The Green List
The Green List has made a few headlines recently, largely because in August 2025, ten new trade-related occupations will be added to it, expanding the list substantially and opening up more opportunities for applicants to secure a pathway to residence. This potentially helps to fill a gap for trade related roles that don’t (currently) have a pathway to residence, yet there is a pretty consistent demand for them.
However, whilst the Green List has been around since 2022, and is essentially a reincarnation of the old Long-Term-Skill-Shortage-List (LTSSL), it still remains a bit of a mystery to plenty of applicants. This is largely because most hopeful migrants, jostling for a spot on this list, assume that having a job offer that matches one of the entries, is all you need.
The Green List is actually a bit more complex than that, with each occupation having very specific criteria attached, as well as serving a dual purpose for both the Straight-To-Residence (STR) and Work-To-Residence (WTR) categories. Depending on where your occupation sits on the list and the requirements for the role, that will determine whether you qualify and how long it might take you to secure residence.
This week’s article, takes a closer look at the Green List, why it exists and how it works - hopefully giving potential applicants a clearer view of whether they are on the list or not and how to follow a pathway to residence.
Occupations - In Demand?
The Green List was introduce in late 2022, as part our Skilled Migrant Category refresh and also to complement the new Accredited Employer Work Visa - this all coincided with our border re-opening when New Zealand employers were scrambling to bring in talent, having been starved of the same, for more than two years prior. With our border closed due to covid and very few people able to come in to fill shortages, there was a sudden rush to bring in as many as possible.
Demand & Supply
The Green List contains occupations considered to be in demand, although that isn’t always a reflection of the current labour market.
The Green List however is not a new invention and in reality the list simply replaced the previous Long-Term-Skill-Shortage-List (LTSSL) which fulfilled the same function and worked in a very similar way (albeit with one key difference).
The Green List and LTSSL are based on identifying occupations that are in demand, that INZ can accept there is a shortage of (so no need for employers to prove that through advertising etc.) and we want to encourage applicants to apply for, giving them pathways to work visas and residence. The LTSSL however only provided a pathway to residence after two years of working in New Zealand and whilst the Green List also does that, at the same time, it has a large number of occupations that can potentially skip the work visa entirely and apply for residence directly (the Straight to Residence pathway or STR). The STR option is the new addition, and has proven to be both very popular and also very efficient - applications are often processed in a matter of weeks, rather than months.
However, one thing that people often misinterpret with these sorts of lists is that whilst they are intended to be a list of occupations we want and need, they aren’t always reflective of the current labour market. Most of the occupations listed, are occupations we generally struggle to fill, however they aren’t always as “in-demand” as the list might suggest. These lists are also modified on a six-monthly schedule (sometimes much longer) and so it pays to do your homework carefully before you assume that because you are on the list there will be jobs available.
The list is also used to plug gaps in the policy and one such gap we have is in the trades. Because many trades people are excluded from applying under our points based system (for lack of registration in NZ, a degree level qualification, or higher income) there is no pathway for them. The addition of the ten roles below, means that INZ can offer these applicants a pathway to residence, without having to reinvent the points based system (or rather potentially changing it much later on). The following ten roles will be added to the list in August 2025.
Metal Fabricator
Metal Machinist (First Class)
Fitter (General)
Fitter and Turner
Fitter Welder
Pressure Welder
Welder
Panel Beater
Vehicle Painter
Paving Plant Operator
Most trade related roles are hard to fill here and so its logical to add these, because over time we will need plenty of them, but demand does of course vary depending on the current labour market. So to hopeful applicants, the key is to identify if you are on the list, and then work out if there are roles available - being on the list doesn’t always guarantee there will be an abundance of jobs.
Specific Requirements
If you do find that your occupation is on the list, and you are able to secure a job offer here in that occupation, then the next big thing to consider is whether you meet the specific requirements for that occupation - that’s right, just having the job isn’t quite enough to make this work, and for most occupations on the Green List, there are specific requirements to be met.
