Residence Visa: 4 Types to Take Advantage of For Easy New Zealand Migration

If you want to work and become a resident in New Zealand, there are a couple of ways to go about this. A residence visa is a way. You can go through the Highly Paid Paid Residence Visa, Care Workforce Skilled Residence Visa, Straight To Residence Visa, and Work To Residence Visa.

General Requirement For The Work To Residence, Care Workforce Work To Residence, Highly Paid Residents And Straight To Residence Visas.

• The age limit for applicants for these visas is 55. The visas are not open to anybody older than 55 years.
• English proficiency test results. Applicants, their partners, and dependent children over 16 years will need to meet the English language requirements.
• Applicant, their partner and the dependents’ children must meet the health requirement.
• Applicants, their partners and dependent children will also need to meet the character requirements for residence. 
• Applicants must be employed by an accredited employer and AEWV or have a job offer.

Care Workforce Work To Residence Visa 

 The care workforces are professionals and people who assist and deliver in the delivery of health services or help to operate healthcare facilities. These are people in the health sector and medical sector such as nurses doctors physiotherapists and so on. 

Eligibility For The Care Workforce Work To Resident Visa 

•  You must be paid at least NZD $28.25 an hour (level four) of the Support Workers (Pay Equity) settlement act 2017
• You need to have worked in that level 4 role for at least 24 months in New Zealand
• Your employer must be an accredited New Zealand employer.
• You have to get a job that is on the care workforce sector occupations list

Care workforce sector occupations list 

 Child or youth residential care assistant 

 Personal care assistant 

 Aged or disabled carer 

Diversional therapist

kaiawhina (Hauora) (Maori Health Assistant)

Residential care officer 

 Therapy aide

Nursing support worker 

Disability services officer 

Criteria For Employment For The Care Workforce Sector Visa

The major criteria for the Care Workforce Visa is a full-time job that is at least 30 hours a week and is permanent or has at least a 12-month contract.

Straight To Residence Visa 

To be able to apply for this visa you need to work for an accredited New Zealand employer or have a job offer from one and have a job that is on tier 1 of the New Zealand Green List.  Click here to see the jobs on the New Zealand Green List

You can apply for this visa online and the visa allows you to stay indefinitely in New Zealand

The visa is only open to people aged 55 and under 

 The visa cost NZD $4290 

The visa is usually processed within 79 days.

The visa allows you to study, work and live in New Zealand.

You can relocate with your family and include your partner and dependant children under the age of 24.

Older Dependant children must be without children, single and financially supported by you.

Requirements For The Straight To Residence Visa 

•  One photograph of you 
•  Your international passport 
•  Police certificate from your country of citizenship and from any other country that you have spent 12 months or more over the last 10 years even if you did not spend that 12 months all in one visit 
•  You must provide evidence of good health for you and anyone else that you will be relocating with.
•  English language has proficiency results
• Proof of full-time employment by an accredited New Zealand employer

Highly Paid Residence Visa

The Highly Paid Residence Visa is New Zealand’s way of attracting highly skilled migrant workers to New Zealand. The Highly Paid Residence Visa is for people who earn more than twice the median wage.

 Eligibility For The New Zealand Highly Paid Resident Visa

• To be eligible for the Highly Paid Residence Visa, you need to have been working in New Zealand for 24 months and this job has to be in a role that pays twice the median wage
• To be eligible for this visa, you need to the employed or have an offer of employment in a row that pays at least twice the median wage which is currently set at NZD $59.32 an hour.

Work To Residence Visa 

This visa is one that applies if you’ve been in New Zealand for 2 years you are eligible for resident status under the Residence From Work Category. 

Eligibility For The New Zealand Work To Residence Visa

• To be eligible for the Work To Residence Visa, you need to have met the specified requirement on the Green List for the role that you are applying for. 
• To be eligible you need to have worked in New Zealand for 24 months in its Tier two Green List role and also you must have met its specified requirements 
•  You must also have a job or an offer of a job from a New Zealand accredited employer.
•  To be eligible you need to be employed in a role on the tier 2 of the Green List or have an offer of employment for one