Finish a New Zealand master’s, start work with an accredited employer straight away, and under today’s rules you’re roughly two and a half to three years from a resident visa and four and a half to five years from a permanent resident visa.
New Zealand doesn’t issue anything called a PR visa. It grants a resident visa first and a permanent resident visa later, and they carry different rights. For a graduate the usual route to the first one is the Skilled Migrant Category, which asks you to reach six points.
Immigration New Zealand is rewriting that system on 24 August 2026, three weeks from today. Both versions are below, because if you’re still choosing a course, the new rules are the ones that will decide your case.
The points are the straightforward part. Your date is set by one job with one particular kind of employer, and everything after that is arithmetic off it. So what follows is a calendar, with each line marked as published rule or as assumption.
What is the Skilled Migrant Category, and how do its six points work?
The Skilled Migrant Category is Immigration New Zealand’s main residence route for skilled workers, and it grants a resident visa to a principal applicant who reaches six points and holds the right kind of job. Six is a threshold, not a ranking you compete on. If you’ve read anywhere that you need 160 or 180 points, that was the old scheme, retired when the six-point system came in.
“the principal applicant must be aged 55 or younger at the time the residence application is made; and meet the skilled employment requirements, including holding current employment or an offer of employment in New Zealand with an accredited employer which pays at least the equivalent of the median wage (currently $35.00 per hour) if their occupation is listed at ANZSCO skill level 1-3.”
If your occupation sits at ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5, or isn’t in ANZSCO at all, that wage floor is 1.5 times the median instead. Every applicant also has to meet the health and character standard for residence and speak and understand English.
Your six points have to come from a single skill category, either income, a qualification, or a New Zealand occupational registration. Adding your salary points to your degree points isn’t allowed. Time worked in New Zealand is the one thing you may stack on top.
Submitting is free. You lodge an expression of interest, and Immigration New Zealand says it will “let you know immediately if you meet the requirements”. If you’re invited to apply, you then have four months to lodge and pay, or the invitation lapses.
How many points is your degree worth, before and after 24 August 2026?
Today a New Zealand master’s is worth five points, so it needs a year of New Zealand skilled work to reach six. From 24 August the same master’s can be worth six on its own, which removes that year from the front of your residence application.
| Qualification | Points now | Points from 24 Aug 2026 | Bachelor’s also needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 10 doctoral degree | 6 | 6 | No |
| New Zealand master’s, with 30 weeks of full-time study in New Zealand | 5 | 6 | Yes |
| New Zealand master’s, without the 30 weeks or without a bachelor’s | 5 | 5 | No |
| Master’s gained outside New Zealand | 5 | 5 | Yes |
| New Zealand honours degree, postgraduate diploma or postgraduate certificate | 4 | 5 | Yes |
| New Zealand bachelor’s degree | 3 | 5 | Not applicable |
| Honours degree, postgraduate diploma or postgraduate certificate from outside New Zealand | 4 | 4 | Yes |
| Bachelor’s degree from outside New Zealand | 3 | 4 | Not applicable |
Watch the 30 weeks. Instruction SR3.25.15 requires that applicants claiming six points for a New Zealand master’s “must have completed at least 30 weeks of full-time study in New Zealand as part of their master’s qualification”, and those weeks exclude holidays and any paper you repeat. A one-semester conversion at the end of a degree taken elsewhere will not reach it.
Work experience is the other half of the sum, and it also gets easier.
| Skilled work experience in New Zealand | Points now | Points from 24 Aug 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 1 | 1 |
| 1 year and 6 months | 1 | 2 |
| 2 years | 2 | 3 |
| 3 years | 3 | Not applicable, 2 years is now the maximum claim |
Two extra routes open on the same date and neither is aimed at a graduate. The Skilled Work Experience pathway wants five years of relevant work in total, and the Trades and Technician pathway wants four years plus a level 4 qualification. The wage rule also softens in a way that’s easy to miss. From 24 August you’re generally measured against the wage threshold that applied when you started gaining your skilled work experience, not the one in force when you apply, so the annual increase stops chasing you mid-run.
Note. If you want to be assessed under the current rules, your expression of interest must be submitted before 24 August 2026. Any draft you have not submitted by then is deleted, and you start again on the new form.
Does your Indian degree need an NZQA assessment, and what is it worth?