Boxes To Tick
The Green List specifies unique criteria for each occupation - something often overlooked by hopeful applicants.
We quite often come across potential applicants who are excited by the fact they have landed a job on the Green List, meaning they have a potential pathway to residence, however they are not quite as excited when we explain that even with the job offer, they have to meet the occupation specific criteria for that role.
For example if you are applying under one of our healthcare occupations, you would generally need to be registered with the appropriate registration body (Medical Council, Medical Sciences Council etc.). If you are teacher, you need registration with the Teachers council and so on. If you are in IT, you need to earn a specific salary level, and if you are a crane operator you need to be earning a certain amount per hour.
Each role will have a specific set of requirements that need to be met and if you dont meet them, then there is no application (at least not under the Green List). Even with the requirements there can be a fair bit of confusion - is your qualification recognised, when do you need to earn that hourly rate, and what type of registration is acceptable?
These are all things that any prospective migrant, considering a pathway on the Green List, needs to consider and ideally work out before they apply. However if you do have a job on the list, but may not meet all of the requirements, odds are, you probably qualify under our points based pathway anyway…so the Green List is very useful and a good pathway to residence, but not the only one.
Tier 1 & Tier 2
The last thing to consider is that the Green List is split in to two parts (Tier 1 and Tier 2). Whilst all occupations regardless of which Tier, allow someone to apply for and be granted a Work Visa (without the need for the employer to advertise the role), each Tier provides a different pathway to residence.
Pathways To Residence
The Green List offers some applicants a direct path to residence and others a two-year pathway to the same outcome.
For those in Tier 1, which generally consists of higher skilled roles in healthcare, ICT, engineer, education and so forth, then these applicants have a direct pathway to residence (or Straight to Residence).
This means, there is no need to apply for a work visa, provided you are fully prepared with all the documentation you need for residence. These applications are prioritised and in many cases will be completed within a month or two (often quicker). However some applicants may find that a work visa is still necessary because their particular application might take longer - those who have medical concerns, character issues or from certain countries where an external security check is involved - may need a lot longer for the process to be completed. Again, it is important to understand this, because if you accept a job, with a view to applying for straight to residence, but the process takes longer than you (or the employer) planned for, you may need to add that additional step.
For those on Tier 2 of the Green List, the process does indeed require a work visa first, which would usually be under the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) scheme. These visas are issued for five years and so once you have accumulated two years of experience in that role, you can move ahead with residence - bear in mind, it is two years of experience, not two years of holding the visa.
You can combine work experience, obtained with different employers (provided you changed your work visa accordingly) to accumulate the two years, and in fact you dont even need to be on an AEWV to accumulate that experience - if you hold another visa, that entitles you to work in that role (open work visa) then that experience can count.
The Green List does open up a much faster (for Straight to Residence) and simpler (for both Tier 1 and 2) pathway to residence, because there is no requirement for a calculation of points, instead it is all about having the right job, meeting the criteria specific to that job (qualifications, registration or income) and then either applying directly or working your way towards it.
And of course the list does occasionally change with occupations being added more often than they are taken away.
Want To Know More?
Understanding where you fit in to the Green List (or whether you fit at all), can be confusing, but its really important to understand if you are aiming to secure residence here. The first step is to establish if your occupation appears on the list and then the next one is to determine if you meet the criteria that the list applies.
Ticking these two boxes, will then give you the confidence to be able to apply for jobs in New Zealand, knowing that if you secure one, you will have a pathway to residence (for some that pathway might be very swift). Even if you aren’t specifically on the list or if you are, but you don’t meet the criteria, odds are, there could be a way forward under our points based system.
If you are considering a move to New Zealand, then an initial assessment of your options is a good first step, well before you tackle the Everest that is the job search (that is another blog topic for another week).
If you have any questions in terms of your own situation, or your potential eligibility for permanent residence, get in touch today.
Until next week…
