What Changed in the Skilled Migrant Category
On 24 August 2026 New Zealand's Skilled Migrant Category splits into three pathways: the existing points system, a new Skilled Work Experience route, and a new Trades and Technician route. New red and amber occupation lists shut some jobs out, an IELTS 6.5 rule applies, and draft Expressions of Interest are deleted that day.
Quick Facts
| What is changing | One pathway becomes three |
| Date it takes effect | 24 August 2026 |
| New pathway 1 | Skilled Work Experience — 5 years total, including 2 in New Zealand at 1.1× the median wage (NZ$38.50/hr) |
| New pathway 2 | Trades and Technician — 4 years total, including 18 months in New Zealand at the median wage (NZ$35.00/hr) |
| Points pathway | Continues, with amended point values |
| NZ experience required | Maximum falls from 3 years to 2 |
| New restrictions | A red list of 6 occupations barred from the Skilled Work Experience pathway; an amber list of 14 with tougher tests; ANZSCO skill level 4–5 occupations excluded. Neither list applies to the Trades and Technician pathway |
| English | IELTS 6.5 or above applies under the restructure |
| Hard deadline | Draft Expressions of Interest are deleted on 24 August 2026 |
| Cost | Unchanged at NZ$6,450 (NZ$2,880 fee + NZ$3,570 immigration levy, Band A/C) |
| Full new points table | Published. NZ bachelor 5 pts, overseas bachelor 4, doctorate 6; 2 yrs NZ experience = 3 pts |
Why this is happening
New Zealand's skilled residence system has had a structural gap since the 6-point Skilled Migrant Category replaced the old 160-point version in 2023.
The gap is qualifications. Under the points system, New Zealand qualification levels 3, 4, 5 and 6 earn zero points. The ladder starts at Level 7. That means a fully qualified tradesperson with a Level 4 certificate and years of New Zealand work could never reach 6 points on their qualification, no matter how much the country needed them.
The 24 August 2026 restructure fixes that by adding two routes that do not use points at all. They test years of relevant work experience instead — and in doing so they count overseas experience, which the points pathway never did.
The three pathways
From 24 August 2026 there are three ways into the Skilled Migrant Category. You use one.
| Points-based | Skilled Work Experience | Trades and Technician | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it tests | 6 points from qualification, income or registration | Years of relevant skilled work | Years of relevant work plus a qualification |
| Total experience | Varies with your claim | 5 years | 4 years |
| Of which in New Zealand | Up to 2 years (down from 3) | 2 years | 18 months |
| Pay required | The SMC threshold for the job's skill level | 1.1× median — NZ$38.50/hr | Median — NZ$35.00/hr |
| Qualification needed | Level 7 and above scores | None specified | Level 4 or above |
| Occupation skill level | 1–5 (pay threshold varies) | ANZSCO 1–3 only | ANZSCO 1–3 only |
| Red / amber lists | Not affected | Apply — 6 red, 14 amber | Do not apply |
| Self-employment | — | Cannot be counted | — |
Each has its own page: the Skilled Work Experience pathway, the Trades and Technician pathway, and how Skilled Migrant Category points work. The three SMC pathways compared puts them side by side in more detail.
The two ways INZ describes the same requirement
This causes real confusion, so it is worth being precise.
INZ's news release describes the Skilled Work Experience pathway as needing 5 years of experience and the Trades and Technician pathway as needing 4 years.
INZ's detailed policy page splits those totals differently:
| Pathway | Detailed policy page | News release |
|---|---|---|
| Skilled Work Experience | 3 years relevant experience within the preceding 10 years plus 2 years New Zealand experience within the preceding 4 | 5 years |
| Trades and Technician | 2.5 years post-qualification experience within 10 years plus 1.5 years New Zealand experience within 3 | 4 years |
They reconcile: 3 + 2 = 5, and 2.5 + 1.5 = 4. The news release quotes the total; the policy page separates the overseas component from the New Zealand component and attaches a recency window to each.
The split matters more than the total, because the recency windows are what actually disqualify people. Ten years is generous. Three and four years are not. Verify the split against INZ's own page for your pathway before planning around it.
The red list and the amber list
Two new occupation lists take effect on 24 August 2026. They apply to the Skilled Work Experience pathway only — not to the points-based pathway, and not to the Trades and Technician pathway, which uses its own positive list of 109 eligible occupations.
The red list — 6 occupations, barred from the Skilled Work Experience pathway. They are beauty therapists, hair or beauty salon managers, hairdressers, hospitality/retail and service managers nec, massage therapists and retail managers (general). Chefs and café managers are not on the red list; they are on the amber list.
The amber list — 14 occupations, allowed but on tougher terms. They are the hospitality, accommodation and ICT-support cluster: accommodation and hospitality managers nec, hotel or motel managers, hotel service managers, bakers, bed and breakfast operators, café or restaurant managers, caravan park and camping ground managers, chefs, customer service managers, ICT customer support officers, ICT support technicians nec, office managers, pastrycooks and web administrators.
Amber list applicants need 1.2× the wage threshold — NZ$42.00 an hour against the NZ$35.00 threshold in force since 9 March 2026 — plus 3 years of relevant skill level 1–3 experience gained in New Zealand, plus a further 2 years of skilled New Zealand experience at 1.2×. That NZ$42.00 is INZ's own published figure, not our calculation.
The New Zealand requirement on those first 3 years is the sting. The standard test accepts relevant experience gained anywhere in the world; the amber test requires all five years to be in New Zealand.
Separately, occupations at ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5 cannot use the two new pathways at all, regardless of which list they appear on. Both new pathways require a skill level 1–3 occupation.
Coverage published after the March 2026 announcement widely had these lists inverted — 14 red and 6 amber, with chefs barred and hairdressers merely restricted. The published tables are the other way round. The SMC red list and amber list occupations sets out both in full with ANZSCO codes.
INZ has said the lists are "reviewed regularly" without stating how often. Treat that as meaning they can change without a predictable schedule.
The wage threshold fairness rule
This is the change most likely to help people already partway through the process, and it is easy to miss.
Under the current rules, your work has to meet the wage threshold as it stands now. The immigration median wage has moved several times in recent years, most recently to NZ$35.00 an hour on 9 March 2026. Somebody who worked for three years at a rate that was above the threshold at the time could find that same work no longer counted, because the threshold had risen underneath them.
From 24 August 2026, applicants only need to meet the SMC wage threshold that was in force when they started gaining the relevant skilled work experience — not the current rate.
A 5-month grace period also applies where the threshold rose between the grant of a work visa and the day the person actually started work.
Both changes extend beyond the Skilled Migrant Category to the Work to Residence Visa, Transport Work to Residence and Care Workforce Work to Residence. SMC wage thresholds explained covers the mechanics.
The evidence change: certificates of service
Proving years of work usually means producing tax records, and that is straightforward in New Zealand and much harder in some other countries.
From 24 August 2026 a certificate of service may be used instead of tax records — but only for overseas work experience. New Zealand experience still has to be evidenced the usual way. If your history is largely overseas, this is a meaningful loosening.
English: the IELTS 6.5 requirement
An IELTS 6.5 or above English requirement applies under the restructure.
There is a second, quieter change alongside it: from 24 August 2026, English test results stay valid for 5 years instead of 2 for applicants who hold an eligible occupational registration. For a registered nurse, engineer or teacher whose test is three years old, that is the difference between sitting IELTS again and not.
Note that we are deliberately not publishing a "6.5 for the principal applicant, 5.0 for family members" split. That combination circulates widely on third-party sites and we could not verify it against INZ. English requirements for New Zealand residence sets out what is actually published.
Changes to the points-based pathway
The points pathway is not being retired. It is being amended, and confirmed changes include:
- New Zealand-gained qualifications earn more points than their overseas equivalents. A New Zealand bachelor's degree rises from 3 points to 5, and a bachelor's gained overseas from 3 to 4.
- Level 8 and Level 9 claims now require an underlying bachelor's degree. A postgraduate diploma without a bachelor's behind it will not carry the claim on its own.
- A 6-point New Zealand master's requires 30 or more weeks of full-time study in New Zealand plus a bachelor's degree from any country.
- The maximum New Zealand work experience requirement drops from 3 years to 2.
- Accountants who are CPA Australia members and can perform Qualified Statutory Accountant work can claim 6 points through occupational registration.
The new points values
INZ has published the complete post-24-August grid. The headline moves: a New Zealand bachelor's degree rises from 3 points to 5, a bachelor's gained overseas from 3 to 4, and two years of New Zealand work experience now earns 3 points where it used to take three years.
Some claims now need a supporting bachelor's degree — a master's gained overseas, and New Zealand honours, postgraduate diploma and postgraduate certificate claims. A New Zealand master's earns 6 rather than 5 only where you hold a bachelor's degree and completed at least 30 weeks of full-time study in New Zealand.
Both grids are set out in full at Skilled Migrant Category points, explained.
Step 1: Work out whether the deadline affects you
If you have a draft Expression of Interest sitting unsubmitted in your Immigration Online account, it is deleted on 24 August 2026. Submitting it before that date is what preserves an assessment under the current rules. A draft is not an application and gives you no status — it simply disappears.