Usually yes. But a published list of Indian institutions skips the assessment entirely, so check yours before you pay anything.
An International Qualification Assessment, shortened to IQA, is the New Zealand Qualifications Authority’s written statement of where your foreign qualification sits on the New Zealand framework. It costs NZD 445 for the standard service, NZQA currently states that “due to high demand, the average wait times for IQA applications are now 10 weeks”, and paying more will not move you up the queue.
Instruction SR3.25.15 requires an IQA for any qualification gained outside New Zealand, unless the qualification is on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment, which is Appendix 17 of the Operational Manual. India’s entry on that list runs to about sixty institutions and they are all of one kind.
| Indian institutions on Appendix 17 | Awarded from | Bachelor’s | Master’s |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Indian Institutes of Technology, including IIT (BHU) Varanasi and IIT (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad | 2012 to 2016, varying by campus | Level 7, 4 points | Level 9, 5 points |
| Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore | 2007 | Level 7, 4 points | Level 9, 5 points |
| The Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research | 2007 to 2016, varying by campus | Level 7, 4 points | Level 9, 5 points |
| Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur | 2014 | Level 7, 4 points | Level 9, 5 points |
| The National Institutes of Technology, including Dr B.R. Ambedkar NIT Jalandhar, Malaviya NIT Jaipur, Maulana Azad NIT Bhopal, Motilal Nehru NIT Allahabad, Sardar Vallabhbhai NIT Surat and Visvesvaraya NIT Nagpur | 2007 to 2015, varying by campus | Level 7, 4 points | Level 9, 5 points |
| Every other Indian university | Not listed | IQA required, NZD 445, about 10 weeks | |
Being named is not enough on its own, and three conditions catch people. Your degree has to be awarded in or after the year listed against your institution, so an older IIT degree can fall outside it. It has to have been completed in India, because overseas campuses of a listed institution are excluded. And an MBA or an Executive MBA is excluded outright, in the appendix’s own words, so a management graduate from a listed institute still pays for the assessment.
Duration matters too. A bachelor’s only qualifies if the programme runs three or more years, and a master’s if it runs two or more, so a one-year Indian master’s needs an assessment even from a listed institute. Nor does the list say your degree matches the New Zealand one with the same name. Appendix 17 states that inclusion “does not mean that it is comparable to a similarly named New Zealand qualification”, and only fixes the level and type.
Engineers have a separate route. A degree accredited under the Washington Accord or the Sydney Accord is treated as level 7 and worth four points without an IQA, which covers a large share of Indian engineering graduates whose institution is not named in Appendix 17.
One penalty survives the August rewrite, so don’t assume it goes away. If you do get an IQA and it places your qualification at a level without matching it to a named New Zealand qualification type, your points drop a band. A level 9 result scores four instead of five, and a level 8 result scores three. That rule is written into the new instructions as SR3.25.15(c), unchanged.
A New Zealand qualification needs no assessment at all, no fee and no ten-week wait, and from 24 August it’s worth a point more than the Indian equivalent at every level. Weigh that alongside teaching and fees when you compare an Indian master’s against a New Zealand one.
Why does the accredited employer job decide your residence date?
Because nothing in the six-point system substitutes for it. You can hold a doctorate, reach six points on qualification alone, and still not qualify without a job or job offer that meets instruction SR3.20 in every particular.
The job has to be all of these at once.
- Full-time, which the instructions define as at least 30 guaranteed hours a week for every week worked. Guaranteed is the operative word, so a contract offering “up to” 40 hours doesn’t count.
- With an employer who is accredited by Immigration New Zealand, and whose accreditation isn’t suspended, at the time your residence application is either made or decided.
- Permanent, or a fixed term of at least 12 months.
- Paying at least the median wage, currently NZD 35.00 an hour, if your occupation sits at ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3. If it sits at level 4 or 5, or isn’t in ANZSCO at all, the threshold is 1.5 times that, NZD 52.50 an hour.
- Genuine, and not obtained by paying for it.
NZD 35.00 an hour x 40 hours x 52 weeks = NZD 72,800 a year, about INR 40.7 lakh
Don’t confuse that figure with the minimum wage. New Zealand’s adult minimum wage is NZD 23.95 an hour from 1 April 2026, and it’s employment law that applies to everyone. The NZD 35.00 median wage is an immigration threshold, set by a different body on a different date, and it’s the one your residence application is measured against. Clearing the minimum wage tells you nothing about clearing this.
