Statistics New Zealand and the Australian Bureau of Statistics have developed an updated version of ANZSCO (Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations).

The main changes in ANZSCO version 1.3 are related to skill levels assigned to certain occupations.

How does ANZSCO 1.3 affect New Zealand visa applicants?

If you have an approved work visa, the skill level for your job will not change until your visa remains valid.

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will continue to use ANZSCO version 1.2 to assess the skill level of most occupations till mid-2020. However, occupations that fall in a higher skill level band in ANZSCO version 1.3 will be treated as exceptions – the following circumstances will result in the occupation being treated as ANZSCO skill level 1-3:

• low-skilled: skill level 4-5 as per ANZSCO version 1.2
• skilled: skill level 1-3 as per ANZSCO 1.3, and
• visa applicants earning more than New Zealand's median income, which is presently NZ$ 25/hour

After mid-2020, INZ will not use ANZSCO to evaluate job skill levels for Essential Skills Work Visa.

Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa applications received after mid-2020 will have their skill level determined by ANZSCO version 1.3.

Professional Visa Solutions is following the latest developments in this area carefully and is on top of how ANZSCO version 1.3 impacts various visa categories – INZ will continue coming out with more information on how they will implement these changes.