On May 11, New Zealand Prime Minister Arlern delivered a heavy speech at the economic summit, announcing a new skilled migration channel project "Green Occupation List Immigration Class - Green List", which ushered in the spring for skilled immigrants who were affected by the epidemic and froze for two years.
Qualified skilled persons (with hourly wages in the relevant regulations) who are engaged in the following occupations can enter New Zealand on a work visa from 4 July and can apply for New Zealand residency from September 2022. From September onwards, people in these occupations can also apply for New Zealand residency directly from overseas:
For the following positions, you can directly apply for transfer of residence after two years of work:
Like other Commonwealth countries, Skilled Migrants in New Zealand are also subject to two entry applications and overseas applications. The application for entry includes two ways: work and study abroad, while overseas applications are directly involved in the scoring pool. This new program opens up a channel for both inbound and overseas applicants!
According to publicly available data, about 3,000-3,500 Chinese obtain New Zealand green cards through skilled migration every year, so most of the first-generation immigrants are basically skilled immigrants to New Zealand. To apply for the Skilled Migration category, applicants must be 55 years of age or younger, meet the skill level of your occupation, and meet English language, health and character requirements to apply. Whether it is a domestic application or an overseas application, the application process is basically the same.
Project Flow:
1. Self-assessment
To apply for Skilled Immigration in New Zealand, you need to achieve an IELTS score of 6.5 and an EOI score of 160. If you don't, you need to find a way to improve your score from the scoring items, such as grades, education, and age.
Scoring Table:
Before scoring, it is important to know that to add points through skilled work, you need to achieve a recognized skill level, as follows:
Position in
- ANZSCO's Level 1-3, pay $25.50 or more per hour;
- ANZSCO's Level 4-5, salary of $38.25 or above per hour;
- Occupations outside ANZSCO, paying $25.00 or more per hour;
to be counted towards extra points.
2. Submit EOI
After meeting the estimated score requirement, that is, 160 points or greater, the EOI can be formally submitted to the IMMIGRATION Department. It is generally submitted online through the official website, and a certain fee is required to pay when submitting. EOI draws are normally selected once every two weeks, 160 points or more will be automatically selected, and applications that are not selected within 6 months will be automatically voided, and applicants need to submit new EOI applications again.
3. Successfully invited
After receiving the invitation, the relevant department will back adjust the applicant, and after the invitation letter (Invitation to Apply) will be given to the applicant, then your EOI status will be displayed on the website as DS, that is, Decrypt Successful. The waiting period for an EOI to be invited to receive an ITA will vary depending on the region, the backlog of cases, and the applicant's own circumstances. Among them, through the way of local work immigration, the waiting period is long and the review is relatively strict.
4. Get the ITA
After obtaining the ITA, the applicant will enter the formal immigration process and will need to prepare and submit all the documents mentioned in the ITA within 4 months.
5. Submit a formal application
List of materials (simplified version): valid passport, immigration application form, medical examination report, certificate of no criminal record, notarized certificate of birth, notarized certificate of kinship, certificate of academic qualifications/skills, language transcript, etc. If the applicant is working locally in New Zealand, some additional supporting documents will be required when submitting the immigration application.
6. Material review
After receiving the documents, the USCIS enters the trial phase, which is handled by the Documentation team department for about a week. When everything is correct, the applicant's ITA status is updated to AR (Application Received) and USCIS will notify the applicant via e-mail. Henceforth, the applicant's case will be scheduled for final processing.
7. Final review
The final review phase is handled by a specific immigration officer, from a few weeks to a few weeks or more than 1 year. Factors that affect the progress of the trial of your case, in addition to the immigration officer's own situation (such as vacation, etc.), there are plus points, and the more cases with more bonus points, the more energy of the immigration officer is consumed during the trial. The final review usually takes three forms: questionnaire, telephone and on-site survey. The survey covers job check, medical check, security check, police clearance, external check, internal check and so on. If there is a problem with any one, it will require material supplementation.
8. Superior review
When the final review is over, the immigration officer who handles your case will package all the material information and submit it to the department Leader for approval, and the results will be produced in 1-3 months, which is a bit formalistic, and the cases without major problems are basically passed smoothly.
9. Approval in principle
When Leader approves, the immigration officer will approve your case in principle and send you a letter of approval asking you to submit your passport and pay a tripartite fee.
10. Become a PR
When your passport is labeled, congratulations on getting New Zealand residency status – RRV (Returning Resident Visa). After that, within two years, applicants need to stay in New Zealand for 184 days per year before they can apply for IRRV (Indefinite Returning Resident Visa), which is a permanent return visa and become a permanent resident.
For New Zealand skilled migrant visa applications, there are 3 outcomes: visa refusal, visa cancellation and "work transfer visa". The third category of results is that at the time of the final review, the immigration officer believes that although the applicant does not meet the conditions for skilled immigration, the applicant has the ability to immigrate to settle in New Zealand, in the vernacular, it is believed that the applicant can create GDP and is harmless to New Zealand, that is, an SMC Search Job Visa will be issued, allowing the applicant to stay in New Zealand or go to New Zealand to work, the visa is valid for 9 months, and the applicant must find a job within the period before further immigration applications.