The accreditation requirement attaches only to the job you hold or are offered when you apply. Banking skilled work experience is a separate rule that asks only that the work was full-time, lawfully done, and paid at or above the threshold in force when you started it, so a year with an employer who isn’t accredited still counts toward your points.
Accreditation is something the employer applies and pays for, and you can’t arrange it for them. It costs a firm NZD 775 for standard accreditation, and before hiring you it must also pass a Job Check for that specific role at NZD 735. A small firm that has never hired a migrant has to decide that’s worth the money and the wait before it can make you an offer at all. So the search for work on a post study work visa is narrower than the job boards make it look, because what you’re really filtering for is employers who already hold accreditation.
What does the timeline look like for one Indian graduate, year by year?
Here’s the same route as a calendar rather than a checklist. Take a student who files a student visa in November 2026, starts a one-year taught master’s in Auckland in February 2027, and works in an occupation that isn’t on the Green List. The colours and the third column together say how firm each date is.
| When | What happens | What fixes the date |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2026 to Jan 2027 | Student visa filed from India and decided | INZ publishes 4 weeks as the median and 8 weeks at the 80th percentile for university applications |
| Feb 2027 | Master’s begins, at least 30 weeks of full-time study in New Zealand | The 30 weeks is what both the post study work visa and the 6-point claim require |
| Feb 2028 | Master’s completed, post study work visa granted for 3 years | 3 years is the published maximum, and a master’s with 30 weeks or more earns it |
| Feb 2028 | Work starts with an accredited employer, 30 or more guaranteed hours, permanent or a 12-month fixed term, at NZD 35.00 an hour or better | Nothing. This is the assumption |
| Feb 2028 | Master’s alone reaches the 6 points required, because she graduated after 24 August 2026 | SR3.25.5, New Zealand master’s with 30 weeks and a bachelor’s |
| Feb to Jun 2028 | Expression of interest submitted, invitation received, application lodged within 4 months and decided | The 4 months is published. INZ’s wait time for this visa is 11 weeks on average, 5 months at the 80th percentile |
| Mid to late 2028 | Resident visa granted, about 18 months to 2 years after arrival | The sum of the rows above |
| Mid to late 2030 | Permanent resident visa, about 3.5 to 4 years after arrival | 2 years holding the resident visa, plus one commitment route |
The red row is the only one not fixed by a published rule, and every date under it moves when it moves. If the job takes six months to find rather than arriving on graduation day, the resident visa lands in 2029 instead of 2028.
The same student under today’s points table would wait longer. Her master’s would be worth five points, so she’d work a full year before she could even submit, and the resident visa would arrive around mid to late 2029, roughly two and a half to three years after arrival. The August change is worth about a year to her.
Both amber rows are softer than they look. The student visa wait is measured in percentiles, so eight weeks is where four in five applications land rather than a deadline INZ owes you. The residence wait times are rebuilt weekly from the previous four weeks, so the 11 weeks and 5 months above were current on 3 August 2026 and will drift. You won’t find either figure on the visa’s own product page, which carries no processing time at all.
What can push the residence timeline out?
Four things, all of them written down somewhere you can check before you commit to anything.
A shorter post study work visa. Three years is the maximum, not the standard grant. A master’s or doctoral qualification with at least 30 weeks of study earns the full three years. For everything else the rule is blunt, that “if you completed a qualification at level 8 or below your work visa will be for the same length of time as your study”, worked out from your offer of place. Immigration New Zealand’s own example is a 32-week programme earning a 32-week visa, which isn’t enough time to find the job and reach residence. And you get one of these in your life, in its words you “can only have this visa once”, so a cheap diploma taken first spends the entitlement before the master’s that needed it.
Changing jobs at the wrong moment. Instruction SR3.35.1 says skilled work experience stops being counted if you change employment or your income drops and the new figure sits below the threshold in force at that time. Someone earning NZD 30.00 an hour who moves to a job paying NZD 27.00 when the threshold is NZD 27.00 keeps counting. The same person moving to NZD 26.50 can’t count the new job at all, and starts the twelve months over.
The median wage moving under you. It has risen nine times since January 2018, from NZD 24.29 to today’s NZD 35.00. Under today’s rules you’re protected against those rises only while you stay in the same job at the same pay, which is exactly what the August change fixes.
