Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has announced the final details of the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) changes taking effect on 24 August 2026. INZ has also announced changes to the wage rate rules for the Work to Residence (WTR) pathways.
01. Details of the final changes
- Clarifying how wage thresholds apply, and how changes to the wage assessment will apply across all relevant skilled residence visas.
- Updating the evidence requirements for qualifications.
- Removing the 120-credit requirement for trades and technician qualifications gained overseas.
- Confirming that New Zealand trades and technician qualifications must be at least 120 credits; where a lower-level qualification is a prerequisite for a higher-level one, the requirement can be met by a combination of qualifications.
- Clarifying that self-employment cannot count towards "directly relevant work experience" under the two new pathways.
- Strengthening settings that support genuine skilled employment.
The changes also include more points for New Zealand university-level qualifications, making it easier for graduates to transition to residence. This supports the International Education Going for Growth Plan by recognising the value of local qualifications and encouraging international students to study in New Zealand. If an applicant claims points for an overseas qualification, it must be assessed by NZQA through an International Qualification Assessment (IQA), or be on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment, to confirm it is comparable to the relevant New Zealand qualification.
Applicants claiming points for a postgraduate qualification must also hold a bachelor's degree, except migrants with a doctorate or those claiming 5 points for a New Zealand master's degree. At the same time, the New Zealand work experience required under some existing pathways will be moderately reduced – for most migrants, from up to 3 years to up to 2 years. The requirement to earn a higher wage rate when applying for residence will be removed; applicants only need to maintain the same median wage rate throughout the required period of New Zealand work experience. These changes take effect on 24 August 2026.
02. Summary of SMC changes
The two tables below show the differences between the current and new SMC settings, as well as the new pathways and eligibility requirements opening in August 2026.
| Points | Current SMC settings | NZ work experience needed to reach 6 points | New SMC settings | NZ work experience needed to reach 6 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Qualification: doctorate Registration: NZ occupational registration requiring at least 6 years of training Income: job or job offer paid at least 3 times the median wage | No work experience points needed | Qualification: doctorate; NZ master's degree (with a bachelor's degree) Registration: NZ occupational registration requiring at least 6 years of training Income: job or job offer paid at least 3 times the median wage | No work experience points needed |
| 5 | Qualification: master's degree Registration: NZ occupational registration requiring at least 5 years of training | 1 year | Qualification: overseas master's degree (with a bachelor's degree); NZ master's degree (without a bachelor's degree); NZ bachelor honours degree, postgraduate diploma or postgraduate certificate (with a bachelor's degree); NZ bachelor's degree Registration: NZ occupational registration requiring at least 5 years of training | 1 year |
| 4 | Qualification: bachelor honours degree or postgraduate diploma Registration: NZ occupational registration requiring at least 4 years of training Income: job or job offer paid at least 2 times the median wage | 2 years | Qualification: overseas bachelor honours degree, postgraduate diploma or postgraduate certificate (with a bachelor's degree); overseas bachelor's degree Registration: NZ occupational registration requiring at least 4 years of training Income: job or job offer paid at least 2 times the median wage | 1.5 years |
| 3 | Qualification: bachelor's degree or postgraduate certificate Registration: NZ occupational registration requiring at least 2 years of training Income: job or job offer paid at least 1.5 times the median wage | 3 years | Registration: NZ occupational registration requiring at least 2 years of training Income: job or job offer paid at least 1.5 times the median wage | 2 years |
| N/A | Wage assessment: the relevant wage level is assessed when the required NZ work experience starts and again when applying for residence | N/A | Wage assessment: the requirement to meet the relevant wage level when applying for residence is removed. Instead, the relevant wage level must be maintained throughout the required NZ work experience until residence is granted. | N/A |
| New pathway or occupation list | Eligibility requirements |
|---|---|
| Trades and Technician pathway | To apply under this pathway, you must:
|
| Skilled Work Experience pathway | To apply under this pathway, you must:
|
| Red list | Red list occupations are excluded from the new Skilled Work Experience and Trades and Technician pathways. Migrants in these occupations may still be eligible under other SMC pathways, for example with a bachelor's degree or higher, or with pay of 1.5 times the median wage. |
| Amber list | Amber list occupations have additional eligibility criteria under the Skilled Work Experience pathway and are not eligible for the Trades and Technician pathway. |
03. Job or job offer and other requirements
All SMC applicants must still have a current skilled job or an offer of skilled employment at the relevant wage level to be granted residence. They must also meet the other residence requirements, such as character, health and English language.
