New Zealand residence
The complete path from a student visa to a passport-free stay
New Zealand does not have a single "PR visa". It has four stages, and the qualification you enrol in on day one decides how long the last two take. From 24 August 2026 the points table changes in favour of people who study in New Zealand, and most published guidance has not caught up.
Changes on Monday 24 August 2026
The points table on most other websites is about to be wrong
From Monday 24 August 2026, a qualification completed in New Zealand is worth one point more than the same qualification completed overseas. A New Zealand bachelor's degree moves from 3 points to 5. An overseas bachelor's moves from 3 to 4. A New Zealand master's held together with a bachelor's degree becomes the full 6 points, so no New Zealand work experience is needed at all. The amount of work experience required to top up the remaining points also falls.
Two new pathways open alongside the points system, and any draft Expression of Interest that has not been submitted is deleted on 24 August. Anyone who wants to be assessed under the old rules had to submit before that date.
The shape of it
Four stages, each one feeding the next
There is no "study to residence visa". The route works by turning a New Zealand qualification into points, topping those points up with skilled work where needed, and then converting a Resident Visa into a Permanent Resident Visa after two years of actually living there.
Student visa
Study a Level 7 degree or higher, full-time, for at least 30 weeks in New Zealand. Below that level or that length and the next stage may not open at all.
Post Study Work Visa
Open work rights, no job offer needed, no employer tie. Master's and doctoral graduates get 3 years. Bachelor's and Level 8 graduates get a visa matched to the length of study.
Resident Visa
Granted once you hold 6 points and a skilled job or job offer with an accredited employer paying at least the wage threshold. You can live, work and study indefinitely.
Permanent Resident Visa
Applied for after 24 months holding the Resident Visa, once you can show a real commitment to New Zealand. This is the one people mean when they say "PR".
Qualification points from 24 August 2026
What each degree is actually worth
You need 6 points. Points come from one skill category only: your qualification, or a New Zealand occupational registration, or income at 1.5 times the median wage. You cannot mix those three. On top of your chosen category you can add points for skilled work in New Zealand.
| Qualification | Points | What it means for the timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Level 10 doctorate, New Zealand or overseas | 6 | No New Zealand work experience needed. Apply as soon as the job offer meets the rules. |
| Level 9 New Zealand master's plus a bachelor's degree from any countryRequires at least 30 weeks of full-time study in New Zealand | 6 | No New Zealand work experience needed. This is the change that makes the master's route the fastest. |
| Level 9 New Zealand master's on its own, no bachelor's held | 5 | 1 year of skilled New Zealand work adds the last point. |
| Level 7 New Zealand bachelor's degree | 5 | 1 year of skilled New Zealand work adds the last point. |
| Level 8 New Zealand honours, postgraduate diploma or certificate, plus a bachelor's | 5 | 1 year of skilled New Zealand work adds the last point. |
| Level 9 overseas master's plus a bachelor's degree | 5 | 1 year of skilled New Zealand work adds the last point. |
| Level 8 overseas honours, postgraduate diploma or certificate, plus a bachelor's | 4 | 1 year and 6 months of skilled New Zealand work. |
| Level 7 overseas bachelor's degree | 4 | 1 year and 6 months of skilled New Zealand work. |
An overseas qualification must be assessed by NZQA through an International Qualification Assessment, unless it appears on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment. A New Zealand qualification needs only the certificate and an academic transcript.
Topping up
Skilled work in New Zealand, and what it now buys
The old table asked for three full years to earn the maximum three points. From 24 August 2026 two years does it. Each block also has to fall inside a window counted back from the date you apply.
| Skilled work in New Zealand | Points | Must fall within |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 1 | The last 2 years |
| 1 year 6 months | 2 | The last 3 years |
| 2 years | 3 | The last 4 years |
- At least 30 guaranteed hours a week
- Permanent, or fixed term for at least 12 months
- With an accredited employer whose accreditation is not suspended
- ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3 paid at or above the SMC wage threshold, currently NZD 35.00 an hour
- Or ANZSCO skill level 4 to 5 paid at 1.5 times that, NZD 52.50 an hour
The threshold locks. From 24 August 2026 you only need to meet the wage rate that applied when you started building your skilled work experience. If the median wage rises before you apply for residence, the goalposts do not move with it.
A five month grace period. If you begin skilled work within five months of your work visa being granted, the threshold from the grant date is used, even if the median wage went up in between.
Three ways in, not one
The points system is the default, not the only door
From 24 August 2026 the Skilled Migrant Category has three separate pathways. Alongside it sits the Green List, which is a different visa entirely. A student is almost always on the points pathway, but it is worth knowing which door a particular career opens.
Points-based pathway
Reach 6 points from your qualification plus, if needed, skilled New Zealand work. Requires a skilled job or job offer. Open to almost all occupations, including those on the Red List that the two new pathways exclude.
Skilled Work Experience pathway
New from 24 August. No points needed. A skill level 1 to 3 job paid at 1.1 times the threshold, NZD 38.50 an hour, plus 3 years of relevant experience and a further 2 years of skilled work in New Zealand at that rate. Self-employment does not count.