Not getting the student visa at all. Of the student visa applications made from outside New Zealand on Indian passports in calendar 2025, Immigration New Zealand approved 59%, against 83% across all nationalities. Read that carefully before you panic. The approved and declined percentages don’t sum to 100, and INZ’s own glossary counts withdrawn applications inside “declined”, so the true refusal-on-merits rate sits below the published 39%. The student visa application is still the first place this route can stop.
How does the Green List shorten the route, and who actually qualifies?
The Green List is Immigration New Zealand’s list of occupations the country is short of, and its two tiers behave completely differently. Tier 1 removes the waiting, and Tier 2 replaces it with a two-year requirement.
- Tier 1, Straight to Residence. A job or job offer in a Tier 1 occupation with an accredited employer, and you apply for residence immediately, with no points to reach and no work experience to bank. Its published wait time is 7.5 weeks on average and 4 months at the 80th percentile.
- Tier 2, Work to Residence. You must have worked at least 24 months in New Zealand in that occupation, and Immigration New Zealand looks back only 30 months from the date you apply, so those two years have to sit inside that window.
The occupations live in Appendix 13 of the Operational Manual, last amended on 23 March 2026. Each entry carries its own condition column, and for many occupations that condition is a wage or a registration requirement sitting well above the ordinary NZD 35.00 threshold.
| Occupation (Appendix 13, effective 23 March 2026) | Tier | What it actually requires |
|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurse, all listed specialties, and Nurse Practitioner | 1 | Registration with the Nursing Council of New Zealand, and a Bachelor of Nursing. No separate wage condition, so the NZD 35.00 median applies |
| Secondary, Primary and Intermediate School Teacher | 1 | New Zealand registration with the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand and a provisional or full practising certificate, plus a listed teaching degree |
| Civil, electrical and other engineers | 1 | A Washington Accord accredited degree, a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours, or registration with Engineering New Zealand. No wage condition |
| Software Engineer, Analyst Programmer, ICT Security Specialist and the rest of the ICT group | 1 | NZD 72.80 an hour or above, about NZD 151,400 a year |
| Database Administrator, Systems Administrator | 1 | NZD 70.00 an hour or above, stated as NZD 145,600 a year on a 40-hour week |
| External Auditor, Internal Auditor | 1 | NZD 45.50 an hour or above, stated as NZD 94,640 a year on a 40-hour week |
| Building Associate, Crane Operator | 2 | 24 months of qualifying New Zealand work first, at a multiple of the median wage set per occupation |
Software Engineer sits on Tier 1, and its condition is NZD 72.80 an hour, 2.08 times the median wage and about INR 84.7 lakh a year. A graduate a few months out of a master’s will not be earning that. Nursing and teaching ask for professional registration instead, which a new graduate can actually hold.
There is one protection on the Tier 2 side that rarely gets mentioned. If your occupation comes off the list partway through your 24 months, the work already counted isn’t wiped out, as long as you stay in the occupation and keep meeting the requirements as they stood.
Why is a resident visa not a permanent resident visa?
A resident visa lets you live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely, but its travel conditions expire. A permanent resident visa lets you leave and come back for the rest of your life. In conversation both get called PR, and the word does a lot of damage.
If your travel conditions have expired and you’re outside New Zealand at that moment, Immigration New Zealand’s position is that your resident visa expires as well. Getting back in then means a variation of travel conditions at NZD 320, or a second resident visa at NZD 275, and both have to be applied for and granted before you fly. Check the travel conditions on your visa before you book any urgent trip home.
Moving from one visa to the other takes two things. You must have held a resident visa for at least two years in a row, and you must show one of five ways of committing to living in New Zealand permanently.
| Commitment route | What it requires |
|---|---|
| Time in New Zealand | At least 184 days in New Zealand on a resident visa in each of the 2 years immediately before you apply |
| Tax residence | 41 days or more in New Zealand in each of the two 12-month periods, plus New Zealand tax residence status for those 2 years |
| Investment | NZD 1,000,000 held in an acceptable New Zealand investment for 2 years or more |
| Business | A business bought or started at least a year ago, trading successfully and of benefit to New Zealand in some way, with at least a 25% share if you bought into an existing one |
| Established base | At least 41 days in New Zealand in the 12 months before you apply, plus either 9 months of employment across the 2 years or a home bought within 12 months of your first day as a resident |
For a graduate on a salary, the first and the last are the realistic ones. Investment and business are capital routes with nothing to do with this journey. The permanent resident visa costs NZD 315 with no immigration levy attached, which makes it the cheapest application in the entire sequence, and it’s decided fastest too, at 80% within two weeks.
