The Green List is New Zealand's list of occupations in short supply, and being on it opens a residence pathway. But the tier a role sits in isn't something you choose, and a job being listed doesn't mean the person doing it qualifies.
The Green List is New Zealand's list of occupations in genuine short supply. If a role is on it, it comes with a dedicated residence pathway that sits outside the usual points system. There are two tiers, Tier 1 and Tier 2, and there's a lot of misunderstanding about how they work.
You don't choose the tier
The first thing to be clear about: an employer can't pick whether to offer a Tier 1 or a Tier 2 role. The tier is fixed by prescriptive lists in the Immigration Appendices. A surgeon is Tier 1. An electrician is Tier 2. The occupation decides the tier, not the employer.
So offering a Tier 1 role doesn't give you an advantage over an employer offering a Tier 2 role. Where the tier does matter is to the person you're hiring, because it changes their residence pathway. A Tier 1 role can let them apply for residence straight away. A Tier 2 role means working here first and then applying. That's a difference to the migrant's route, not a lever you pull as an employer.
The trap: on the list doesn't mean qualified
The bigger trap is assuming that because a job is on the Green List, everyone working in that job qualifies under it. They don't. The Green List role carries its own specific requirements - qualifications, work experience, or pay - and the person has to meet those, not just hold the job title.
Engineers, for example, may need a Washington Accord degree, or a specific degree level and subjects, or an assessment from Engineering New Zealand. Many IT roles require a specific hourly rate. So someone employed as an engineer or in IT isn't automatically a Green List candidate - it depends on whether they personally meet the role's requirements. Immigration NZ will also look carefully at the job tasks to make sure the role has not been inflated or misclassified.
Why this matters for your Job Check
The basis you run a Job Check on decides what the resulting Job Token can be used for, so getting it right for Green List roles takes some thought.
If you run a Job Check on a Green List basis and your preferred candidate turns out not to meet the Green List requirements, you can't use that Job Token for them. You'll need a fresh Job Check on a different basis - high pay, or a labour market test.
And if you're hiring several people into the same occupation - say three welders, where two meet the Green List and one doesn't - they can't all apply off the same Green List Job Check. It only works for the ones who qualify. To cover all three off one Job Check, it would need to have been done on a labour market test basis.
If you're running an open recruitment process and don't yet have a specific candidate in mind, that's exactly the point to get advice on whether to advertise and apply on a Green List basis or not - because you don't yet know whether whoever you hire will meet the Green List requirements, and the basis you choose locks in what the Job Token can do.
Tell us the role and the candidate, or the role you're recruiting for, and we'll confirm whether the Green List applies and what basis your Job Check should be on. See our post on choosing between residence pathways for more information.