04. How the SMC wage requirement rules work
From 24 August 2026: Most SMC applicants will only need to meet 1 SMC wage requirement, instead of meeting one wage requirement for their work experience and then a higher wage requirement when applying for residence.
5-month grace period: If the SMC wage requirement increases before a migrant starts work, and the migrant starts their skilled work experience within 5 months of their work visa being approved, they can use the wage requirement in effect on the day their visa was approved, even if the required wage has since increased.
Applicants still need to meet a wage requirement when they apply for residence, but it will usually be the requirement in effect when they started gaining their skilled work experience; they do not need to meet the SMC wage requirement in effect when they receive an invitation to apply for residence. This change is designed to simplify the process and provide more certainty as wages rise over time.
05. Aligning the skilled residence pathways
The Work to Residence (WTR) pathways are also changing to align with the updated SMC wage settings. The changes apply to the Green List Tier 2, Care Workforce and Transport Sector pathways.
- Applicants can start counting New Zealand work experience using the wage rate for their occupation that applied when their work visa was approved, as long as they start earning at least that rate within 5 months of the visa being approved.
- The experience must be gained within the maximum timeframe for completing the work experience; for example, for WTR: Green List, the experience must be gained in the 30 months before applying for a resident visa.
- If the wage rate for the occupation increases after the applicant starts work, they do not need to meet the higher rate when applying for residence; they must continue to earn at least the rate that applied when they first started gaining work experience in acceptable employment.
- WTR visa applicants must still complete 24 months of New Zealand work experience within the 30 months before applying for residence.
06. Qualification evidence requirements
Applicants claiming points for a level 8 or 9 qualification must now also hold a relevant bachelor's degree or equivalent bachelor-level qualification, unless they are claiming 5 points for a New Zealand master's degree. Applicants must provide evidence of both qualifications; evidence of the bachelor's degree must include the certificate and academic transcript.
Overseas qualifications generally need an International Qualification Assessment (IQA) unless they are on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment (LQEA). An IQA is not needed for the supporting bachelor's degree. Applicants claiming 5 points for a New Zealand master's degree do not need to provide evidence that they hold a bachelor's degree.
07. Trades and Technician pathway updates
- Applicants must hold a relevant qualification at level 4 or above on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF).
- New Zealand qualifications must be at least 120 credits.
- Overseas qualifications must be assessed through an IQA as level 4 or above; the 120-credit requirement does not apply to relevant overseas qualifications.
- For New Zealand qualifications, the 120-credit requirement can be met by a combination of qualifications, as long as the lower-level qualification is a prerequisite for the higher-level one.
Credit information for New Zealand qualifications is easy to obtain, giving INZ a consistent and objective way to confirm whether a qualification meets the pathway settings; INZ will continue to carry out these assessments.
Although an IQA does not explicitly assess the number of credits, NZQA does consider credit values during the IQA process; for example, to be comparable to a level 4 qualification, a qualification needs at least 40 credits at level 4.
For example, a person could hold a level 4 qualification (with at least 40 credits at level 4) and an 80-credit level 3 qualification that is a prerequisite for that level 4 qualification; the credits from both can count towards the 120-credit total.
08. Self-employment restriction
Applicants under the Trades and Technician pathway and the Skilled Work Experience pathway must provide evidence of directly relevant work experience to show they have the appropriate skills and meet residence requirements.
The new pathways set a high bar for evidence of work experience, including documents that can be independently verified.
While tax records may be available to support a claim of self-employment in a particular occupation, other independent evidence of the nature and skill level of the work may not be available or may be difficult to verify reliably.
To protect the integrity of the new pathways, evidence of self-employment cannot be used to meet the directly relevant work experience requirement.
09. Strengthening settings that support genuine skilled employment
Immigration instructions have been updated to give a clearer definition of the "genuine employment" required for all skilled residence visas (for example SMC, WTR and Straight to Residence). This includes the job offer being "available and ongoing" and there being "a genuine need for it to be based in New Zealand".
The new instructions broadly align the genuine employment assessment for skilled residence with the definition used for the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). This clarification will have no impact on the vast majority of skilled residence applications, but where there are strong concerns and the employment is found not to be genuine, it gives INZ a clearer basis to decline.