Trades and Technician pathway
New from 24 August. A listed trades or technician occupation at the threshold, a relevant Level 4 or higher qualification, 2.5 years of relevant post-qualification experience and 1.5 years of skilled New Zealand work.
The Green List
Tier 1, Straight to Residence. With a full-time job offer from an accredited employer and any registration the role requires, you apply for residence immediately, even from offshore. No points, no waiting period. Primary, intermediate and secondary school teachers sit here, as do doctors, registered nurses, several engineering disciplines and a range of ICT roles.
Tier 2, Work to Residence. Same idea, but you must work full-time in the role in New Zealand for two years first. Early childhood teachers and special education teachers are the education examples.
The trap. Many Tier 1 roles have a specific wage rate written into the listing by Immigration New Zealand rather than the general median wage, and several require professional registration before the visa can be granted, not after. Check the occupation's own entry rather than assuming NZD 35.00 an hour is the bar.
Realistic timelines
Three routes, priced in years
All three assume the student finds a qualifying skilled job. That is the single assumption everything else rests on, and it is the one no consultant can guarantee.
Level 9 master's, with a Pakistani bachelor's already held
About 1.5 to 2.5 yearsThe fastest route on offer, and the one the 24 August change was designed to reward. The degree carries all 6 points on its own, so the residence application waits on the job offer and nothing else.
Level 8 postgraduate diploma or honours, with a bachelor's held
About 2 yearsThe shorter, cheaper postgraduate option for a student who already has a degree. One year of study and one year of work, rather than the two years of work the old rules demanded.
Level 7 bachelor's, straight from intermediate or A-Levels
About 4 yearsLonger, but a three-year New Zealand bachelor's also carries a three-year Post Study Work Visa, so there is no cliff edge at graduation. If the degree leads to a Green List Tier 1 occupation, the points system can be bypassed altogether.
The two-stage truth
A Resident Visa is not the Permanent Resident Visa
This is the single most misunderstood part of the New Zealand system, and it costs people their status. The words are almost identical and the visas are not.
Resident Visa
- Granted when you hit 6 points with a skilled job, or through the Green List
- You can live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely
- You are not tied to the employer. You can resign, switch industry or start a business
- The visa does not expire. Your travel conditions do, usually two years after grant. Leave the country after they lapse without renewing them and you cannot return as a resident
- Check the letter for section 49(1) conditions. A visa granted on a brand new job offer can carry a minimum period in that role. Leaving early breaches it
Permanent Resident Visa
- Applied for after you have held the Resident Visa for 24 months
- You must show a commitment to New Zealand. The usual route is 184 days in the country in each of those two years
- Other commitment routes exist for people who are tax resident, or based in New Zealand while running a business or investment
- No travel expiry, ever. Leave for a decade and walk back in as a resident
- This is the visa most people mean when they say "PR". Treating stage 3 as stage 4 is where plans go wrong
Do not resign while the residence application is still being processed
The skilled job offer is a requirement of the application, not just of the points. If you lose or leave the job before the Resident Visa is granted, the application fails, because you no longer meet the criteria you applied under. The freedom to walk away starts on the day of grant, not the day of lodgement.
Bringing your family
Which level lets family come, destination by destination
Ten destinations, ten different answers. If you are married or have children, this table matters more than tuition or ranking.
| Destination | Bachelor's | Master's | PhD | What actually decides it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Yes | Yes | Yes | Declare them in your original application. Work hours for your partner are capped at 48 a fortnight, uncapped if you are doing a research master's or doctorate. |
| Sweden | Yes | Yes | Yes | Money, not level. SEK 4,440 a month for a spouse and 2,664 per child on top of your own 10,656. |
| Finland | Yes | Yes | Yes | A higher education degree gives you an A permit, and your family can hold A permits too, with the right to work. |
| Netherlands | In principle | In principle | In principle | Income, not level. EUR 2,337 a month, which a 16-hour weekly work cap will not reach. |
| New Zealand | No | Partner only | Yes | Level. A partner of a Level 9 or 10 student gets an open work visa. |
| United Kingdom | No | No | Yes | Level. Since January 2024 only PhD, doctoral and research-based higher degrees, plus government-sponsored courses over 6 months. |
| Ireland | No | No | Yes | Level. A Stamp 2 holder cannot sponsor anyone. PhD holders are Category B with no income threshold and no waiting period. |
| Turkiye | After 1 year | After 1 year | After 1 year | Income. A family residence permit needs a year of prior residence plus income, and you cannot work in year one to earn it. |
| Qatar | No | No | No | Sponsorship. Family residency runs off a salaried employment QID, which a student does not hold. |
| Cyprus | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | No reliable published answer. Ask the institution and the Civil Registry and Migration Department directly. |
Corrections
Six things in circulation that are wrong from Monday
Most of what agents and AI summaries are currently repeating describes either the pre-24-August table or a mixture of the two. These are the errors worth catching before you build a plan on them.
