Immigration Changes Could Create New Pathways to Residence

A New Route to Calling New Zealand Home

By Daniel Nimmo

The dream of calling New Zealand home just got easier for some migrants. New residence pathways and changes to existing pathways are coming on 24 August 2026, the biggest immigration changes in years.

The biggest changes are to the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC), with two new residence pathways being introduced alongside the current points-based system.

The first new pathway is the Skilled Work Experience pathway. This is for people who have built up skilled work experience over a number of years, including time working in New Zealand at 1.1x or 1.2x the median wage. For some people, this will provide a pathway to residence without needing a qualification.

The second is the Trades and Technician pathway. For people working in certain trade and technical roles, where skills and experience may not necessarily come with a university degree. Applicants will need to work in an eligible occupation and meet qualification and work experience requirements.

There are also major changes to the existing Skilled Migrant Category points system.

Some qualifications will be worth more points, including bachelor’s degrees, and New Zealand qualifications will receive greater recognition. For some applicants, this could mean needing less New Zealand work experience before becoming eligible to apply for residence.

Another useful change relates to wage thresholds.

Under current rules, someone can start gaining work experience only to find that the required wage threshold has increased by the time they are ready to apply for residence, they then need to ask for a pay rise before applying. From 24 August, applicants will often be able to apply for residence without needing any pay rise.

Of course, the changes do not mean someone working in New Zealand will automatically qualify for residence. Your occupation, pay, qualifications and work experience will still matter.

But for people who have been working towards residence for some time, 24 August may bring new options — or make an existing pathway more achievable.

If you think these changes might affect you and want to know more, please reach out to us.