New Zealand Green List Tier 2
New Zealand
Residency
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See if you're a match →This is a skilled-work residence pathway for people whose occupation is on a priority or shortage list in New Zealand. It generally requires a qualifying job or offer, recognized credentials, and meeting the route's occupation-specific rules.
- Type
- Skilled-worker residence
- Job or skills fit
- Professionals with qualifying skills, credentials, or work
- Core requirements
- Credentials, skills proof, and job or route-specific records
- What to know
- Credentials, skills, or job details drive eligibility
- Duration
- Work-to-residence route after the required qualifying work period.
- Renewal / path
- Can lead to residence, then permanent resident status and citizenship if rules are met.
Summary
The Work to Residence Visa (Tier 2 Green List) is a two-stage pathway for workers in mid-skilled roles New Zealand wants to retain. You arrive on an initial work visa, spend 2 years in a qualifying Tier 2 job, and then apply for residency. It's slower than Tier 1 but covers a much wider range of occupations — particularly skilled trades, construction, ICT support, specialist healthcare support, and primary-industry roles.
For Americans in diesel mechanics, civil construction trades, carpentry, bricklaying, automotive electrics, ICT analyst/support, dairy farm management, or welding, this is typically the cleanest route. The 2-year commitment is real but the end-point is permanent residence in one of the most livable countries in the world.
Eligibility
Your occupation must be on the Tier 2 list
Tier 2 sits alongside Tier 1 on Immigration NZ's Green List page. Representative categories:
- Skilled trades: bricklayer, carpenter/joiner, fibrous plasterer, painting trades worker, roof tiler, stonemason, wall and floor tiler, drainlayer, gasfitter, glazier, licensed steel fixer.
- Construction/heavy industry: driller, civil construction plant operator, crane/hoist operator.
- Automotive: diesel motor mechanic (some sectors), motorcycle mechanic, panelbeater.
- Primary sector: dairy cattle farmer/farm manager, beekeeper (apiarist).
- Hospitality management: licenced hotel manager, café or restaurant manager (in some contexts).
- ICT support: ICT support technicians, analyst programmers (some levels), web developers.
- Engineering technicians: civil, electrical, mechanical, telecommunications technicians.
- Healthcare support: some allied-health roles, specialist nursing areas.
The exact list evolves — check the official page before basing a plan on it.
Job offer from an accredited employer
- Full-time (30+ hours/week) offer for at least 24 months.
- From an Accredited Employer holding current accreditation.
- At the role-specific wage threshold (typically at or above NZ median wage, sometimes higher).
Registration and qualification
Most Tier 2 roles require:
- A relevant Level 4+ NZQA-equivalent qualification — either direct (for trades: an apprenticeship certificate) or an assessed overseas equivalent.
- Relevant work experience — typically 2–3+ years post-qualification, though role-specific.
- Registration where the role is regulated (drainlayers, gasfitters, electricians, some automotive sectors).
The 2-year in-NZ requirement
Once on the Work to Residence visa, you must:
- Work in your qualifying role for 24 months in New Zealand.
- Remain employed by an accredited employer (you can change employers — both have to be accredited and the role has to stay on the Tier 2 list).
- Not be outside New Zealand for more than 184 days during the 24-month period.
After 24 months, you apply for the Work to Residence Resident Visa — a permanent residency grant.
Duration, Renewal, and Long-Term Path
- Duration: Work-to-residence route after the required qualifying work period.
- Renewal: Can lead to residence, then permanent resident status and citizenship if rules are met.
What This Route Allows
This route can allow you to live in New Zealand for qualifying work, usually with a specific employer, role, or approved work activity. Eligible family members may be able to accompany you when this pathway accepts dependants. Confirm the dependant file before relying on it: relationship records, minimum income or housing if required, health insurance or background checks, and whether dependants receive work authorization or residence only.
What This Route Is Not
This is not a general open work permission. Work routes usually depend on a qualifying job, employer, occupation, salary, or transfer arrangement.
Application Process
Stage 1 — Work to Residence work visa
- Fees: application fee varies (currently approx. NZD 1,390 plus migrant levy).
- Visa duration: up to 30 months to allow the 24-month NZ work requirement to accrue plus buffer.
Stage 2 — Apply for residency
- Fees: NZD 6,450 primary applicant (2026 rate).
- Review covers the qualifying work history, role requirements, health, character, and family evidence.
Partner and children
The Work to Residence visa lets you bring:
- Partner — on an open work visa (no employer restriction).
- Dependent children — on student visas with domestic tuition fees.
All family members can be included in the eventual residency application.
American-friendly notes
- US trade certifications translate well to NZ equivalents — most trades assess experience alongside formal credentials, and US journeyman-level experience typically maps to NZ qualification levels.
- No state-by-state licensing — one NZ registration covers the country, unlike the US patchwork.
- Tradespeople in high demand: post-quake rebuilding in Canterbury and infrastructure upgrades nationwide keep the construction trades list active year after year.
- Dairy industry: mature market with genuine year-round demand, particularly in South Island and Taranaki.
Next Steps
- Confirm your occupation is on the Tier 2 list and review role-specific wage/registration requirements.
- Check accredited employers in your sector — NZ trade bodies and industry recruiters publish accredited-employer lists.
- Apply for NZ trade registration if your role requires it — Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board, Electrical Workers Registration Board, etc.
- Get your overseas qualifications assessed by NZQA (NZD 884, 20 working days).
- Pursue a job offer from an accredited employer.
- Apply for the Work to Residence visa once you have the offer.
- Work in NZ for 24 months in your qualifying role.
- Apply for residency at the end of the 24 months.
Sources
- Immigration NZ — Work to Residence Visa — official page with current fees and criteria.
- Immigration NZ — Green List pathway to residence — residence-stage overview.
- Green List roles — Tier 1 and Tier 2 occupations — the list with role-specific criteria.
- Accredited Employer register — employer accreditation lookup.
- NZQA international qualifications assessment — for overseas credential recognition.