Citizeo
Pathway

New Zealand Transport Work to Residence Visa

New Zealand Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

New Zealand's Transport Work to Residence Visa is for people aged 55 or younger who have completed qualifying New Zealand transport work and have a current transport job or offer from an accredited employer.

Type
Transport workforce residence
Work history
Usually 24 months in qualifying New Zealand transport roles
Employer
Accredited New Zealand employer
What to know
Role list, wage rate, and transitional timing rules matter
What it gives
Approval grants residence, allowing the family included in the application to live, work, and study in New Zealand indefinitely.
Main limit
It is not a residence route for every driver, logistics worker, or maritime employee.

Summary

The Transport Work to Residence Visa is a residence route for a person who has completed 24 months of qualifying New Zealand work in an approved transport occupation and still has a qualifying job or offer.

For a person starting the pathway now, the listed occupations are Ship's Master and Deck Hand. Some people who entered specified driver and transport jobs before those occupations were removed on 7 April 2024 can still use transitional rules. Dates, visas, duties, pay, and any maritime qualification must all line up.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

The principal applicant must be 55 or younger and have completed at least 24 months of qualifying New Zealand work within the 30 months immediately before applying. Throughout the counted period, they must have held a visa allowing the work and met the occupation, hours, and pay rules then applying. Counted work can be split into separate periods, but any gap reduces the room available in the 30-month window.

The applicant must currently work in, or hold an offer for, an approved job that is:

As of 15 August 2026, the current rate for Ship's Master and Deck Hand is NZD 35 an hour. A Ship's Master needs the specified Skipper Restricted Limits endorsement or recognized STCW certificate. A Deck Hand needs a recognized Qualified Deck Crew or Deck Watch Rating certificate.

The removed occupations — including qualifying bus drivers, truck drivers, aircraft refuellers, furniture removalists, tanker drivers, and tow-truck drivers — are available only under detailed transitional rules. Broadly, the person needed qualifying employment and an eligible work visa, or a successful eligible application, by 6 April 2024. They should test their exact start, application, visa, employer, license, and pay history against INZ's current instructions.

The principal applicant must speak and understand English and meet health, character, and identity requirements. A partner and dependent children aged 24 or younger can be included if they meet relationship, health, character, and applicable English rules.

What This Route Allows

Approval grants residence, allowing the family included in the application to live, work, and study in New Zealand indefinitely. The initial resident visa normally has 2 years of travel conditions.

After holding residence for 2 years in a row, the holder may apply for a Permanent Resident Visa if the applicable requirements are met. Until then, travel conditions must remain valid for return to New Zealand.

What This Route Is Not

It is not a residence route for every driver, logistics worker, or maritime employee. A job title alone is insufficient: INZ checks the occupation code and duties, qualifying visa, employer accreditation, hours, contract term, pay across the counted period, and required licenses or certificates.

It is also not available merely because the applicant has 2 years of overseas transport experience. The qualifying work must be in New Zealand, and it must fall within the final 30-month window.

Next Steps

  1. Identify whether the case uses Ship's Master, Deck Hand, or a removed occupation's transitional rule.
  2. Build a month-by-month table of visas, employers, occupations, hours, pay, leave, and any job changes for the last 30 months.
  3. Verify the current employer's accreditation and obtain a compliant permanent or 12-month offer.
  4. Gather employment agreements, job descriptions, payslips, Inland Revenue earnings records, and maritime certificates or driving licenses.
  5. Recheck the rate in force and any wage-lock rules before applying, particularly because revised skilled-residence wage rules take effect on 24 August 2026.
  6. Prepare English, medical, police, identity, and family evidence and apply before early qualifying months fall outside the 30-month window.
Compare your options

Similar skilled worker pathways in other destinations.

Sources