Immigration New Zealand’s own page on this visa says that “for most people, after 5 years of living in New Zealand as a resident, you may be able to get New Zealand citizenship”, and then adds that “you do not need a Permanent Resident Visa first”. The citizenship clock runs off your years as a resident. So if you are aiming at a New Zealand passport rather than at easy re-entry, the permanent resident visa is optional.
What does the route from student visa to permanent residence cost?
About NZD 10,825 in Immigration New Zealand fees and levies, roughly INR 6.05 lakh, spread across five applications over four to five years. The rupee figures use the European Central Bank’s euro reference rates published for 31 July 2026.
INR 109.5495 per euro / NZD 1.9589 per euro = INR 55.92 per New Zealand dollar
| Application | Fee | Levy | Total NZD | About INR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fee Paying Student Visa | 485 | 265 plus 100 | 850 | 47,500 |
| Post Study Work Visa | 320 | 1,350 | 1,670 | 93,400 |
| Accredited Employer Work Visa | 480 | 1,060 | 1,540 | 86,100 |
| Skilled Residence, the Skilled Migrant Category visa | 2,880 | 3,570 | 6,450 | 3,60,700 |
| Permanent Resident Visa | 315 | none | 315 | 17,600 |
The levy column is where the surprises are. The post study work visa carries a levy of NZD 1,350 against a visa fee of only NZD 320, so it’s the expensive step rather than the student visa, and residence is the heavy one at NZD 6,450. All figures are Band C, the band an Indian citizen applying from outside New Zealand pays, and none of it is refunded if the application is declined.
Add NZD 445 for an NZQA assessment unless your institution sits on Appendix 17. The accreditation and Job Check fees are the employer’s to pay, not yours. All five applications together still cost less than a single year of tuition and living costs.
- Only the permanent resident visa lets you leave and re-enter indefinitely. A resident visa whose travel conditions have lapsed while you are overseas expires with them, and getting back costs NZD 320 or NZD 275 and a fresh grant.
- The Skilled Migrant Category needs six points, taken from one category only, plus a job with an accredited employer paying at least NZD 35.00 an hour from 9 March 2026.
- From 24 August 2026 a New Zealand master’s with 30 weeks of study, backed by a bachelor’s degree, is worth six points on its own, so the year of New Zealand work experience is no longer needed to apply. A New Zealand bachelor’s rises from three points to five.
- Under today’s rules a New Zealand master’s is worth five points and needs one year of qualifying work. To be assessed under those rules your expression of interest must be in before 24 August.
- Only degrees from the IITs, NITs, IISc, the IISERs and IIEST Shibpur skip the NZQA assessment, and an MBA is excluded even from those. Washington Accord engineering degrees are exempt separately, whatever the institution.
- Expect 18 months to 2 years from arrival to a resident visa under the August rules, or 2.5 to 3 years under today’s, in both cases assuming the accredited employer job starts at graduation.
- Green List Tier 1 removes the waiting, but Software Engineer requires NZD 72.80 an hour, while nursing and teaching require registration rather than a high salary.
- Immigration New Zealand’s published wait time for the Skilled Migrant Category resident visa was 11 weeks on average and 5 months at the 80th percentile on 3 August 2026, and it is rebuilt weekly.
- Immigration fees across the five applications come to about NZD 10,825, roughly INR 6.05 lakh, and none of it is refunded on a decline.
- You do not need a permanent resident visa before applying for citizenship. Immigration New Zealand says the five years runs on your time as a resident.
Frequently asked questions
How many years does it take to get PR in New Zealand after studying?
Under today’s rules, about two and a half to three years from arrival to a resident visa and four and a half to five to permanent residence. From 24 August 2026 a New Zealand master’s reaches six points alone, shortening the first step to roughly 18 months to two years. A Green List Tier 1 job removes the wait entirely.
How many points do you need for New Zealand PR?
Six. A doctorate reaches six on its own. Earning three times the median wage, NZD 105.00 an hour, also does it. Everything else needs topping up with New Zealand work experience. Submitting an expression of interest is free and Immigration New Zealand assesses it immediately, so you can test your total before committing.
