Green List in 2026: Which Roles Qualify and What Is the Pathway to Residence?

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Green List in 2026: Which Roles Qualify and What Is the Pathway to Residence?

Zealand Immigration

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RESIDENCE — GREEN LIST 2026

Green List in 2026: Which Roles Qualify and What Is the Pathway to Residence?

New Zealand's Green List remains the fastest route to residence for workers in in-demand occupations — but wage thresholds changed in March 2026 and new roles were added in 2025. If you are working in a skilled occupation, your Green List status may be different from what you last checked.

By Zealand Immigration Team May 2026 6 min read

SOURCED FROM IMMIGRATION.GOVT.NZ

For skilled workers in New Zealand, the Green List offers something the Skilled Migrant Category cannot: a direct, streamlined pathway to residence based purely on your occupation — without a points system, without an Expression of Interest, and in some cases without any minimum period of New Zealand work experience at all. It is New Zealand's clearest signal of which occupations the country most needs, and for workers whose role appears on it, the path to permanent residency can be significantly shorter than they realise.

But the Green List is not static. Thresholds change. Roles are added. Pay scale requirements shift. And since March 2026, several settings have updated in ways that directly affect whether you qualify — and what you need to earn to get there.

The two tiers — and what they mean in practice

According to Immigration New Zealand, the Green List operates across two tiers, each with a distinct pathway to residence.

TIER 1

Straight to Residence

TIER 2

Work to Residence

If your occupation is on Tier 1 and you meet the qualification, registration, and pay requirements, you can apply for residence immediately — no minimum period of NZ work experience required. This is New Zealand's fastest skilled residence pathway.

If your occupation is on Tier 2, you must complete 24 months of acceptable work experience in New Zealand at the required pay rate before applying for residence. The work must be with an accredited employer and meet the conditions specified for your role.

Both tiers require you to have current employment or a current offer of employment in your Green List role at the time you apply for residence. Meeting the pay threshold during your work experience period is not enough — you must also meet the threshold at the point of application. This is a detail that catches some workers out, particularly when median wage thresholds increase during their 24-month period.

What changed in 2026

The immigration median wage increased to NZD $35.00 per hour on 9 March 2026. For Green List purposes, this has flow-on effects across several settings.

What Changed	Effective Date	What It Means for You
General Green List wage threshold	9 Mar 2026	Roles without a specific pay threshold must now pay at least NZD $35.00/hr. Check your role's current requirement before applying.
Partner open work rights threshold	9 Mar 2026	Increased from $33.56 to $35.00/hr. You must earn at least this to support your partner's open work visa in NZ.
Teachers — pay scale step requirement	9 Mar 2026	Teachers must now be on Step 5 of the pay scale (previously Step 4) to qualify. Check your current pay step against the updated Green List requirement.
Ten new trades occupations added to Tier 2	18 Aug 2025	Roles in construction, electrical, plumbing, and related trades can now access the 24-month Work to Residence pathway. Check immigration.govt.nz to confirm your occupation is listed.
AEWV application form updated for Green List roles	7 Jul 2025	Occupation-specific questions replaced with general questions. Green List requirements for each role now display directly in the form — making it easier to confirm what you need to meet.

The wage continuity requirement — a critical detail

One of the most important — and most misunderstood — aspects of the Tier 2 pathway is that your pay must meet the required threshold throughout your 24-month work experience period, not just at the beginning and end. According to Immigration New Zealand, if your pay drops below the required rate at any point during the 24 months, your work experience stops counting from that date. It only resumes once your pay returns to the required level.

! PAY GAP DURING YOUR 24 MONTHS — WHAT IT MEANS

If the median wage increases during your 24-month period and your employer does not increase your pay to match, your work experience may stop counting. Workers who started their 24 months before the March 2026 wage increase should check whether their current pay rate still meets the threshold for their role. If it does not, the gap period cannot be counted — and your residence eligibility date moves back accordingly.

A real scenario: Tier 1 vs Tier 2 — the difference it makes

SCENARIO

Two nurses, two different timelines

Aroha is a registered nurse who arrived in New Zealand in mid-2025. Her occupation sits on the Green List at Tier 1. She holds full registration with the Nursing Council of New Zealand and meets the pay threshold for her role. When she came to us, she was surprised to learn that she could apply for residence immediately — she did not need to wait 24 months. Her Straight to Residence application was straightforward, and she received her residence visa within months of arriving.

James is a special needs teacher who arrived around the same time. His occupation is on the Green List at Tier 2. He began counting his 24-month work experience period from the date he started work in New Zealand, meeting the pay threshold at that time. When the March 2026 median wage increase brought the threshold to $35.00 per hour, James's employer updated his pay to match. His 24-month period has continued without interruption, and he is on track to apply for residence in mid-2027.

The difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 — in James's case, roughly two years — is determined entirely by which tier your occupation sits on. Checking your tier early is one of the most valuable things a worker in a skilled occupation can do.

Partner work rights on the Green List

One benefit of the Green List that is often overlooked is the partner work rights it can bring. According to Immigration New Zealand, workers in Green List roles can support their partner to hold an open work visa — meaning their partner can work for any employer in any role in New Zealand, without restriction. To access this, the Green List worker must earn at least NZD $35.00 per hour, the updated partner support threshold from 9 March 2026. For families planning a move to New Zealand together, this is a significant practical benefit worth factoring into your planning.

Is your occupation on the Green List?

The Green List covers a wide range of occupations across health, education, engineering, construction, trades, and other sectors. Checking whether your role appears — and on which tier — is the starting point for any Green List residence planning. What is less straightforward is confirming whether you meet all the requirements for your specific occupation: the qualification or registration level, the pay threshold as updated in 2026, and the conditions that apply to your particular role.

"The Green List is New Zealand's clearest signal of who it wants to stay permanently. If your occupation is on it, the pathway to residence is genuinely within reach — but the details matter, and they change."

At Zealand Immigration, we regularly work with skilled professionals who did not realise their occupation was on the Green List, or who were unaware that the threshold for their role had changed. A short conversation with a licensed adviser can save months of uncertainty.

OFFICIAL SOURCES

DISCLAIMER

This article is intended for general information and educational purposes only. It does not constitute immigration advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for personalised professional advice from a Licensed Immigration Adviser registered with the Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA) or a New Zealand lawyer. Immigration rules change frequently — always verify current policy directly with Immigration New Zealand at immigration.govt.nz before making any immigration decisions.

Green List in 2026: Which Roles Qualify and What Is the Pathway to Residence?

Green List in 2026: Which Roles Qualify and What Is the Pathway to Residence?

The two tiers — and what they mean in practice

Straight to Residence

Work to Residence

What changed in 2026

The wage continuity requirement — a critical detail

A real scenario: Tier 1 vs Tier 2 — the difference it makes

Two nurses, two different timelines

Partner work rights on the Green List

Is your occupation on the Green List?

Is your role on the Green List?

OFFICIAL SOURCES

DISCLAIMER