The Green List: the difference between immediate residence and two years of waiting

Does your job title count, or your ANZSCO code?

Your code. This is the trap most people fall into. The Green List works with ANZSCO codes: the Australian and New Zealand occupation classification, with skill levels from 1 (highest) to 5. What counts is the code closest to the work you actually do, not the title on your contract.

An employer who calls you "manager" while in practice you do hands-on work therefore does not help you. Immigration New Zealand looks at tasks, responsibilities and the level of training the job requires. The reverse can also work in your favour: a job with a dull title may well fall under a code that is on the list.

So look up your ANZSCO code before you sign a contract, and discuss with your future employer what the job description looks like. That is a ten-minute conversation that can save two years.

What else comes with each occupation?

The Green List does not only say "this occupation qualifies" but also under which conditions. For each occupation there are requirements for:

• Qualification. Which diploma or which level is needed. A foreign qualification sometimes needs an assessment by NZQA, the New Zealand body that assesses qualifications.
• Registration. Whether you must register with a New Zealand professional body before you may work.
• Experience. How many years in the trade.
• Pay. Which hourly rate must be paid at minimum.

That registration is often the long track. It takes months, and it goes through the professional body itself, not through Immigration New Zealand. So start early.

Pleasant by-catch: a recognised occupational registration earns three to six points in the points route. And it makes your English test valid for five years instead of two.

And if you are nowhere on the list?

Then the Skilled Migrant Category is the route, the points route for skilled migrants. You need:

• six points from qualification, occupational registration or income, topped up if needed with New Zealand work experience;
• a suitable job with an accredited employer.

That is slower if you still have to earn the points with work experience on the spot. But it is a real road. And unlike the Canadian ranking, you know exactly in advance what is needed.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to New Zealand or go straight to step 2.2 in the open plan.