"A master's gives you 6 points, full stop"
Circulating widely, including in AI-generated summaries.
Only from 24 August 2026, only for a New Zealand master's, only if the student also holds a bachelor's degree, and only with at least 30 weeks of full-time study in New Zealand. A New Zealand master's without a bachelor's is 5 points. An overseas master's with a bachelor's is 5 points.
"A bachelor's is 3 points and honours is 4"
This is the table in force until 23 August 2026.
From 24 August a New Zealand bachelor's is 5 points and an overseas bachelor's is 4. That single point is the difference between one year of work and eighteen months.
"A bachelor's graduate must work three full years to reach 6 points"
Follows from the old table and the old work experience scale.
A New Zealand bachelor's graduate needs one year. An overseas bachelor's holder needs one year and six months. And even the maximum of three points now takes two years, not three.
"A Level 8 gives 4 points so you need two years of work"
Same origin.
A New Zealand Level 8 held with a bachelor's is 5 points and needs one year. Only the overseas Level 8 sits at 4 points.
"Only a master's gets the three-year Post Study Work Visa, unless the bachelor's leads to registration"
Conflates two different rules.
Master's and doctoral graduates get a flat three years. Bachelor's and Level 8 graduates get a visa matched to the length of their study, so a three-year New Zealand bachelor's already delivers three years. Professional registration is not what unlocks the work visa. It is what unlocks the Green List.
"Get 6 points and you can apply for PR"
Half the requirement.
Points alone do nothing. You need 6 points and a skilled job or job offer with an accredited employer meeting the hours, contract length and wage rules. And what you receive is a Resident Visa, with the Permanent Resident Visa two years further out.
For Pakistani applicants
Getting to the starting line
None of the above matters until the student visa is granted. New Zealand's process differs from every other destination in this guide in one important way, and it works in the family's favour.
Approval in Principle: you pay last
Immigration New Zealand assesses the whole file first and issues an Approval in Principle. Only then does the family transfer the first year's tuition, and only then is the visa granted.
Compare that with Ireland, which wants EUR 6,000 paid before the visa is even filed, or Australia, which needs a deposit before a CoE exists at all. For a stretched family this removes the largest financial risk in studying abroad, and it is worth more than a small difference in tuition.
- NZD 20,000 per year for living costs, plus the full first-year tuition, plus return airfare or NZD 1,500 to 2,500 set aside
- Liquid funds only. Property, gold and prize bonds are not accepted
- Around three months of statements, with every large deposit explained at source
- Visa fee NZD 850, roughly eight weeks to a decision
- Full medical and chest X-ray for any course longer than 12 months. Police certificate if 17 or over and staying beyond 24 months
Entry to a Level 9
Sixteen years of education from an HEC-recognised four-year bachelor's, typically 60 percent or a CGPA around 2.75 to 3.0, and usually IELTS 6.5 overall with no band below 6.0. Each university publishes its own table and that table is what counts.
Family and work
The partner of a Level 9 student qualifies for an open work visa. Student work rights rose to 25 hours a week on 3 November 2025, but this is not automatic: a visa already carrying 20 hours stays at 20 until varied, which costs NZD 325.
Intakes
February is the main intake and July is the second. There is no third. Realistic planning from Pakistan now targets February 2027, working backwards from the visa timeline rather than the enrolment deadline.
Also on the calendar
Two more dates worth diarising
A short-term graduate visa arrives
A new Short-term Graduate Work Visa gives eligible Level 5 to 7 graduates six months of open work rights to find employment. Post Study Work Visa eligibility also extends to Level 7 graduate diploma holders who also hold a bachelor's degree. Useful for students whose qualification currently opens nothing after graduation.
Work visas become extendable
Migrants who need up to twelve more months of skilled work experience to meet the Skilled Migrant Category requirements will be able to apply to extend an Accredited Employer Work Visa to finish it. Detail has not been published yet.
Straight answers
What this guide will not promise you
This guide does not promise that residence follows a degree. Every route above depends on a skilled job offer with an accredited employer at or above the wage threshold. No university, employer or adviser controls that, and anyone who promises otherwise cannot deliver it.
Do not rely on remembered occupation-specific wage rates. Many Green List roles carry their own rate set by Immigration New Zealand, and it is frequently above the general median wage. We check the occupation's own entry every time.
Nobody can predict the next rule change. The Skilled Migrant Category has been reworked in September 2025, March 2026, June 2026 and again this month. A four-year plan built on today's table should be reviewed annually, not filed away.
About this guide
Written for students and families. Figures reflect Immigration New Zealand instructions as published for the changes taking effect on 24 August 2026, together with the SMC wage threshold in force from 9 March 2026.
Verify before advising
immigration.govt.nz for the points table, the Green List occupation entry and the current wage rates. NZQA for the International Qualification Assessment and the exemption list.
Not immigration advice
This is a general guide, not immigration advice. It does not replace a licensed immigration adviser where one is required.