Working in a Green List Tier 2 role and planning to stay?

Green List Work to Residence is a residence pathway for people working in Tier 2 Green List occupations. You can apply for a Resident Visa once you have completed at least 24 months of qualifying work in New Zealand within the 30 months immediately before you apply, and you meet the other visa requirements.

The 24 months are completed while you hold an eligible visa that allows the work to count towards residence, usually an Accredited Employer Work Visa. Once you have completed the required qualifying work and meet the other requirements, you can apply for the Work to Residence Visa.

There is no points test and no expression of interest. What matters is your occupation, your pay rate, and the length and quality of the evidence you can produce.

The Green List is INZ’s list of jobs New Zealand needs people for. It has two tiers.

• Tier 1 roles can qualify for a Straight to Residence Visa if you meet the applicable job and visa requirements. See the Straight to Residence Visa Guide.
• Tier 2 roles can qualify for a Work to Residence Visa after at least 24 months of qualifying work in New Zealand and if you meet the other visa requirements.

Each occupation carries its own conditions. Some require registration with a New Zealand professional body, some a specific qualification, some a minimum period of experience, and many set their own pay rate. Meeting the job title is not the same as meeting the occupation.

The list changes. Check the current Green List roles and their requirements on the INZ website before you rely on it.

To be granted residence through this pathway you must:

• Have completed at least 24 months of qualifying work in New Zealand within the 30 months immediately before you apply. This can include qualifying Tier 2 Green List work and, in some circumstances, work paid at least twice the median wage.
• Have held a qualifying visa throughout that time.
• Be working in, or have an offer for, an eligible Tier 2 Green List job with an accredited employer. The current job or offer must be full-time and permanent, or fixed-term for at least 12 months from when you apply.
• Have worked full-time, which INZ treats as at least 30 hours a week.
• Have been paid at or above the applicable required wage rate during each period of work you are relying on towards the 24 months.
• Meet the registration, qualification or experience requirements the Green List sets for your current Tier 2 occupation, and have met the applicable requirements during each period of Tier 2 work you rely on towards the 24 months.
• Be 55 or younger on the day you apply.
• Meet INZ’s health, character and English language requirements.

The 24 months do not have to be continuous. Anything falling outside the 30 month window does not count.

This is the question the whole pathway turns on, and it changed on 24 August 2026.

Your qualifying work starts counting when you meet the requirements for the Tier 2 occupation, hold an eligible visa, work full-time and are paid at or above the required wage rate. The applicable wage rate may be affected by the five-month grace period explained below.

• If your Green List occupation sets its own pay rate, your work starts counting when your pay reaches that rate, at the level in force at that time.
• If your occupation sets no specific rate, your work generally starts counting when your pay reaches the median wage in force at that time. A transitional exception may apply to some people who hold or held a visa applied for before 29 September 2023.

The five month grace period

If the required wage rate increases after your work visa is granted, you can use the rate that applied on the visa grant date if you start qualifying work within five months of that date and were paid at least the required rate that applied when the visa was granted. The five-month period is measured from the date the work visa was granted. The grace period does not apply to a variation of conditions or an AEWV job change. A variation of conditions or AEWV Job Change does not restart the five-month grace period.

Your rate then locks

Once your qualifying work starts, a later increase in the required wage rate does not stop that work counting, provided your pay does not decrease below the applicable rate and you remain in the same occupation. Changing employer alone does not require you to meet a later, higher wage rate. If you change occupation, the new occupation must meet the wage rate that applies to that occupation.

For the full history of median wage rates and how the anchoring rules work, see the Immigration Median Wage Guide.

Your qualifying work stops counting if:

• your pay falls below the rate that applied when you started counting
• you stop holding a qualifying work visa
• you leave qualifying employment
• you move into work that does not otherwise meet the qualifying work requirements. A job outside Tier 2 may still count if it is paid at least twice the median wage and meets the other requirements.

Time also stops counting where a change meant you needed a new visa or a variation of conditions and you did not obtain one. The work itself may be fine. The immigration status attached to it is what fails.

Qualifying time you have already completed is not lost, provided it remains within the 30-month window. You can start counting again once you meet the qualifying work requirements. The wage rate that applies when you restart depends on the job you are doing at that time.

The Work to Residence wage rules were brought into line with the Skilled Migrant Category.

Before the change, applicants could be required to meet a higher wage rate when they applied for residence. From 24 August 2026, the relevant wage rate is generally the one that applied when qualifying work began. Changing employer does not, by itself, require you to meet a later higher wage rate, although a new job must still meet the applicable requirements.

The five month grace period between a work visa being granted and qualifying work beginning is also new.

For people already part-way through their 24 months, the change may be favourable because they generally do not need to meet a later higher wage rate when they apply for residence. They must continue to meet the wage rate that applied when they first started accruing qualifying work.

