Skilled Resident Visas
From working here to staying here
Residence is the point where New Zealand stops being somewhere you're allowed to be and becomes home. For skilled workers there are several ways to get there, and which one applies to you depends on your job, your pay, your qualifications and how long you've been working here. Some people qualify sooner than they think. Others are on a work visa that will never lead to residence unless they change course. We'll tell you which, and plan the route.
The main routes to skilled residence
Straight to residence through the Green List.
If your occupation is on the Green List at the tier that allows a direct application, and you have a job or job offer with an accredited employer that meets the requirements, you may be able to apply for residence without a period of work in New Zealand first. This is the fastest route for the roles New Zealand most needs.
​Skilled Migrant Category (SMC).
The points-based route. Points come from your qualifications, occupational registration or income, plus skilled work in New Zealand. It's the route for skilled people whose occupation isn't on the Green List, and it rewards planning: a qualification assessment or a pay rise can change your position.
Work to residence through the Green List.
Other Green List occupations require you to work in New Zealand in that role for a set period first, then apply. Getting the timing and the evidence right, from day one of that period, is what makes the application straightforward at the end.
Other work-to-residence pathways.
Some sectors and some higher-paid roles have their own routes, with their own time-in-role and pay requirements. If you're in care, transport or another sector with an agreement, or earning well above the median wage, ask us before assuming the general rules apply.
The question we're asked most: "Does my job lead to residence?"
Sometimes yes, sometimes not yet, sometimes not as things stand. The honest answer depends on your occupation, the ANZSCO classification your employer has used, your pay against the current thresholds, and whether your role and employer meet the conditions. Small things matter here: a job title that doesn't match the work, pay just under a threshold, a qualification that hasn't been assessed. Most of them can be fixed if you know about them in time. That's what an initial consultation is for: to tell you where you actually stand, and what would change it.
How Abeona helps
Map your pathway. We look at your occupation, employer, pay, qualifications and time in New Zealand and tell you which residence route is realistic, how far away it is, and what would bring it closer.
​
Fix the position before you apply. A qualification assessment, occupational registration, a change of role or pay, or simply time in the right job. We tell you what to do in what order, so you're not applying too early or waiting for nothing.
​
Prepare the residence application. Residence applications are examined more closely than work visas. We assemble the evidence so that every requirement is clearly met and clearly shown, and we lodge it with Immigration New Zealand.
​
Include your family. Partners and dependent children are usually included in a residence application. We make sure the relationship and dependency evidence is as strong as the main application.
Deal with INZ. Requests for information, concerns about the employer or the role, interviews. We respond, and we keep you informed.
​
Plan what comes after. Residence has conditions, and permanent residence comes later. We help you understand what you can and can't do in the meantime and when to take the next step.
Residence Eligibility Assessment
Let's talk it through
​
Tell me about your job, your employer, your pay and how long you've been here, and I'll tell you where you stand: which route is realistic, how far away it is, and what would bring it closer.
​
Residence turns on detail, so I don't assess it from a questionnaire alone. I ask for your documents, including your IRD income summaries, recent payslips, your visa history, your CV and your employment contracts, current and previous, and I review them against the current residence rules.
From that I prepare your written eligibility assessment: the routes open to you, how far away each one is, and what would change your position.
Then we go through it together on a 30-minute call, on WhatsApp or Microsoft Teams, where you can ask everything you need to.
Email: audrey@abeona.co.nz
Get in Touch Today
A short questionnaire first. It takes about ten minutes and means we spend the hour on your situation, not the basics.
Your documents first. IRD income summaries, recent payslips, work visa history, CV, and current and previous employment contracts. These give me your full situation, not a summary of it.
A written eligibility assessment, prepared by me from your documents and the current residence rules.
Video or voice call, on WhatsApp or Microsoft Teams, at a time that suits you
NZD $250 (+GST where applicable). Paid in advance.