Work to Residence Visa (Green List Tier 2)

The Work to Residence Visa is the Green List Tier 2 route to New Zealand residence: 24 months of qualifying work in a Tier 2 occupation with accredited employers, then a residence application that lets you live, work, and study in New Zealand indefinitely. Since 24 August 2026 it runs on a single wage threshold, which removed the old trap of needing a higher pay rate at the residence stage than during the qualifying period.

How the 24-month engine actually works

The core of this visa is an accounting exercise: 24 months of qualifying work inside a 30-month lookback window. Three clocks matter, and they are not the same clock.

When your experience starts counting. Your time begins accruing once three things line up: you hold an eligible visa, you are in a full-time Green List Tier 2 job (or one paid at twice the median wage), and your pay meets the required rate for that job. The date this happens fixes your personal wage threshold for the rest of the journey.

When it stops counting. The count pauses if your visa ends, the job stops meeting requirements, or your pay drops below the rate that applied when you started counting. Paused time is not lost; you keep what you have accrued and resume when you meet the rules again. But only work inside the 30 months before your application date can be counted, so long pauses push older work out of the window.

When you can apply. Once 24 qualifying months sit inside the window, you can lodge, provided you still hold or have an offer for a Tier 2 job with an accredited employer that is permanent or at least 12 months fixed-term.

30-month window before you apply

24 months needed

12 mo Counting

6 mo Paused

12 mo Counting

Qualifying work, counts toward the 24 months Paused, banked months are kept

Worked example. Twelve months of qualifying work, a six-month gap, then a further twelve months reaches 24 qualifying months inside a 30-month window. Legally entitled leave (annual, parental, bereavement, sick) counts as work time.

When it starts counting

You hold an eligible work visa, you are in a full-time Green List Tier 2 job, and your pay meets the required rate. The date all three line up fixes your wage rate for the whole journey.

When it stops counting

Your visa ends, the job stops meeting requirements, or your pay drops below the rate that applied when you started. You keep the months already banked and resume when you qualify again.

The window keeps moving

Only work inside the 30 months before you apply can be counted, so a long pause pushes your earliest months out of range. Delay costs months you have already earned.

Since 24 August 2026, your wage rate is locked at the start. You need the rate that applied when you began counting, with no higher rate at the residence stage, and a 5-month grace period if the required rate rose between your visa being granted and starting work. See the wage rules, or book a free call to have your months calculated.

The wage rules since 24 August 2026

The single-threshold model is the biggest recent change to this visa. You need the rate in place when you started counting experience, and that rate follows you: no higher rate at residence, no reset when the median wage rises, and a 5-month grace period if the required rate increased between your work visa being granted and starting work. The details, including worked examples, are in our Work to Residence wage changes guide.

The flip side: a pay drop below your original rate stops the clock, and job changes carry their own rate rules. If you are changing employers mid-period, check the numbers before you resign, not after.

Where cases go wrong

The problems we see are rarely about eligibility in principle. They are calculation and evidence problems: work experience claimed across a job change that was never processed through the correct AEWV variation, payslips that show hours dipping below full-time, an IRD summary that does not reconcile with the claimed period, or a Green List occupation whose specific requirements (registration, qualification level) were never actually met. Because the 30-month window keeps moving, a delayed application can silently drop your earliest months out of the count.

If your occupation is Tier 1, you should be looking at Straight to Residence instead. If you cannot see a Green List route at all, the Skilled Migrant Category’s three pathways may be the better frame, particularly the new Skilled Work Experience and Trades and Technician pathways.

To have your 24-month position calculated properly, book a consultation or check your eligibility now.