| ANZSCO code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 141999 | Accommodation and Hospitality Managers nec |
| 141311 | Hotel or Motel Manager |
| 431411 | Hotel Service Manager |
| 351111 | Baker |
| 141911 | Bed and Breakfast Operator |
| 141111 | Cafe or Restaurant Manager |
| 141211 | Caravan Park and Camping Ground Manager |
| 351311 | Chef |
| 149212 | Customer Service Manager |
| 313112 | ICT Customer Support Officer |
| 313199 | ICT Support Technicians nec |
| 512111 | Office Manager |
| 351112 | Pastrycook |
| 313113 | Web Administrator |
| ANZSCO code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 451111 | Beauty Therapist |
| 142114 | Hair or Beauty Salon Manager |
| 391111 | Hairdresser |
| 149999 | Hospitality, Retail and Service Managers nec |
| 411611 | Massage Therapist |
| 142111 | Retail Manager (General) |
10. Timeframes for gaining work experience
Work experience gained under the Skilled Work Experience pathway or the Trades and Technician pathway must be gained within set timeframes:
- Relevant work experience: the timeframe is 10 years, counted back from the date of the residence application. For example, if 3 years of relevant work experience are required, it must have been gained in the 10 years before applying for residence.
- Skilled work experience: the timeframe is twice the length of the experience required, counted back from the date of the residence application. For example, if 2 years of skilled work experience are required, it must have been gained in the 4 years before applying for residence.
11. Qualification points, New Zealand work experience and accountant registration
The List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment (LQEA) has been updated to reflect the changes to the SMC points system. Points for bachelor's degrees on the list increase from 3 to 4, while points for master's and doctoral degrees stay the same; points for qualifications recognised under the Washington Accord and Sydney Accord also increase from 3 to 4. New Zealand qualifications earn more points; Table 5 sets out the points for each qualification.
| Qualification | Points from 24 August 2026 | Bachelor's degree required? |
|---|---|---|
| Doctoral degree | 6 | No |
| NZ master's degree (30 weeks of full-time study) | 6 | Yes |
| NZ master's degree | 5 | No |
| Master's degree gained outside New Zealand | 5 | Yes |
| NZ bachelor honours degree, postgraduate diploma or postgraduate certificate | 5 | Yes |
| NZ bachelor's degree | 5 | N/A |
| Overseas bachelor honours degree, postgraduate diploma or postgraduate certificate | 4 | Yes |
| Overseas bachelor's degree | 4 | N/A |
Supporting bachelor's degree for level 8 or 9 qualifications
You need to provide evidence of any qualification you claim points for. If you are claiming points for a level 8 or 9 qualification and your bachelor's degree is only being used as a supporting qualification, you do not need an IQA for that bachelor's degree; you must still provide the bachelor's degree certificate and academic transcript.
Joint master's degrees and New Zealand work experience
If you are claiming points for a joint master's degree, you only need to provide an academic transcript as evidence of the bachelor's degree. If you cannot reach 6 points through occupational registration, qualifications or income, you can gain up to 3 additional points for New Zealand work experience; from 24 August 2026, the length of New Zealand work experience needed for these additional points will be reduced.
| NZ work experience | Points now | Points from 24 August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 3 | N/A |
| 2 years | 2 | 3 |
| 1.5 years | 1 | 2 |
| 1 year | 1 | 1 |
New rule for accountant occupational registration
From 24 August 2026, you can gain 6 points under the points-based pathway if you are:
- an accountant able to work as a qualified statutory accountant in New Zealand; and
- a member of CPA Australia.
12. SMC wage thresholds
The table below sets out the SMC wage threshold rates for the Trades and Technician pathway and the Skilled Work Experience pathway. For applicants applying for an SMC Resident Visa under the points-based pathway, the relevant wage rates will not change on 24 August 2026.
| Period | Trades and Technician pathway (SMC wage threshold) | Skilled Work Experience pathway (1.1 × SMC wage threshold) | Amber list occupations (1.2 × SMC wage threshold) |
|---|---|---|---|
| From 9 March 2026 | NZD 35.00 | NZD 38.50 | NZD 42.00 |
| 18 August 2025 – 8 March 2026 | NZD 33.56 | NZD 36.91 | NZD 40.27 |
| 28 February 2024 – 17 August 2025 | NZD 31.61 | NZD 34.77 | NZD 37.93 |
| 27 February 2023 – 27 February 2024 | NZD 29.66 | NZD 32.62 | NZD 35.59 |
| 24 October 2022 – 26 February 2023 | NZD 27.76 | NZD 30.53 | NZD 33.31 |
| 19 July 2021 – 23 October 2022 | NZD 27.00 | NZD 29.70 | NZD 32.40 |
| 24 February 2020 – 18 July 2021 | NZD 25.50 | NZD 28.05 | NZD 30.60 |
A note from Leader
Publication dates, effective dates, eligibility criteria, wage rates and occupation lists in this article should be checked against the rules in force at the time. Before you apply, please get advice on your individual situation from an IAA-licensed adviser.