Some skilled migrants can reach residence more than one way. Which route is right depends on the role, the person's qualifications and experience, and how quickly they want to be settled.
Not everyone has a choice of residence pathway - but some people do, and picking the right one can mean the difference between residence now and residence in two years' time. If you're hiring a skilled migrant, it's worth knowing what routes might be open to them.
The main routes
There are a few ways to residence for a skilled migrant. A Green List Tier 1 role can allow a Straight to Residence application - residence from the start, without working here first. A Green List Tier 2 role is Work to Residence - work in the qualifying role for a set period, then apply. And outside the Green List, the points-based Skilled Migrant Category and the new Skilled Work Experience and Trades and Technician pathways let people qualify on points, experience or trade skills.
The same person can sometimes be eligible under more than one of these. Someone in a Green List Tier 1 occupation who also has strong points might be able to go Straight to Residence or through the SMC - and Straight to Residence is usually the faster, cleaner option if they qualify. On the flip side, SMC has an Interim visa that allows them to stay and work in New Zealand while their residence application is processing, and Straight to Residence does not. So when they make their residence application in relation to their visa expiry date can be important.
What decides the right route
Which pathway suits comes down to a few things including: whether the role is on the Green List and at what tier, whether the person meets that role's specific requirements, how many SMC points they can reach, how much skilled New Zealand work experience they have, if they need a New Zealand Qualifications Authority assessment, and how quickly they want to be settled. A route that looks obvious on the job title may not fit once you check whether the person actually meets its requirements - which is the same trap that catches people on the Green List.
There's also a pay dimension. Most pathways have wage thresholds tied to the median wage, and those move most years, so a route that worked on last year's pay may need a higher rate now.
Getting it right before the offer
The time to work out the pathway is before the offer, not after. The route affects what you need to put in the offer, how you run the Job Check, and what you tell the candidate about their timeline to residence. Getting it wrong at the offer stage is expensive to unwind, and can send a good candidate to an employer who mapped it properly.
Tell us the role and a bit about the candidate, and we'll map the routes actually open to them and which one gets them settled soonest.