Yes. Changing employer does not by itself stop the clock.

What matters is that the new job also meets the qualifying work requirements. If you change to another Green List job, you must be paid at least the required wage rate for that new job when you start counting work in it. Changing employer by itself does not require you to meet a later, higher wage rate.

A change of employer usually requires a new work visa or a variation of conditions. If the change meant you needed one and you did not get it, that period does not count as qualifying work. See the Job Change and Variation of Conditions Guide.

Frequent changes are not fatal, but each one is a join in your evidence, and every join is a place the application can be questioned.

You can still be eligible. Where an occupation is removed from Tier 2 after you have started counting work toward your 24 months, that work can continue to count, provided you:

• remain in the occupation, and
• continue to meet the Green List requirements for it as they were listed, for the whole of the 24 month period.

This is one of the most misunderstood parts of the pathway, and one of the most reassuring. A removal announced next year does not automatically undo the two years you have already worked, as long as you stay in the occupation and keep meeting what it required.

Yes. Your partner and dependent children can be included in your residence application.

Partners must meet INZ’s partnership requirements, including having lived together in a genuine and stable relationship for at least 12 months when the application is assessed. Dependent children can be aged up to 24. Their age is assessed as at the date the residence application is made, while other dependency requirements must continue to be met when the application is assessed.

Counting the wrong start date

Applicants count from the day they started the job rather than the point when the work met all the qualifying requirements, including the applicable wage rate, eligible visa and Green List requirements. The difference can mean applying before you are eligible.

A pay rate that dipped

If your pay drops below the required wage rate, that period stops counting. A period where you are no longer working full-time can also affect what counts. However, eligible leave, including annual, parental and ACC leave, can count towards the 24 months.

Hours that are worked but not guaranteed

Full-time employment requires at least 30 guaranteed hours a week. Working extra hours on a roster does not fix an employment agreement that does not guarantee the required hours.

Occupation and duties that do not match

The work you actually do has to match the Green List occupation, not just the title on your contract.

Missing the role’s own requirements

Registration, qualifications or a specified pay rate. Failing one of these can undo two years of otherwise qualifying work.

Evidence assembled at the end

Employers change payroll systems, managers leave, and records get harder to obtain with time.

Collect as you go rather than at the end. For the whole qualifying period you want:

• Employment agreements for every role, showing guaranteed hours and pay rate
• A selection of payslips showing your pay during the qualifying period, together with an IRD summary of earnings confirming the 24 months of work
• A job description matching the Green List occupation
• Evidence of any registration or qualification the occupation requires
• Employer letters confirming your role, hours and length of employment, particularly where your pay or conditions changed

If your pay changed during the period, keep the document that shows when and by how much. That single record often decides when your 24 months began.

You can apply once you have completed the 24 months, provided they fall within the 30 months immediately before you apply.

Do not leave it until your temporary visa is nearly expired. If you are in New Zealand, you must remain on a valid visa while your residence application is being processed. If your current visa may expire first, you should apply for another temporary visa before it expires.

INZ fees and levies change, so check the current amounts on the INZ website before you apply.

You will hold a Resident Visa, which lets you live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely. It carries travel conditions that expire two years from the date you first arrive in New Zealand as a resident, or two years from the date the visa is granted if you are already in New Zealand.

After you have held the Resident Visa for at least two years and meet the Permanent Resident Visa requirements, you can apply for a Permanent Resident Visa, which has no travel conditions and lets you travel in and out of New Zealand indefinitely. See the Permanent Resident Visa Guide.

Is Work to Residence a visa?

Work to Residence is a residence pathway. You complete the required qualifying work while holding an eligible temporary visa, then apply for a Work to Residence Visa, which is a Resident Visa.

Do the 24 months have to be continuous?

No, but they must fall within the 30 months immediately before you apply.

When do my 24 months start?

Your qualifying work starts counting when you hold an eligible visa, are working in a job that meets the qualifying requirements, and are paid at or above the required wage rate. This may be later than the date you started the job if your pay only reaches the required threshold afterwards.

Can I change employers?

Yes. Changing employer does not by itself stop your qualifying work from counting, but the new employment must meet the qualifying work requirements and you must hold the appropriate visa for the change.

What if my occupation comes off the Green List?

If your occupation is removed from the Green List after you have started qualifying work in it, that work can continue to count, provided you remain in the occupation and continue to meet the applicable requirements.

Can my partner work while I complete the 24 months?

That depends on whether your visa and employment allow you to support a work visa for your partner, and whether your partner meets the requirements for that visa.

What is the difference between a Resident Visa and a Permanent Resident Visa?

A Resident Visa lets you stay in New Zealand indefinitely but has travel conditions. A Permanent Resident Visa has no visa conditions and allows you to travel in and out of New Zealand indefinitely. See the Permanent Resident Visa Guide.