Further changes to the Skilled Migrant Category to come into effect in August 2026

Immigration New Zealand is announcing further detail on changes to the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) ahead of these changes taking effect from late August 2026.

Details of the changes include:

• confirmation of key occupation lists, including the Trades and Technician pathway list, and the red and amber lists, which determine eligibility for residence pathways
• simplified median wage settings that apply across all Skilled Migrant Category pathways
• clarified qualification requirements for claiming points
• extended English language test validity for some applicants
• a new recognised occupational registration for accountants, and
• a future ability to extend an Accredited Employer Work Visa to complete skilled work experience requirements.

The SMC is New Zealand's main residence pathway for skilled migrants. In September 2025, the Government announced changes to help New Zealand employers retain skilled workers and support long-term economic growth. These include:

• new residence pathways for skilled migrants
• changes to better reflect the value of qualifications completed in New Zealand, and
• changes to simplify existing settings.

Trades and Technician pathway confirmed

The list of eligible occupations for the Trades and Technician residence pathway has been confirmed.

This pathway is for migrants:

• working in specified
  ANZSCO
  skill level 1-3 trades and technician occupations
• who hold a relevant Level 4 or above qualification, and
• who have at least 4 years of directly relevant experience gained post qualification, including 1.5 years in New Zealand earning at least the SMC median wage.

Pay rates for the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa

A full list of eligible occupations is available here:

Eligible occupations for the SMC Trades and Technician pathway (August 2026)

These trades and technician occupations were added to the Trades and Technician pathway because they are skilled, have relevant qualification at the appropriate level for the pathway and bring important skills to the economy. Many highly skilled workers in these roles did not have a realistic pathway to residence under the current SMC settings. There is a history of migrant recruitment showing that there is a gap in the labour market.

Recognising these qualifications and providing a more realistic wage threshold for these occupations will help attract and retain migrants with important skills for the economy.

Red and Amber list details

As part of the September 2025 announcement of new residence pathways, the introduction of red and amber lists was announced. These lists are designed to manage immigration risk and ensure the pathways remain targeted to genuine skill needs.

Occupations on the red list are not eligible for the 2 new pathways. People working in these occupations will only be able to apply for residence under the SMC if they can claim 6 points under an existing pathway. For example, migrants must either earn at least 1.5 times the SMC median wage, or hold a Bachelor's (Level 7) qualification or higher, or hold recognised occupational registration and have the required length of skilled work experience in New Zealand. 

Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa

Occupations on the amber list are eligible for the new Skilled Work Experience pathway, but must meet additional eligibility requirements:

• at least 5 years of relevant eligible work experience in New Zealand, including
• 2 years of skilled work experience earning at least 1.2 times the SMC median wage.

Migrants working in these occupations are still eligible for the existing SMC pathway (earns at least 1.5 times the SMC median wage, or Bachelor's qualification and above, or holds recognised occupational registration).

Occupations on the red and amber lists were determined based on evidence of historic immigration risk, including indicators of role inflation and immigration fraud. Immigration risk is not static, and we know it is important that these lists are responsive to changes. Therefore, these lists will be reviewed regularly - to both add new occupations and remove existing occupations from the lists where necessary.

Skilled work experience requirements

Relevant work experience must be directly relevant to an applicant's skilled job or skilled job offer and be in an ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3 occupation.

Skilled work experience must be paid at the threshold required for an applicant's SMC pathway. For the Skilled Work Experience pathway and Trades and Technician pathway skilled work experience must also be in an ANZSCO 1 to 3 skill level occupation and be directly relevant to an applicant's skilled job or job offer.

Red and amber list occupations

Further updates to the SMC

Ability to extend an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV)

Migrants who need up to 12 additional months of skilled work experience to meet SMC requirements will be able to apply to extend their AEWV to complete the skilled work experience they need to apply for residence. This ability to extend an AEWV is scheduled to be introduced in 2027. Further details on eligibility and process for this extension will be provided at a later date.

Qualification points

In September 2025, the Government announced that qualification points will change from August 2026, including to provide 1 point more for qualifications completed in New Zealand, than for those completed overseas (except for doctoral degrees and in some cases master's degrees).

We are now introducing further detail on how this will work.

For the qualification, for which they are claiming points, applicants must provide:

• the qualification certificate, and
• an International Qualification Assessment (IQA) if the qualification was gained overseas and is not on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment (LQEA).

Check if you need an International Qualification Assessment

Under the new changes, applicants claiming points for a Level 8 or Level 9 qualification (on the

framework) must also hold a bachelor's degree (except for applicants claiming 5 points for an New Zealand master's degrees). A level 8 or Level 9 qualification includes:

• master's degree (level 9)
• postgraduate diploma (level 8)
• postgraduate certificate (level 8)
• honour's degree (level 8)

Applicants claiming 6 points for a New Zealand master's degree must have studied full-time for at least 30 weeks in New Zealand, and must have a bachelor's degree (this can be gained in any country).

Wage assessment settings

The Government has implemented 2 changes to wage settings.

1. Migrants will only need to meet the SMC median wage (specific to their pathway) in effect when they start gaining skilled work experience and maintain at least that rate when applying for residence. They will no longer be required to meet a higher wage threshold when they apply for residence.
2. A grace period will now apply to the situations where the SMC median wage increases before a migrant starts work. If a migrant begins skilled work experience within 5 months of their work visa being granted, the wage threshold that applied on the day the visa was granted will be used, even if the median wage has increased since then.

English language test validity

From late August 2026, English language test results will be valid for 5 years for applicants who hold a recognised occupational registration.

New recognised registration for accountants

From late August 2026, accountants who can undertake the work of a Qualified Statutory Accountant in New Zealand and who have membership with Certified Practising Accountants (CPA) Australia will be eligible under the SMC pathway.