How Many Occupations Are Actually on New Zealand's Green List

How Many Occupations Are Actually on New Zealand's Green List

New Zealand's Green List holds 201 occupations: 164 on Tier 1 (Straight to Residence) and 37 on Tier 2 (Work to Residence). Many websites publish a higher figure. They are counting table rows in the wrong direction, because three Tier 1 rows each bundle several ANZSCO codes under one shared requirement.

Quick Facts

Primary source: Appendix 13 – Green List, Immigration New Zealand Operational Manual, effective 23 March 2026. Read on 20 August 2026.

The number, and where it comes from

The Green List is not a marketing list. It is Appendix 13 of Immigration New Zealand's Operational Manual, made under section 22 of the Immigration Act 2009. It has two tables.

Counting the Tier 1 table by eye gives 142. That is the number of rows, and it is the number most published guides start from before adding Tier 2 and rounding. It is not the number of occupations, because Appendix 13 uses merged cells.

Why the count goes wrong: three merged rows

Appendix 13 is an HTML table with merged cells. Where a group of occupations shares one identical requirement, the instrument writes the requirement once and lists every occupation and ANZSCO code inside a single row. Three Tier 1 rows do this.

Add it up: 142 rows + 1 + 17 + 4 = 164 Tier 1 occupations.

Tier 2 has no merged rows. Its 37 rows are 37 occupations, so nothing to reconcile there.

The dental row is the big one

Seventeen of the twenty-two hidden occupations sit in one row. The dental occupations sharing that row are Dentist, Dental Specialist, Orthodontist, Periodontist, Prosthodontist, Endodontist, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, Oral Pathologist, Paedodontist, Clinical Dental Technician, Dental Technician, Dental Therapist, Oral Health Therapist, and five specialisms coded at the four-digit level 2523 — oral medicine, oral surgery, public health dentistry, restorative dentistry and special needs dentistry.

All eighteen answer to the Dental Council of New Zealand. One requirement, one row, eighteen occupations.

Repeating ANZSCO codes are not errors

Several codes appear more than once across different job titles. Code 252311 covers Dental Specialist, Endodontist, Orthodontist and others. Code 311299 covers Audiometrist, Orthotic and Prosthetic Technician and Perfusionist (cardiac). Code 251211 covers both Medical Imaging Technologist and MRI Technologist.

That is how the instrument is written. It is not a transcription mistake, and it is a second reason automated counts disagree with each other. If you are trying to match your own role, see how to find your ANZSCO code.

Why a wrong count matters

A rounded-up figure is not a harmless error. It changes what a reader believes about their own chances.

The inflated number is almost always presented alongside the idea that the Green List is a broad skilled-migration list covering most professions. The real composition says something quite different.

Nearly three quarters of the fast route to residence is health and social services. Add engineering and you have 87% of Tier 1 in two sectors. Whole professions — law, accountancy, real estate, general management, marketing, hospitality — have no entry at all. That is covered in detail on occupations with no Green List pathway.

Tier 2 is shaped differently again.

Step 1: Open the instrument, not a summary

Go to Appendix 13 on the Operational Manual. The page header carries an effective date. The version described here is effective 23 March 2026. If the date you see is later, the content may have moved.

Step 2: Find your occupation by ANZSCO code, not job title

Search the page for your six-digit code rather than your job title. Employers name roles freely; the instrument does not. A "senior developer" contract may sit under Software Engineer (261313), Developer Programmer (261312) or Analyst Programmer (261311), and the requirement text is the same for all three — but the code is what INZ records.

Step 3: Read the whole requirement cell, including the shared text

If your occupation sits in a merged row, the requirement above your job title applies to you. That is the point of the merge. Read the full cell, including the "Qualifications required for registration" text underneath, which names the qualifications the registering body expects.

Step 4: Check the tier before you plan anything

Tier 1 and Tier 2 are not two grades of the same product. Tier 1 can be applied for from offshore on a job offer. Tier 2 requires 24 months of full-time New Zealand work first. The gap between them is years, not paperwork. See Tier 1 and Tier 2.

Is the Green List a shortage list?

Effectively, yes — and it is the only shortage statement New Zealand publishes at this level of authority. Green List membership is the Government's formal position that an occupation is in shortage. There is no separate published ranking of which listed occupation is most needed, and no official scoreboard of vacancies by role.

That has a consequence worth stating plainly: we do not publish regional shortage figures on this site, and we do not publish claims about which occupations migrants search for most. No New Zealand government source we could read supplies either. Guides that rank occupations by "demand" are generally ranking their own traffic.

What can be read honestly is policy movement, because governments do not open residence pathways for occupations that are adequately supplied.

The ten trades added in 2025 were Metal Fabricator, Metal Machinist (First Class), Fitter (General), Fitter and Turner, Fitter-Welder, Pressure Welder, Welder, Panel Beater, Vehicle Painter and Paving Plant Operator.

The review cycle question

The Green List has no fixed review cycle. It is not revised on a published schedule, and there is no date on which additions are announced.

Both of the following statements are wrong, and they are the two you will see most often:

• "The Green List is reviewed each year." It is not. Changes are ad-hoc ministerial announcements.
• "Nothing has changed since it launched." Also untrue. Ten occupations joined Tier 2 in August 2025, and a Tier 2 requirement was relaxed in March 2026.

Between the 9 March 2026 and 23 March 2026 versions of Appendix 13, the Tier 1 table is byte-identical and Tier 2 changed in exactly one cell. Two weeks apart, one change. That is the actual rhythm: long stretches of nothing, then a specific announcement.

The practical implication for anyone planning around the list is that you cannot wait for a scheduled update, and you cannot assume the version you read six months ago still stands. Check the effective date each time.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many jobs are on the New Zealand Green List in 2026?

201 occupations — 164 on Tier 1 and 37 on Tier 2, under Appendix 13 effective 23 March 2026.

Why do different websites give different Green List numbers?

Because Appendix 13 merges cells. Counting rows gives 142 for Tier 1; counting occupations gives 164. Three rows bundle 2 auditor, 18 dental and 5 teaching occupations respectively. Sites that round the row count upward, or add Tier 2 to a partly-corrected Tier 1 figure, land on numbers that do not match the instrument.

What jobs are on New Zealand's Green List?

The full list is published in Appendix 13. In shape: 120 health and social services occupations, 23 engineering, 12 ICT, 4 construction, 3 science and primary industries, and 2 auditing on Tier 1; 17 trades, 7 teaching and health, 7 civil machinery operating, and a handful of others on Tier 2.

Is the Green List the same as a skill shortage list?

Green List membership is New Zealand's formal statement that an occupation is in shortage for residence purposes. It is not the only shortage instrument — the Care Workforce and Transport residence visas exist for occupations that sit outside it.

Does an occupation being on the Green List guarantee residence?

No. The Green List sets the occupation-level requirement. Every applicant must also meet health, character, age and English requirements, and hold an offer from an accredited employer. Nothing on this page assesses whether any individual meets those requirements.

How often does the Green List change?

There is no published schedule. The last confirmed additions were ten trades on 18 August 2025, and the last confirmed requirement change was to Corrections Officer on 23 March 2026.

Where can I check the current version myself?

Appendix 13 on immigration.govt.nz carries an effective date at the top of the page. That date, and the text below it, is the authoritative source. Everything on this page is drawn from the version effective 23 March 2026, read on 20 August 2026.

Do I need an immigration adviser to interpret the list?

Reading the list is general information and anyone can do it. Deciding whether your qualifications and experience satisfy a particular requirement is tailored advice, which in New Zealand may only be given by a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer.