The SMC Red List and Amber List Occupations
From 24 August 2026 two occupation lists control who can use New Zealand's new Skilled Work Experience residence pathway. A red list of 6 occupations is shut out completely. An amber list of 14 occupations may use it, but on much harder terms. Both lists are published in full below, with their ANZSCO codes.
Quick Facts
| What they are | Two occupation lists controlling access to the Skilled Work Experience pathway |
| In force from | 24 August 2026 |
| Red list | 6 occupations — not eligible for the Skilled Work Experience pathway |
| Red list occupations | Beauty therapists, hairdressers, hair and beauty salon managers, massage therapists, retail managers, hospitality/retail/service managers nec |
| Amber list | 14 occupations — eligible on harder terms |
| Amber list occupations | Chefs, bakers, pastrycooks, café and restaurant managers, hotel and motel managers, office managers, ICT support roles, web administrators and others |
| Amber list test | 1.2× the wage threshold (NZ$42.00/hr), 3 years relevant experience in New Zealand, plus 2 more years of skilled NZ experience at 1.2× |
| Which pathways? | The Skilled Work Experience pathway only |
| Trades and Technician pathway | Has no red or amber list — it runs on its own list of 109 eligible occupations |
| Points-based pathway | Not governed by either list |
| Also excluded | Every occupation at ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5 |
| Review cycle | INZ says the lists are reviewed regularly. No cadence is published |
What the lists are for
The Skilled Migrant Category restructure on 24 August 2026 adds two routes that do not use points — Skilled Work Experience and Trades and Technician. Both replace a points test with a test of years worked.
That creates a policy problem. Years worked is an easier bar to clear than a Level 7 qualification or a salary at 1.5 times the median wage. Without a filter, the new routes would open residence to a much wider range of occupations than the government intends.
The red and amber lists are that filter for the Skilled Work Experience pathway. They name occupations that, in the government's view, should not get an easier route to residence — either at all, or without meeting a higher pay and experience test.
The red list — 6 occupations
An occupation on the red list cannot use the Skilled Work Experience pathway at all. There is no higher-pay version of the test and no exception.
| ANZSCO code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 451111 | Beauty Therapist |
| 142114 | Hair or Beauty Salon Manager |
| 391111 | Hairdresser |
| 149999 | Hospitality, Retail and Service Manager nec |
| 411611 | Massage Therapist |
| 142111 | Retail Manager (General) |
The list is tightly grouped: personal-care services and general retail management. "nec" means not elsewhere classified — a catch-all code for roles in the group that have no code of their own.
What a red list occupation can still do
Being on the red list closes one pathway. It does not close everything.
The points-based pathway is not governed by the red and amber lists. A retail manager earning three times the median wage, or a beauty therapist with a doctorate, is making a points claim, and the points pathway works on its own terms.
The Green List routes are separate schedules with their own rules, and several sector routes — Care Workforce Work to Residence, Transport Work to Residence — sit outside the Skilled Migrant Category entirely.
"My occupation is on the red list" is the start of a question, not the end of one. Occupations with no Green List pathway covers the roles that fall between every schedule.
The amber list — 14 occupations
Amber list occupations may use the Skilled Work Experience pathway, on tougher terms.
| ANZSCO code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 141999 | Accommodation and Hospitality Manager nec |
| 141311 | Hotel or Motel Manager |
| 431411 | Hotel Service Manager |
| 351111 | Baker |
| 141911 | Bed and Breakfast Operator |
| 141111 | Café or Restaurant Manager |
| 141211 | Caravan Park and Camping Ground Manager |
| 351311 | Chef |
| 149212 | Customer Service Manager |
| 313112 | ICT Customer Support Officer |
| 313199 | ICT Support Technicians nec |
| 512111 | Office Manager |
| 351112 | Pastrycook |
| 313113 | Web Administrator |
Three clusters: hospitality and accommodation management, commercial food production, and first-line ICT support.
The amber list test
An amber list applicant must meet all three of these:
- Be paid at least 1.2× the SMC wage threshold, and
- Have at least 3 years of relevant experience in an ANZSCO skill level 1–3 occupation gained in New Zealand, and
- Have a further 2 years of skilled New Zealand work experience in a skill level 1–3 occupation, also paid at 1.2×.
The second condition is the one that catches people. The standard Skilled Work Experience test accepts 3 years of relevant experience gained anywhere in the world. The amber test requires those 3 years to be in New Zealand. So the amber route is not simply "the standard route with a pay rise" — it is five years of experience, all of it in New Zealand.
Against the wage threshold of NZ$35.00 an hour in force from 9 March 2026, 1.2× is NZ$42.00 an hour. That is INZ's own published figure, not our arithmetic.
Compare the two tests:
| Standard test | Amber list test | |
|---|---|---|
| Pay | 1.1× threshold (NZ$38.50/hr) | 1.2× threshold (NZ$42.00/hr) |
| Relevant experience | 3 years, gained anywhere | 3 years, must be in New Zealand |
| Skilled NZ experience | 2 years at 1.1× | 2 years at 1.2× |
| Total | 5 years | 5 years, all in New Zealand |
The lists do not apply to the Trades and Technician pathway
This is worth stating plainly, because it is easy to assume two new pathways share one set of lists. They do not.
The Trades and Technician pathway has no red list and no amber list. It works the opposite way round: INZ publishes a positive list of 109 eligible trades and technician occupations, each with an ANZSCO code. If your occupation is on that list you may use the pathway; if it is not, you may not.
