Thousands of people search for a 'NZ Green List Visa' every month. Officially, Immigration New Zealand does not issue one. Here is the real pathway, the two actual visas behind the name, and how to know which one fits your case.
Quick answer: There is no visa called the 'Green List Visa'. The Green List is a published list of in-demand occupations. If your job is on it, you can apply for one of two real residence visas: the Straight to Residence Visa (Tier 1 jobs) or the Work to Residence Visa (Tier 2 jobs, after 24 months of qualifying NZ work). Most Tier 2 candidates use an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) to get on shore first.
Source: Immigration New Zealand. Verify current rules at immigration.govt.nz before applying.
If you arrived here by typing 'NZ Green List Visa' into Google, you are in very good company. The phrase shows up in immigration forums, recruiter ads, YouTube videos, and even some law firm websites. It has stuck because the underlying idea is real: New Zealand offers a faster, simpler residence pathway for migrants in skilled, in demand occupations.
The catch is that Immigration New Zealand has never issued a visa called the 'Green List Visa'. The Green List is a list of occupations, not a visa product. The two actual visas it leads to have specific names, specific rules, and slightly different timelines, and getting them right matters a lot when you are filling forms or hiring an adviser.
This page sets out, in plain English, what the Green List actually is, the two real visas it opens up, who qualifies for each, and how to figure out which one applies to your case.
The Green List is an official list of occupations that New Zealand has not been able to fill from its domestic workforce. Immigration New Zealand introduced it in 2022 to attract skilled migrants in critical sectors: healthcare, engineering, construction, education, science, and tech.
Each occupation on the Green List sits in one of two tiers based on skill level and shortage severity:
The list is reviewed regularly. Occupations have been added (and occasionally removed) in past cycles, so a version you read about two years ago may already look different. Always verify the current list at immigration.govt.nz before relying on it for an application.
Here is the part most online articles get muddled. The Green List is a list. It opens access to two specific residence visas, depending on which tier your job sits in:
Source: Immigration New Zealand: Green List pathway to residence, Straight to Residence Visa, and Work to Residence Visa (immigration.govt.nz).
A third visa often gets bundled into 'Green List Visa' conversations: the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). The AEWV is the temporary work visa most Tier 2 candidates use to enter NZ and start clocking up the 24 months they need before applying for residence. The AEWV itself is not a Green List visa, but most Tier 2 paths run through it.
The single most important step is matching your role to an occupation code. Immigration New Zealand currently uses ANZSCO (Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations) for most visa applications, while the National Occupation List (NOL) is being introduced gradually for some AEWV-related cases. Using the wrong code or skill level can put you on the wrong pathway.
What is NOL (and do you need it)? The NOL groups jobs into occupations with similar tasks and responsibilities and will replace ANZSCO over time. At the moment, INZ says you can use a NOL occupation code only if your job is on the specific INZ lists that recognise NOL occupations (for example, some roles used for an Accredited Employer Work Visa or a Job Check). If your job is not on those NOL lists, or you are applying for a different visa, you must use ANZSCO.
Mismatching a job title to the wrong ANZSCO code is one of the most common reasons Green List applications get returned or declined. Investing time in this step early often saves months later.
Official Green List search tool: immigration.govt.nz Green List roles. Green List occupation lists for reference: Tier 1 occupations | Tier 2 occupations.
To help you self-identify quickly, here is a sample of in-demand roles on each tier as of May 2026. This is not the full list, only a curated selection grouped by sector. Always cross-check your exact ANZSCO code on the official immigration.govt.nz pages before relying on it.
This is not the full Green List. The examples below are a curated selection of high-demand occupations as of May 2026. The full Tier 1 and Tier 2 lists, along with their ANZSCO codes, registration bodies, qualification requirements, and any pay-rate thresholds, are maintained by Immigration NZ in the residence instructions and change periodically. We deliberately do not reproduce the full list here because it would go out of date silently. Always confirm your exact ANZSCO code, tier, and current requirements at immigration.govt.nz before relying on this overview.