Step 2: Identify which pathway your occupation can use
Check your occupation's ANZSCO skill level first. Skill level 4 and 5 occupations are excluded from both new pathways. Then check the red and amber lists on INZ. Only after that does it make sense to compare experience requirements.
Step 3: Check which wage threshold applies to your history
Under the new rule you are measured against the threshold in force when you started gaining the experience, not today's. That means working out the dates of each period of relevant work, and which rate applied then.
Step 4: Re-check the points table if you are using the points pathway
The values change on 24 August 2026. A calculation done before that date, using the table on this page or any other, is a calculation under the old rules.
Step 5: Gather evidence in the new format
For overseas experience, a certificate of service may now substitute for tax records. For New Zealand experience it may not. Employment agreements, payslips and IRD records all still matter.
What has not changed
It is worth being clear about what stays the same on 24 August 2026:
- The fee. NZ$6,450 for most applicants — a NZ$2,880 application fee plus a NZ$3,570 immigration levy (Band A and Band C, as at August 2026).
- The age limit. 55 or younger at the date of application.
- The accredited employer requirement.
- Health and character requirements, including the medical examination, chest x-ray and police certificates less than 6 months old.
- The absence of selection rounds. The Skilled Migrant Category remains a threshold system. There is no ranked pool and no quota queue.
- The two-stage residence structure. You are granted a Resident Visa first; a Permanent Resident Visa comes later.
Where this leaves people already in the system
We can describe the rules. We cannot tell you what to do about them — and for anyone with an EOI in progress, a job change pending, or experience that straddles two wage thresholds, that distinction is the whole ballgame.
Under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, working out how a rule change applies to a specific person is immigration advice, and giving it without a licence is an offence carrying up to NZ$100,000 and seven years' imprisonment. That is why this page explains requirements rather than recommending actions.
If your situation turns on the transition — timing an EOI, choosing between pathways, or evidencing experience gained under an older wage threshold — that is a conversation for a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer. The public register is at app.mbieregisters.govt.nz.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly changes on 24 August 2026?
The Skilled Migrant Category gains two new pathways alongside the points system: Skilled Work Experience and Trades and Technician. New red and amber occupation lists take effect, an IELTS 6.5 requirement applies, English test validity extends to 5 years for eligible registered occupations, the maximum New Zealand work experience requirement drops from 3 years to 2, a wage-threshold fairness rule starts, and draft Expressions of Interest are deleted.
What happens to my draft EOI on 24 August 2026?
It is deleted. Draft, unsubmitted Expressions of Interest expire that day. Only a submitted EOI can be assessed under the rules in force before the change.
Do I have to reapply under the new rules?
The restructure changes what future applications are assessed against. What happens to an application or EOI already in the system depends on its exact status, and that is a question about your individual circumstances rather than a general rule — check with INZ or a licensed adviser.
Which occupations are on the red list?
Six occupations are barred from the Skilled Work Experience pathway: beauty therapist, hair or beauty salon manager, hairdresser, hospitality/retail and service manager nec, massage therapist, and retail manager (general). The list does not apply to the Trades and Technician pathway, which uses its own list of 109 eligible occupations.
What is the amber list?
Fourteen occupations that can use the Skilled Work Experience pathway but on harder terms: 1.2× the wage threshold (NZ$42.00/hr), 3 years of relevant skill level 1–3 experience gained in New Zealand, and a further 2 years of skilled New Zealand experience at 1.2×. They are the hospitality, accommodation and ICT-support cluster — chefs, bakers, pastrycooks, café and restaurant managers, hotel managers, office managers, ICT support roles and web administrators.
How many points do I need after 24 August 2026?
The points-based pathway still works on a threshold rather than a ranked pool, but the individual point values change and INZ had not published the complete new table when this page was written. Take the values from INZ's own pages.
Does the restructure make residence easier or harder?
It depends entirely on the occupation. For a tradesperson with a Level 4 qualification it opens a route that did not exist. For a hairdresser or a retail manager the red list closes the Skilled Work Experience route off entirely. For a chef or a café manager — both on the amber list — the route stays open but demands 1.2× the wage threshold and five years of experience all gained in New Zealand. There is no general answer, and we are not going to give one.
Do the changes affect Work to Residence or the Green List?
The wage-threshold fairness rule and the 5-month grace period extend to the Work to Residence Visa, Transport Work to Residence and Care Workforce Work to Residence. The Green List itself is a separate schedule of occupations and is not restructured on 24 August 2026 — see the Green List explained.
Is the fee going up?
No fee change is part of this restructure. Skilled Residence remained NZ$6,450 for Band A and Band C applicants as at August 2026 — see what New Zealand residence actually costs.
