Straight to Residence Visa

If you work for an approved employer or have a job offer from one, and your position is on Tier 1 of the Green List, you are eligible to apply for the Straight to Residence Visa. You must be 55 years of age or under to be eligible for this indefinite visa.
You can live, work, and study in New Zealand with a Straight to residency Visa, and you can include your partner and dependant children who are 24 years old or younger in your residency application.

Qualifications Straight to Residence Visa

To be eligible for points, your qualification must be recognized.

If you are claiming points for your qualification, it must be a recognized qualification. A qualification can be considered recognized if:

• It appears on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment, or
• It has been assessed by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), or
• It has been assessed by a New Zealand registration authority at the same level as a qualification on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment, as part of an application for New Zealand occupational registration, or
• It is an undergraduate degree accredited by the Washington Accord or Sydney Accord.

If you require an NZQA assessment, you will need to include a PAR or IQA reference number with your Expression of Interest.

For more information on:

• Getting international qualifications recognized for immigration,
• Applying for a Pre-assessment Result, or
• Applying for an International Qualifications Assessment,

please visit the NZQA website