Sources: Immigration New Zealand residence instructions, Appendix 13 (Green List), effective 23 March 2026; Tier 1 occupations and Tier 2 occupations pages on immigration.govt.nz. Pay-rate thresholds reference the immigration median wage, currently NZD $35.00/hr from 9 March 2026.
If you cannot find your role above, that does not mean you are off the list: the official Tier 1 and Tier 2 pages on immigration.govt.nz hold roughly 180 occupations across the two tiers. Match your role by job duties (not job title), then verify the ANZSCO code, tier, and pay/registration requirements.
Both pathways follow the same first three steps. The split happens at step 4.
Processing times, salary thresholds, and accreditation rules change regularly. Verify current numbers at immigration.govt.nz before applying.
The Green List is not static. Immigration NZ adjusts it as the labour market shifts. Recent published changes worth knowing about:
If you began researching months or years ago, recheck the list before committing to an employer or visa pathway. A change in tier (or a removal) can shift your timeline by years.
Source: Immigration New Zealand: News centre (Green List updates), immigration.govt.nz.
Correct. Immigration New Zealand does not issue a visa called the 'Green List Visa'. The Green List is a list of in demand occupations. It opens access to two real residence visas: the Straight to Residence Visa (for Tier 1 jobs) and the Work to Residence Visa (for Tier 2 jobs). Many recruiters and websites use 'Green List Visa' as casual shorthand for these two pathways.
Tier 1 occupations qualify for the Straight to Residence Visa, meaning you can apply for residence directly, without needing to live in NZ first. Tier 2 occupations qualify for the Work to Residence Visa, which requires 24 months of qualifying NZ work before you can apply for residence. Tier 1 is generally for higher skill or more acute shortage roles.
Match your role to its ANZSCO code based on actual job duties (not job title alone), then check that code on the official Green List page at immigration.govt.nz. Also check the qualification, registration, and pay requirements attached to your code. If anything is unclear, get a licensed immigration adviser to confirm.
Yes. Both the Straight to Residence Visa and the Work to Residence Visa require a job offer from an accredited NZ employer. The job must match a Green List occupation in the relevant tier and meet the published pay and qualification requirements.
Yes. If you have a Tier 1 Green List job offer from an accredited employer and meet the other requirements, you can apply from offshore. You can also choose to come to NZ on a work visa first and apply for residence once you have arrived. Both routes are valid.
You need 24 months of qualifying NZ work experience in a Tier 2 Green List role before you can apply for residence. On top of that, plan for visa processing time on the AEWV (to get into NZ) and then on the Work to Residence application itself. Realistic end to end timeline: roughly 2.5 to 3 years from offer to residence, assuming everything stays on track.
No, the AEWV is a separate, general purpose work visa. But it is the temporary work visa most Tier 2 Green List candidates use to enter NZ and start clocking the 24 months of qualifying work experience they need for the Work to Residence Visa. Many people loosely refer to this combination as the 'Green List visa'.
Yes. Partners and dependent children can be included in your residence application or apply for partner and dependent child visas linked to your work visa. Specific eligibility rules and evidence requirements apply, so check the relevant partner / dependent visa pages on immigration.govt.nz before applying.
You may still qualify for residence through other pathways, most commonly the Skilled Migrant Category (which uses a points based system) or the Work to Residence path for higher salary jobs above the general median wage threshold. The Accredited Employer Work Visa is the main starting point for skilled migrants whose occupation is not on the Green List.
Immigration NZ reviews the list periodically and occasionally adds or removes occupations or moves them between tiers. The most recent published change at the time of writing was the addition of ten trades occupations to Tier 2 in August 2025. If you started research months ago, recheck the list before committing to a pathway.
Deeper reading on Green List occupations, the AEWV, and salary expectations for in-demand roles.
The Green List looks simple from the outside, but small details (your exact ANZSCO code, tier, registration, and pay rate) decide whether you get residence in months or years. Kiwi Fern Immigration has guided immigrants to NZ for over 20 years. Book a paid 30-minute case review and we will tell you exactly which pathway fits your situation.
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