Immigration
Six-points Skilled Migrant Category and Accredited Employer Work Visa
A points-based Skilled Migrant Category alongside the employer-led Accredited Employer Work Visa. Since 2023 the skilled points system awards points for skill level rather than ranking candidates against each other.
Key rules
- Deadline — Citizenship by grant generally requires five years' residence as a resident, with presence requirements in each of those years
- Deadline — Appeals to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal: 42 days for residence decisions
Governing law
- Immigration Act 2009 (s. 61)
- Immigration RulesOperational Manual
- Citizenship Act 1977
In practice
The Skilled Migrant Category was rebuilt in 2023 into a simplified six-points model, where points come from qualifications, income or occupational registration, and anyone meeting the threshold can apply rather than waiting to be selected from a ranked pool. Most temporary work now runs through the Accredited Employer Work Visa, which requires the employer to be accredited, the job to be checked against the market, and only then for the migrant to apply. Deportation liability and visa refusals are appealable to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal, and there is a residual ministerial discretion under s. 61 for people unlawfully in New Zealand.