Government announces revamped Skilled Migrant residence policy
Today INZ announced the outcome of the review into the Skilled Migrant Category residence pathway, as well as resulting changes to the Accredited Employer work visa policy.
Skilled Migrant Category policy changes
The government confirmed that changes to the SMC policy will go ahead on 9 October 2023. There will be two further EOI selection draws under the current policy, the last being on 16 August, before the new SMC framework is implemented.
This is how that new framework looks:
General Eligibility
Eligibility is based on two key criteria which are:
- Having a job offer or employment in an appropriate role, and
- Being eligible for 6 points.
Age, health, character and English requirements remain unchanged.
Skilled Employment
An applicant must have employment, or an offer of employment, with an accredited employer that is either:
- In an occupation classified at ANZSCO skill level 1-3 and paid the median wage (currently $29.66 per hour), or
- In an occupation classified at ANZSCO skill level 4-5 and paid 1.5x the median wage.
Points eligibility
There are 11 different means to obtain the requisite 6 points, listed below:
- NZ registration in a specified occupation, requiring 6 years of training, or
- A PhD or Doctorate level qualification (level 10), or
- An offer of employment paying 3 x median wage, or
- NZ registration in a specified occupation, requiring 5 years of training, plus 1 year of skilled work* in NZ on any work visa, or
- A Master’s degree (level 9), plus 1 year of skilled work* in NZ on any work visa, or
- NZ registration in a specified occupation requiring 4 years of training, plus 2 years of skilled work* in NZ on any work visa, or
- An Honours degree or Post-Graduate diploma (level 8), plus 2 years of skilled work* in NZ on any work visa, or
- An offer of employment paying 2 x median wage, plus 2 years of skilled work* in NZ on any work visa, or
- NZ registration in a specified occupation requiring 2 years of training, plus 3 years of skilled work in NZ on any work visa, or
- A Bachelor’s degree or Post-Graduate certificate (level 7), plus 3 years of skilled work* in NZ on any work visa, or
- An offer of employment paying 1.5 x median wage, plus 3 years of skilled work* in NZ on any work visa
*Skilled work needs to meet the same criteria as set out for skilled employment above, or the corresponding income threshold if claiming points based on employment at 3x, 2x or 1.5x the median wage.
Other skilled residence pathways
The Green List (Tier 1) Straight to Residence and (Tier 2) Work to Residence pathways, and the Care Workforce and Transport Sector Agreement pathways remain unchanged. The Highly Paid residence pathway has been absorbed into the above SMC pathway.
This allows the available skilled pathways to be illustrated as follows:
AEWV policy changes
It was also announced that from November 2023, the Government will impose a 5-year limit on holding an AEWV without having a clear pathway to residence. Anyone who reaches 5 years on AEWVs without meeting the education, qualification, occupation or wage thresholds for one of the skilled residence pathways mentioned above will need to leave NZ for a period of 12 months before being eligible to apply for another AEWV. Time spent on other temporary visas does not count towards the 5 years.
Those who already hold an AEWV will be able to continue to apply for visas up to the 5-year maximum, while AEWVs issued from November 2023 may be issued for up to the 5-year maximum period in one go.
The full policy regarding the AEWV changes has not yet been released but we will post further policy updates as they become available.
If you would like guidance on your eligibility to apply for residence either under the current SMC policy up until 15 August, or the new SMC policy from October, or one of the alternative skilled residence pathways, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our team for a free initial assessment.