Both of INZ's red and amber tables are titled "for the Skilled Work Experience pathway", and the rules appear only in that section of the policy.
The rule that catches more people than either list
Occupations at ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5 cannot use the two new pathways, regardless of the red and amber lists.
This is a far wider exclusion than the 20 occupations on the two lists combined, and it is easy to overlook because it is a classification rule rather than a named list. Both new pathways require the current job to be in an ANZSCO skill level 1–3 occupation.
ANZSCO is the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, and New Zealand still uses it for skilled residence even though it has published a National Occupation List for work visas. The two systems run in parallel and assign different skill levels. See what ANZSCO is, ANZSCO vs NOL skill levels, and what the National Occupation List is.
Step 1: Find your ANZSCO code and skill level
Start here, not with the lists. If your occupation is ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5, both new pathways are closed and the lists become irrelevant to you.
Check the code, not the job title. Job titles vary between employers; ANZSCO codes do not. A role advertised as "Kitchen Manager" may map to 351311 Chef, or to 141111 Café or Restaurant Manager, and those sit on the same list here but carry different duties.
Step 2: Check both lists above against that code
Six codes on red, fourteen on amber. If your code is on neither, neither list restricts you.
Step 3: If you are on the amber list, work through the pay history
The amber test is a pay-history test as much as an experience test. From 24 August 2026 you are measured against the threshold in force when you started gaining the experience, not today's rate. The historical rates matter, and they are set out in SMC wage thresholds explained.
Step 4: If both lists are clear, check the pathway rules themselves
Not being on a list is not the same as qualifying. The Skilled Work Experience pathway has its own experience windows, pay rates and evidence rules, and the points-based pathway runs on a separate points table that changed on the same date.
How often the lists change
INZ has said the red and amber lists are reviewed regularly. It has not published a review cycle, a review month, or a notice period.
We are therefore not going to tell you the lists are reviewed annually, or at any other interval. What we can say is that these lists are the government's main lever for controlling who the new pathway reaches, and levers of that kind tend to be pulled once volume data arrives.
Check the lists on the day you act, not on the day you plan. The Green List changes and review cycle page covers the same problem for the other big occupation schedule, where changes have been ad-hoc ministerial announcements rather than scheduled reviews.
A note on what other sites are publishing
When these lists were announced in March 2026 and INZ had not yet published the tables, a lot of coverage — including an earlier version of this page — reported the allocation the wrong way round: 14 occupations on red and 6 on amber, with chefs and café managers barred and hairdressers and retail managers merely restricted.
That is inverted. The published tables give 6 red and 14 amber, and it is hairdressers and retail managers who are shut out while chefs and café managers face the harder test. We corrected this page on 21 August 2026 against INZ's own tables.
If you are reading a page that puts chefs on the red list, it is working from the March announcement coverage and has not been checked since.
Getting your own occupation checked
Working out which ANZSCO code applies to a specific job — and whether that code sits on a list — is not always obvious. Job titles and ANZSCO codes match loosely at best, and the same duties can map to different codes depending on the employer, the industry and the seniority of the role.
That determination, applied to a real person's job, is immigration advice under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007. Only a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer may give it, and giving it without a licence carries up to NZ$100,000 and seven years' imprisonment. This page describes the lists; it does not tell you where your job sits on them.
The public register of licensed advisers is at app.mbieregisters.govt.nz. See also what a licensed immigration adviser is and immigration adviser vs immigration lawyer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the SMC red list?
A list of 6 occupations that cannot use the new Skilled Work Experience pathway from 24 August 2026: beauty therapist, hair or beauty salon manager, hairdresser, hospitality/retail and service manager nec, massage therapist, and retail manager (general).
Are chefs on the red list?
No. Chefs (ANZSCO 351311) are on the amber list. A chef may use the Skilled Work Experience pathway, but must be paid at least 1.2× the wage threshold, hold 3 years of relevant skill level 1–3 experience gained in New Zealand, and add a further 2 years of skilled New Zealand experience at 1.2×. Some coverage from the March 2026 announcement placed chefs on the red list; the published tables do not.
Can hairdressers get residence in New Zealand?
Hairdressers (391111) are on the red list, so the Skilled Work Experience pathway is closed to them. Other routes are not governed by these lists — the points-based pathway runs on its own points table, and Green List and sector routes have separate rules. Whether any of them is available in a particular case is a question for a licensed adviser.
What is the difference between the red list and the amber list?
Red list occupations cannot use the Skilled Work Experience pathway at all. Amber list occupations can, but need 1.2× the wage threshold and five years of experience, all of it gained in New Zealand.
How many occupations are on each list?
Six on the red list and fourteen on the amber list.
Do the lists apply to the Trades and Technician pathway?
No. That pathway has no red or amber list. It uses a positive list of 109 eligible trades and technician occupations — if your occupation is not on that list, the pathway is not open to you.
Do the lists apply to the points-based pathway?
No. The red and amber lists govern access to the Skilled Work Experience pathway only. The points-based pathway continues to work on its own points table.
Do the lists apply to the Green List?
No. The Green List is a separate schedule of occupations in shortage, with its own Tier 1 and Tier 2 structure and its own pay and qualification conditions. It is not restructured on 24 August 2026.
My occupation is not on either list — am I eligible?
Not necessarily. Occupations at ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5 are excluded from both new pathways regardless of the lists, and each pathway has its own experience, pay and qualification requirements on top.
How often are the red and amber lists reviewed?
INZ says they are reviewed regularly but publishes no cycle, no month and no notice period. Check the current lists on INZ before acting rather than relying on a version you saw earlier.
