Skilled Work Experience Pathway
Expert Guidance for Your Skilled Work Experience Pathway Application
I'll help you work out whether your work history meets the requirements.
What is the Skilled Work Experience Pathway?
The Skilled Work Experience pathway is one of three ways to get residence under the Skilled Migrant Category. It opened on 24 August 2026.
It exists for people who built a skilled career through work rather than study. The points-based pathway turns on holding a degree, an occupational registration or a high income. This category is different – it asks whether you have enough skilled work experience, in the right kind of occupation, at the right rate of pay.
There is no points calculation and no qualification requirement. You either meet the work experience requirements, or you do not.
Eligibility Requirements
A job, or an offer of one, in an ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3 occupation with an accredited employer, full-time at 30 hours a week or more
Pay of at least 1.1 times the Skilled Migrant Category wage threshold (or 1.2 times the threshold if the job is on the Amber List – see below)
3 years of directly relevant work experience, which for most applicants can be from anywhere
A further 2 years of skilled work experience in New Zealand
Age 55 or under, and the English language, health and character requirements
If your current job or job offer is an ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5 occupation, this pathway is not open to you, however much experience you have.
Work experience requirements
Five years in total is required, in two separate parts. The same period of work cannot count towards both, so five years of continuous employment does not automatically satisfy the requirement.
3 years of directly relevant work experience, full-time, in an ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3 occupation, directly relevant to the job you are doing or have been offered. For most applicants, this can have been gained anywhere, including overseas. It must fall within the 10 years before your residence application is lodged.
2 years of skilled work experience in New Zealand, directly relevant to the offer of employment or current skilled employment, in an ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3 occupation, paid at the required rate, completed within the 4 years before your residence application is lodged.
Direct relevance is assessed against the role you are relying on for residence, so three years in an unrelated occupation will not count for you. Immigration New Zealand has also issued specific guidance to its immigration officers on how to determine whether work experience is “directly relevant” to the nominated occupation. This can be more restrictive than applicants expect and may mean that some seemingly relevant experience does not qualify.
Self-employment cannot be counted. If a meaningful part of your career has been self-employed, it is worth working out early whether the remainder of your work history is sufficient on its own. The position may be different if you worked as an independent contractor under a contract for services. If this applies to you, you should seek advice about whether that experience can be counted.
I’m more than happy to discuss how I can assist you with a skilled residence visa application.
Remuneration requirements
Your current job and your New Zealand work experience both have to meet the wage requirement, which is 1.1 times the Skilled Migrant Category wage threshold.
The applicable rate will generally be the threshold that was in force when you began gaining the skilled work experience you are relying on. However, a special five-month grace rule may allow you to rely on the threshold that applied when your work visa was granted.
If the threshold subsequently increases, you are not generally required to meet the higher rate, although you must continue to meet the threshold that applies to you.
From 24 August 2026, your employment also has to meet INZ’s requirements for “genuine employment”. This involves more than simply having a job or job offer. INZ can look behind the employment documentation and consider the circumstances surrounding the role, including the employer’s genuine and ongoing need for it, whether the pay reflects the market rate, whether the job was offered by a family member, and whether there is a genuine need for the work to be based in New Zealand.
Amber List occupations
Amber List occupations can use this pathway, but on stricter terms. Two things change.
All five years of your work experience must have been gained in New Zealand. Overseas experience does not count towards the three-year component. This is the difference that catches people out, because it means five years of New Zealand experience rather than two.
The two-year New Zealand component must be paid at least 1.2 times the wage threshold rather than 1.1, which is $42.00 an hour at the current rate.
Whether the Amber List applies is decided by the occupation of your current skilled employment. The list is reviewed periodically, so check it against the rules in force when you apply.
Red List occupations
Some occupations are excluded outright. If your current job or job offer is a Red List occupation, this pathway is closed to you, and so is the Trades and Technician pathway.
That does not mean residence is closed off. The points-based pathway remains available if you can reach 6 points through a qualification, an occupational registration or your income.
How to apply?
Before you apply, work through your own position:
Confirm your current occupation sits at ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3, and is not on the Red List
Check whether it is on the Amber List, which changes a number of key requirements
Check that your earlier roles are directly relevant to your current one
Check that each period of experience falls inside the relevant time limit
Check that your pay met the applicable rate across the whole qualifying period
The pathway then follows the usual Skilled Migrant Category process:
Submit an expression of interest, which has no fee
If you are invited to apply, you have 4 months to lodge your residence application
Lodge with your evidence, including employment agreements, job descriptions, payslips, tax records and employer letters confirming your duties and dates
Where you cannot obtain tax records for overseas employment, provide a certificate of service from that employer instead. This applies to overseas work only
The invitation is not the decision. Your work history is tested at the application stage, and the documents need to be consistent with each other.
What can go wrong?
Counting the years is the easy part. Applications come unstuck because an earlier role is not “directly relevant” to the current one, because a period falls outside its time limit, because pay dipped below the applicable rate partway through, because the current occupation turns out to sit at skill level 4 or 5, because an Amber List issue was missed, or because the documents do not line up with each other.
Most of it is fixable before you lodge but can be difficult to fix afterwards.
How can I help you with the Skilled Work Experience Pathway?
Assessing a work history against this pathway takes more than counting years. It means checking how your occupation maps to ANZSCO, whether your earlier roles are directly relevant to your current one, whether each period sits inside its time limit, whether your pay met the applicable rate throughout, and whether any Amber or Red List issue applies.
I am a New Zealand immigration lawyer and a member of the Immigration and Refugee Law Committee of the Auckland District Law Society. I can work through your history with you and tell you where you stand. If you are not eligible yet, knowing what is missing and when you will reach it is more useful than a general answer. If an application has already been declined, I can advise you on the options available to you.
Discuss your situation with me
If you have built your career through skilled employment and want to know where you stand, I'm happy to talk it through. Send me your current role, your work history and your pay, and I can tell you whether this pathway is available to you.
Frequently asked questions
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Five in total, in two parts: 3 years of directly relevant work experience, plus a further 2 years of skilled work experience in New Zealand (except for Amber List occupations – see below). The same period cannot count towards both.
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For most applicants, no. The 3 years of relevant experience can include overseas work, and only the additional 2 years must be completed here. If your occupation is on the Amber List, this changes, and all five years must be gained in New Zealand.
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No. This pathway does not require one, which is the main reason it exists. Every other residence requirement still applies.
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Self-employment cannot be counted. The position may be different if you worked as an independent contractor under a contract for services. If this applies to you, you should seek advice about whether that experience can be counted.
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Either 1.1 times the SMC wage threshold or (for Amber List occupations) 1.2 times the threshold.
The applicable rate will usually be the threshold that was in force when you began gaining the skilled work experience you are relying on. However, a special five-month grace rule may allow you to rely on the threshold that applied when your work visa was granted. It is therefore important to identify the correct historical threshold rather than simply applying the current rate.
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No. Relevant work experience must fall within the 10 years before you lodge your residence application, and the New Zealand component within the 4 years before you lodge the application.
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Not yet, because this pathway needs 2 years of qualifying New Zealand experience. The useful questions are when you will reach it and whether the points-based pathway would get you there sooner.
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You cannot use this pathway or the Trades and Technician pathway. The points-based pathway may still be open if you can reach 6 points, so it is worth getting advice rather than assuming residence is closed off.
I’m more than happy to discuss how I can assist you with a skilled migrant residence visa application.