Skilled Migration: Support
Work to Residence orientation
Work to Residence and Green List context for employer-backed tenure and evidence framing. Read alongside official instructions, not as a month calculator.
- SMC, Green List, and AEWV context
- Evidence-led occupation framing
- Structured next steps before filing
Work to Residence planning is a staged skilled-route conversation. It is useful when New Zealand employment, employer continuity, role evidence, pay, registration, and route branch logic must be built over time rather than assumed from a single job title.
Audience: Applicants already working in New Zealand, targeting employer-backed work, or reading Green List, care, transport, or similar staged residence pathways where continuity and evidence over time matter.
Staged does not mean simple
A staged pathway can look reassuring because it gives time to build a record. The risk is that time only helps if the employment remains consistent, the role is described accurately, and the evidence supports the same story across contracts, payslips, references, and visa history.
Employer evidence is the backbone
The employer, job offer, role duties, hours, pay, location, and business context should be readable as one coherent account. RTNZ treats employer evidence as a live planning issue, not as a formality collected at the end.
Green List, care, and transport must not be flattened
Work to Residence is not one generic lane. Green List, Care Workforce, Transport, and other employer-backed discussions can have different pressure points. The right branch must be identified before months, pay, registration, or family timing are treated as reliable.
Family timing belongs in the same plan
Partners and dependent children can change the practical sequence. A work-led plan should include household evidence, relationship history, school timing, and any previous visa issues before the principal applicant makes irreversible decisions.
Readiness
- Build one employment timeline showing employer, role, hours, pay, location, and visa status at each stage.
- Keep contracts, payslips, position descriptions, and references aligned to the same duty story.
- Check whether registration, licensing, English, health, or character evidence could interrupt the sequence.
- Use the Work to Residence Tracker for orientation, then move to structured review before relying on timing assumptions.
FAQ
Common questions
No. Green List Tier 2 generally needs 24 months in that listed role during the 30 months before application, at least 30 hours a week, while meeting the role rules throughout. A public page cannot certify your timesheet. Confirm the occupation row, employer accreditation, and current Immigration New Zealand work-to-residence instructions.
No. Time matters only when the work itself is relevant, evidenced, and aligned with the correct route. Weak role evidence can undermine a long work history.
Yes, if your occupation or employer-backed plan is list-related. Read the parent Green List page and the relevant branch before treating the route as settled.
Structured next steps
Check Eligibility captures your profile for review; Book Strategy Session is for a live conversation when timing or household facts need sorting.
Related pages
Trust and tool boundaries
Cross-read Green List and SMC
Work-to-residence threads often sit beside Green List branch pages and SMC literacy. Use tools when you want a structured pass before intake.
Continue to Work to Residence Tracker →