What you will need:

A Temporary Permit will allow you to live in New Zealand as a student, worker, visitor, entrepreneur, business or sportsperson for a fixed period of time;

A Residence Permit will allow you to live in New Zealand permanently.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT TEMPORARY PERMITS

Temporary permits are available for specific purposes and have a variety of conditions attached to them by the New Zealand Immigration Serice (NZIS) depending on what kind of permit is issued. The conditions are not onerous but they must be met by temporary permit holders or they face the risk of having their permit revoked and then having to leave the country. See our Work page for more information about temporary permits for working in New Zealand.

Information about what type of visa to apply for (so that you are issued with a permit to stay here when you arrive) can be abtained directly from us, or you may visit the following NZIS website: http://www.immigration.govt.nz/

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT RESIDENCE

Permanent resdience can be gained by way of a number of NZIS Policies, such as Skilled Migrant Category, Family, Long Term Business Visa, Entrepreneur, Talent, Skills Shortage and so on. For a full list of policies you can visit the follwoing NZIS website: http://www.immigration.govt.nz/ By far the most popular route to resdiency in New Zealand is via the Skilled Migrant Category - see following information about what is required.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT SKILLED MIGRANT CATEGORY

Permanent Residence under the Skilled Migration Category

Recent changes to the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) scheme have made the selection system easier to understand and more flexible.

To be considered under the Permanent Residence visa Skilled Migrant Category an applicant will first need to pass through two main stages. The first is the submission of an Expression of Interest (EOI) into the “EOI Pool”. The second stage applies when, following an initial assessment of your EOI, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) issues you with an invitation to apply for residence.

Submitting an Expression of Interest

For your Expression of Interest to be selected from the EOI Pool, you will need to have at least 100 points. At this stage you should submit an extremely informative and comprehensive Expression of Interest to Immigration New Zealand.

Selections from the EOI Pool take place every fortnight (see our Homepage link to the INZ web-page that contains selection dates and results) and if selected, usually within a 3-month period, you may be invited to apply for a Permanent Resident visa. Whether or not you are selected will depend on the quality of your application and on you meeting the criteria to be invited to by INZ to submit an application for a residence permit.

No Guarantee of Residence

Please note that being invited to apply for residence is not a guarantee that you will be issued with a residence permit.

First you will have to meet the Immigration New Zealand criteria relevant to the EOI points you have claimed, some of which may be the following:

- Hold an offer of skilled employment or skilled employment in New Zealand

- Have at least 2 years skilled employment in New Zealand

- Hold a recognised undergraduate or post graduate qualification

- Be less than 55 years of age at the time your application is submitted

- Have a close family member living in New Zealand (means immediate own family) and New Zealand is their main place of residence

You may also qualify for bonus points if you:

- Have obtained an offer of skilled employment in New Zealand OR have current skilled employment in New Zealand in an identified future growth area or an area of absolute skill shortage

- Have 1 year, 2 years or 3 or more years of full-time work experience in New Zealand

- Have work experience in an identified growth area or an area of absolute skills shortage

- Have 2 years full-time study in New Zealand towards a recognised qualification

- Have a recognised basic New Zealand qualification

- Have a recognised post-graduate New Zealand qualification

- Have a qualification in an identified future growth area or an area of absolute skill shortage

- Partner holds a recognised qualification.

There are a number of other things to consider in order to correctly allocate points and make a valid application.

Requirements include:

- You must have a high level of competence in English (IELTS 6.5). For applicants who do not have IELTS 6.5, an immigration officer may consider that an applicant meets the English language requirements if they are able to demonstrate that they meet other criteria as to English language ability, such as: employment in NZ of at least 12 months where English is the main medium of communication, have studied a full time for 2 years for a relevant qualification or for 1 year full time for a qualification that would qualify for points under the skilled migrant category, etc, etc, etc;

- All residence applicants must provide medical certificates and those aged 17 and older and must also provide Police certificates to confirm good character.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

The above is a summary of the main requirements and should not be read as a full description of the EOI or residence criteria or requirements.