The Green List - Tier 1, Tier 2 and what happened to the skill shortage lists

The Green List at a glance

Green List version in force

23 Mar 2026

Tier 2 work needed

24 months

Age limit, both tiers

55

What the Green List is and where it lives

The Green List is Appendix 13 of INZ's operational manual, part of Government immigration instructions made under section 22 of the Immigration Act 2009 and referenced by the accredited employer, study-to-work, family-stream work and skilled residence instructions. It was announced on 11 May 2022 as the centrepiece of the Government's immigration rebalance, launching with over 85 hard-to-fill roles across construction and engineering, trades, health and technology, and has been amended repeatedly since: versions in the manual run from June 2022 to the current one, effective 23 March 2026.

Occupations are listed by ANZSCO code, and each entry carries its own requirements:

• Qualifications benchmarked to the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (an overseas qualification generally needs an International Qualification Assessment from NZQA)
• Professional registration where the occupation requires it
• For some roles, experience or pay thresholds, some expressed as multiples of the median wage

Holding the right job title is not enough: INZ assesses whether your actual work substantially matches the ANZSCO occupation, the same substantial match test that drives so many work visa disputes.

Tier 1 and the Straight to Residence Visa

A Tier 1 role supports an immediate residence application, with no qualifying period in New Zealand. The requirements as they stand today:

• An offer of, or current work in, a Tier 1 Green List job with an accredited employer
• Aged 55 or younger when the residence application is made
• Pay at least the rate specified for the role in the appendix, or NZ$35.00 an hour where no rate is specified
• Employment that is permanent, fixed-term for at least 12 months from when you apply, or a contract or continuous contracts of at least 6 months
• The role's listed qualification, registration or experience requirements, alongside the standard residence health, character and English requirements

1. 1
   Straight to Residence opens5 September 2022

   The Tier 1 instructions took effect, and applications opened in September 2022.

2. 2
   Nurses and midwives move to Tier 115 December 2022

   They moved from Tier 2, the best-known change to the list.

3. 3
   Further roles followFrom March 2023

   Further roles followed from March 2023.

4. 4
   The current version23 March 2026

   The appendix in force took effect.

Fees start from NZD $6,450, and INZ's visa page shows 80% of applications decided within 3.5 months; live figures are on our Straight to Residence processing-time tracker.

Tier 2 and the Work to Residence Visa

1. 1
   Start work in a Tier 2 roleOn a qualifying visa

   Full-time (at least 30 hours a week), while holding a work visa, a critical purpose visitor visa with work conditions, or a qualifying interim visa.

2. 2
   The clock startsWhen pay reaches the rate

   Where the role has a remuneration requirement, the clock starts when your pay reaches that rate; where it does not, when your pay reaches the median wage.

3. 3
   24 months countedWithin 30 months

   The 24 months must fall within the 30-month period immediately before the residence application: the buffer exists, but it is only six months. Legally entitled leave counts.

4. 4
   Residence applicationAged 55 or younger

   Holding a work visa or critical purpose visitor visa, and working in a Tier 2 role with an accredited employer at the role's specified rate, or the median wage where none is specified.

Work counts only on and after 29 September 2021, and for the whole 24 months you must have met the occupation's requirements as specified in the Green List, including its pay floor. Fees start from NZD $6,450. Because work only counted from 29 September 2021, the first Work to Residence grants became possible from late September 2023.

The list moves, so check it on the day you apply

The appendix has been amended at least yearly since launch, and roles have been added, moved between tiers and had their requirements adjusted. That churn cuts both ways: a role that was not listed when you arrived may be listed now, and a role you are counting on may have different requirements than the version you read about.

What happened to the Long Term Skill Shortage List

The Long Term Skill Shortage List, Appendix 4 of the manual, was the previous machinery: a work visa in a listed occupation (the WR3 instructions), with residence available after two years (RW4).

If you already hold a work visa granted under the Long Term Skill Shortage List instructions, residence may be granted where you:

• Have held the visa for at least 24 months
• Have employment with a minimum base salary of NZ$45,000 (employment-related allowances excluded)
• Work in an occupation that was on the list when your work visa was granted or is on it when you apply
• Hold registration where the occupation requires it
• Are in New Zealand when you lodge

If your job is not on the Green List

The Green List is not a gate on working in New Zealand: the Accredited Employer Work Visa does not require a listed occupation, and a Green List role's main AEWV advantage is procedural (listed roles are exempt from advertising requirements). For residence, the alternatives are:

• The Skilled Migrant Category, a separate system whose settings changed on 24 August 2026, when it moved to three pathways
• The sector work-to-residence pathways that sit alongside the Green List in the skilled residence instructions, currently covering the care workforce and the transport sector

Which door fits depends on your occupation's ANZSCO classification, your pay and your time in New Zealand. The one generalisation that holds is that none of these pathways rewards waiting for a list to change.

Check your understanding