from 9 March 2026 — remains in force for a defined set of purposes, none of which is a general work-visa pay floor:
- Green List pay requirements on both tiers;
- exemptions from advertising and minimum skills thresholds, for roles paid at least twice the median;
- maximum-stay rules for some lower-skilled roles paid at least 1.5× the median;
- income thresholds for supporting partners and dependent children;
- the Skilled Migrant Category's own pay tests.
The median wage history shows how the figure has moved. Note that the update month drifts — February 2023, February 2024, August 2025, March 2026 — so it cannot be predicted.
The practical problem this creates
A typical skilled-migration journey now looks like this:
- An employer runs a Job Check for a role. The role is classified under the NOL.
- The migrant applies for an AEWV. Still the NOL.
- Two or three years later the migrant applies for residence under the Green List or the SMC. Now it is ANZSCO.
The same person, the same job, two classifications. They do not map one-to-one, and a role that sits comfortably at NOL skill level 2 may or may not correspond to an occupation that appears in Appendix 13 at all.
Immigration New Zealand's own instruction for occupations outside the NOL is direct: "If you work in an occupation that is not on these lists, or you are applying for a different visa, you must use the ANZSCO list instead."
That sentence is the whole transition in one line. The NOL is the default for two products. ANZSCO is the fallback for everything else.
Step 1: Identify which visa you are applying for
This decides which list applies before anything else does. Work visa or Job Check means NOL. Residence under the Green List or SMC means ANZSCO.
Step 2: Find the occupation on the relevant list
For an AEWV, use INZ's National Occupation List tool. For residence, use Appendix 13 or the ANZSCO skill-level tool — how to find your ANZSCO code covers the method.
Step 3: Check the skill level, not just the presence of the occupation
Being on the list is not the same as being at a useful level. NOL levels 1–3 and levels 4–5 are treated differently.
Step 4: Record both classifications
Keep the NOL occupation and skill level from the work visa, and the ANZSCO code that will matter at residence. They will be needed at different stages, years apart, and reconstructing them later from an old job advertisement is unpleasant work.
Step 5: Re-check before each application
The NOL is updated annually. The Green List has no fixed review cycle at all. Neither list should be assumed to be unchanged since you last looked.
How this affects specific readers
Health workers. Almost entirely unaffected at the residence end — the Green List's health occupations are all ANZSCO-coded and registration-gated. The NOL matters only for the AEWV that comes first.
Trades. Very much affected. Most Tier 2 trades reach residence through 24 months of New Zealand work on an AEWV, so both classifications apply in sequence. See Green List Tier 2.
Hospitality. The 9 March 2026 NOL update split chef roles into clearer occupations by skill and seniority. That is a work-visa change only; no hospitality occupation appears on the Green List.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the National Occupation List and how does it differ from ANZSCO?
The NOL is New Zealand's own occupation classification, used for Job Check and AEWV applications submitted on or after 3 November 2025. ANZSCO is the older trans-Tasman classification, still used for the Green List and the Skilled Migrant Category. Both are currently live.
Has ANZSCO been replaced in New Zealand?
Not fully. It has been replaced for two visa products. It remains the classification for the Green List and for the SMC's skilled-work test, which is written as "ANZSCO skill levels 1–3" and "ANZSCO skill levels 4–5".
Which occupations were added to the NOL on 9 March 2026?
Immigration New Zealand recognised 47 additional occupations at skill levels 1–3 for AEWV purposes. The identities of those occupations are published by INZ; this site does not reproduce a list it could not verify.
Does the NOL set a minimum wage for the AEWV?
No. The general median-wage rule on that visa was removed on 10 March 2025 and replaced by market rate with a minimum-wage floor. The NOL classifies occupations; it does not set pay.
What happens if my occupation is not on the NOL?
INZ's stated fallback is that you use the ANZSCO list instead — that applies both to occupations outside the NOL and to visas the NOL does not govern.
How often is the NOL updated?
INZ describes the list as updated annually. That is different from the Green List, which has no fixed review cycle.
Do I need the NOL classification for my residence application?
The Green List and the SMC are classified in ANZSCO. Your NOL classification is what the work visa ran on; it is not what the residence application runs on. The full comparison explains where each applies.
