Long Term Skill Shortage List Resident Visa

This visa is for people who hold a Long Term Skill Shortage List Work Visa and have been employed in New Zealand for more than 2 years. If you have ongoing employment and your salary is NZ$45,000 or greater, you may be eligible for this resident visa.

Indefinitely

You can

  • Live, work and study in New Zealand.
  • Include your partner and dependent children aged 24 and under in your residence application.

Things to note

  • To apply for this visa, you must hold a Long Term Skill Shortage List Work Visa and have worked in New Zealand for more than 2 years.
  • You must have ongoing, full-time employment in an occupation that was on the Long Term Skill Shortage List LTSSL) at the time you were granted a work visa, or an occupation that is on the LTSSL at the time you apply for residence.

Long Term Skill Shortage List

Current work visa

You must have a current Long Term Skill Shortage List Work Visa and have held it for at least 24 months

Ongoing employment

You must have been employed in New Zealand for 24 months and have ongoing, full-time employment

Your occupation must be on the Long Term Skill Shortage List (LTSSL) at the time you apply for residence, or have been on the LTSSL when you were granted your work visa.

You must provide a letter from your New Zealand employer outlining:

  • your role
  • your salary
  • your hours of work
  • whether your role is ongoing.

You must also provide a copy of your employment agreement, which must comply with New Zealand employment law.

We can’t grant a visa if your employer is included on the list of non-compliant employers maintained by the Labour Inspectorate.

Minimum income

You must have a minimum base salary of NZ$45,000

Occupational registration

You may need New Zealand registration

Bring family

Your family must meet the requirements for this visa

English language for family

Your family must be able to speak English

Your partner and any dependent children aged 16 or over you include in your residence application must meet a minimum standard of English. Evidence can include proof they:

  • have an acceptable English language test result
  • have an English-speaking background
  • are competent speakers of English for other reasons.

Location

To apply for residence, you must be in New Zealand

Immigration costs

Application cost

NZD $ 1,800

This is the fee for Immigration New Zealand to process your application.An immigration levy is payable and is included in the total amount above.

Timeframes

Processing

within 14 months

90% of applications are currently completed within this time.