Straight to Residence Visa NZ (Green List Tier 1)

The Straight to Residence Visa gives you New Zealand residence without first working here for a set period, if your job is a Tier 1 role on INZ’s Green List and your employer is accredited. You must be 55 or younger, paid at least the Green List rate for your role (or NZD $35.00 an hour where none is set), and in a full-time job of at least 12 months. INZ’s fee is from NZD $6,450, and its page showed 80% of applications decided within 4 months when we checked on 6 November 2026 (immigration.govt.nz).

Straight to Residence or Work to Residence?

Both are Green List residence visas, and which one applies depends only on the tier INZ gives your exact role. Tier 1 roles use Straight to Residence. Tier 2 roles use Work to Residence, which first needs 24 months of qualifying work in New Zealand.

	Straight to Residence	Work to Residence
Green List tier	Tier 1	Tier 2
New Zealand work needed before you apply	None	24 months of qualifying work in a Tier 2 role
When you can apply	Once you work in, or are offered, the Tier 1 job	Once the 24 months are complete
Age limit	55 or younger	55 or younger
INZ fee (checked 6 November 2026)	From NZD $6,450	From NZD $6,450

The tier belongs to the role, not to the field you work in. A Secondary School Teacher is Tier 1, for example, while a registered Early Childhood Teacher is Tier 2. Check your role on INZ’s Green List before you plan around either visa, and see our Green List residence pathways page for how the two tiers fit together.

Which jobs are on Green List Tier 1?

Tier 1 is mostly health, teaching, engineering, construction management, ICT and science roles. Some examples, with each role’s ANZSCO code (the occupation classification INZ uses):

Field	Example Tier 1 roles (ANZSCO code)
Health	Registered Nurse (Medical) (254418) and the other registered nurse specialties, Midwife (254111), General Practitioner (253111), Physiotherapist (252511), Medical Imaging Technologist (251211), Retail Pharmacist (251513)
Teaching	Primary School Teacher (241213), Secondary School Teacher (241411), Kaiako Kura Kaupapa Māori (241211)
Engineering and construction	Civil Engineer (233211), Structural Engineer (233214), Electrical Engineer (233311), Quantity Surveyor (233213), Construction Project Manager (133111)
ICT	Software Engineer (261313), Developer Programmer (261312), ICT Security Specialist (262112), Database Administrator (262111)
Science and other	Veterinarian (234711), Medical Laboratory Scientist (234611), Food Technologist (234212), Surveyor (232212), External Auditor (221213)

Each role has its own Green List requirements. INZ says these can include a minimum pay rate, a specific registration, a professional membership or a qualification, and you must meet them as well as the general visa rules. Our occupation library shows the skill level and the Green List tier for every ANZSCO code, and the Green List occupations guide goes through the list by field.

Changes to Tier 1 from 8 March 2027

INZ announced on 3 November 2026 that from 8 March 2027 four special education teaching roles move from Tier 2 to Tier 1: Special Needs Teacher, Teacher of the Hearing Impaired, Teacher of the Sight Impaired, and Special Education Teachers not elsewhere classified. Career Counsellor leaves Tier 1 on the same date. Until then, the current list applies (immigration.govt.nz).

What counts as a qualifying job offer?

INZ looks at the job itself, not only the title on the offer letter. The job must be with an accredited employer, be a Tier 1 role, and pay at least the Green List rate for that role, or NZD $35.00 an hour if no rate is set. It must also be full-time (at least 30 hours a week) and either permanent, fixed-term for at least 12 months from when you apply, or a contract or continuous contracts totalling at least 6 months. Your employment agreement or offer letter needs to show your hours, how long the job lasts, your position and your pay.

If you work as a contractor on a contract for services, check your role’s Green List entry for extra requirements. Where a contract-for-services wage threshold applies, INZ wants evidence of 10 years of relevant experience and pay at or above that threshold.

Teachers have a specific note. INZ says Straight to Residence for Tier 1 teaching roles is designed for experienced teachers paid at the median wage, not for new graduates who are not yet paid at that level; it points them to the Post-Study Work Visa or the Accredited Employer Work Visa while they build experience.

How do you apply?

You apply online through your INZ account, in four steps on INZ’s page:

1. Gather your documents. Book medical examinations and order police certificates early, because they must be less than 3 months old (medicals, when INZ receives them) and less than 6 months old (police certificates, when you apply). Start an IQA early too if your qualification needs one.
2. Submit the application and pay the fee.
3. Wait for INZ’s decision. INZ may ask for more information, such as payslips or bank statements showing your pay. If you are in New Zealand, your current visa must stay valid while you wait; if it may expire, apply for a temporary visa as well, which can give you an Interim Visa.
4. Check your application status. If INZ approves the application, you receive an eVisa. If you applied from outside New Zealand, you must arrive within 12 months of the visa being issued.

After you get the visa

The visa lets you live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely, for any employer. Your travel conditions last 2 years from your first arrival as a resident, or from the grant date if you were already here. After you have held the visa for 2 years in a row you can apply for a Permanent Resident Visa, which removes the travel limit. For most people, citizenship becomes possible after 5 years living in New Zealand as a resident, and INZ notes you do not need a Permanent Resident Visa first.

Where applications go wrong

Most problems are with the job evidence rather than the visa rules. An offer letter that does not show hours or duration, a role whose duties match a different ANZSCO code from the one on the Green List, a registration that is still in progress when you apply, or pay that sits just under the Green List rate for the role can each lead INZ to question the application. Medical and police certificates that expire while you are still gathering other documents are another common cause of delay.

If you are not sure whether your role is Tier 1, or whether your offer meets INZ’s rules, book a free 15-minute call. We’ll listen to your situation and match you with the right IAA-licensed adviser.

Current as at 6 November 2026, based on Immigration New Zealand policy and the Green List published at that date. ProVisas is licensed by the Immigration Advisers Authority (licence 201301110).