Permanent Residency in New Zealand
The routes to a long-term, renewable status
Residence is granted mainly through the Skilled Migrant Category, rebuilt in 2023 around a six-point scale, and through the Green List, which names occupations leading either straight to residence or to residence after a period of work. A separate investment route, Active Investor Plus, confers residence on capital rather than on skills.
| Main skilled route | Skilled Migrant Category, six-point scale since 2023 source |
| Points needed | Commonly six points in total |
| Occupation list | Green List, with straight-to-residence and work-to-residence tiers source |
| Investment route | Active Investor Plus Resident Visa source |
| Status granted | Resident visa first; permanent resident visa later |
The six-point Skilled Migrant Category
The old ranked pool, in which applicants accumulated points across many factors and waited to see where a cut-off fell, was replaced in 2023 with something deliberately blunt. Applicants generally need six points in total.
Points come from one qualifying claim, scaled by level: a recognised qualification, occupational registration in New Zealand, or income measured as a multiple of the median wage. A higher qualification or registration, or income well above the median, is worth more points than a lower one.
The remainder is made up from skilled work in New Zealand, generally at one point per year up to a limit. The practical effect is that someone with a strong qualifying claim needs little local work, while someone with a modest claim needs several years of it.
The design trades the old system's fine-grained ranking for predictability. An applicant can usually tell in advance whether they reach six points, which was rarely true of the previous cut-off system.
The Green List, in two tiers
- Straight to Residence. Occupations where a job offer from an accredited employer supports a residence application directly, without a preceding period of work in the country. Typically senior medical, engineering, and specialised technical roles.
- Work to Residence. Occupations where residence follows a period of work in New Zealand for an accredited employer, commonly around two years, at or above any pay requirement attached to the occupation.
- Some entries carry occupation-specific conditions: registration with a New Zealand professional body, a minimum qualification, or a specified rate of pay.
- The list is revised, with occupations added and removed. It describes the position at a point in time rather than a permanent entitlement, so it is checked at the point of applying.
Active Investor Plus
The investment residence route is built around weighted investment categories, so that money directed to more active or higher-risk investments counts for more than money placed passively. Applicants commit capital for a defined period and must spend a minimum number of days in New Zealand during it.
The settings, including the qualifying amounts and the weighting, have been revised since the category was introduced and should be read from the current Immigration New Zealand page rather than from secondary summaries.
Resident visa and permanent resident visa are not the same thing
This is the distinction that confuses almost everyone. A resident visa grants the right to live, work, and study in New Zealand indefinitely, but its travel conditions — the right to re-enter after leaving — are usually valid for a limited period, commonly around two years.
A permanent resident visa is applied for afterwards, generally after meeting a commitment requirement such as a period of time spent in the country. It gives indefinite travel rights, so re-entry no longer depends on a renewable condition.
The consequence of ignoring the difference is not loss of the right to live in New Zealand but loss of the ability to return to it after a trip abroad. Someone who lets travel conditions expire while overseas has to apply again to come back.
Neither status is citizenship, and neither confers a New Zealand passport or the vote in general elections.
Free: the New Zealand visa checklist
A one-page PDF listing every document each route asks for, so you can see what you are missing before you spend anything. No spam, unsubscribe in one click.
The list is not open yet, so nothing was sent and your address was not stored. The guides on this site are free and need no sign-up.
We email a short course on how the New Zealand routes work, then the report offer. Your address is never sold.
Official sources
Checked against these pages in September 2026. Fees and processing times change without notice — confirm before you act.