Is a New Zealand resident visa the same as permanent residency?
No. A resident visa’s travel conditions expire, and if you are outside New Zealand when they do, the visa expires too. A permanent resident visa removes that limit. You need two years in a row on a resident visa, and you can still apply if yours expired 90 days ago or less.
Can you get New Zealand PR without a job offer?
No, not through the Skilled Migrant Category. Instruction SR3.20 requires current employment or an offer with an accredited employer, full-time at 30 or more guaranteed hours a week, permanent or a fixed term of at least 12 months. A doctorate reaches six points alone but still needs that job.
What is the minimum salary for New Zealand PR?
NZD 35.00 an hour from 9 March 2026 if your occupation sits at ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3, about NZD 72,800 a year on a 40-hour week. At skill level 4 or 5 it is NZD 52.50. Pay is also a points route on its own, at NZD 70.00 for four points and NZD 105.00 for six.
Does an Indian degree need NZQA assessment for New Zealand PR?
Usually yes, at NZD 445 with an average wait of about ten weeks. Degrees from the IITs, NITs, IISc, the IISERs and IIEST Shibpur are exempt under Appendix 17 if awarded from the listed year onward, though MBA and EMBA degrees are excluded. Washington Accord engineering degrees are also exempt.
Is New Zealand PR easy for Indian students?
The rules are published and unambiguous, so nothing about it is mysterious. The hard part is practical. Your residence application needs an employer who already holds Immigration New Zealand accreditation and has passed a Job Check for your specific role, and most small New Zealand firms have never done either.
What is the age limit for New Zealand PR?
The principal applicant must be 55 or younger on the day the residence application is made, and the same limit applies to the Straight to Residence and Work to Residence visas. Only the principal applicant is capped. A partner and dependent children aged 24 or younger can be included in the application.
How much does New Zealand PR cost for an Indian applicant?
A Skilled Migrant Category resident visa costs NZD 6,450 in Band C, made up of a NZD 2,880 fee and a NZD 3,570 immigration levy, roughly INR 3.61 lakh. The permanent resident visa later costs NZD 315 with no levy. Fees are not refunded if the application is declined.
More questions students ask
Each one is a short answer on its own page.
Sources
- Immigration New Zealand, Instructions Amendment Circular No. 2026-01, 19 February 2026 (the instructions effective 9 March 2026, including SR3.10 summary of requirements, the current points tables, SR3.20 skilled employment, SR3.35 and SR3.35.1 skilled work experience, SR4.10 and SR5.10 to SR5.15 Green List Tier 1 and Tier 2, and the median wage history table showing NZD 35.00 from 9 March 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand, Instructions Amendment Circular No. 2026-16, 18 June 2026 (the instructions effective 24 August 2026, including the SR3.25.5 points tables, SR3.25.15 qualification rules and the 30-week condition, SR3.25.25 work experience points, the Skilled Work Experience and Trades and Technician pathways, the wage threshold anchoring rule, and Appendix 17, the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment, with its India section and its exclusion of the MBA and EMBA)
- Immigration New Zealand, Instructions Amendment Circular No. 2026-05, 27 March 2026 (Appendix 13, the Green List effective 23 March 2026, including the NZD 72.80 ICT rate, NZD 70.00 for database and systems administrators and NZD 45.50 for auditors, and the registration requirements for nurses, teachers and engineers)
- Immigration New Zealand, 2026 changes to the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa (the 24 August 2026 date, the two new pathways, the expression of interest deadline and the deletion of unsubmitted drafts)
- Immigration New Zealand, Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa (cost from NZD 6,450, age 55 or younger, the six-point requirement, the free expression of interest assessed immediately, and the four months allowed after an invitation)
- Immigration New Zealand, resident visa wait times (11 weeks average and 5 months at the 80th percentile for the Skilled Migrant Category, 7.5 weeks and 4 months for Straight to Residence, and 3 days and 2 weeks for the Permanent Resident Visa, read on 3 August 2026 and rebuilt weekly)
- Immigration New Zealand, Permanent Resident Visa (the two years in a row requirement, the expiry of a resident visa held outside New Zealand once travel conditions lapse, the NZD 315 cost, and the statement that you do not need a Permanent Resident Visa before citizenship)
- Immigration New Zealand, showing your commitment to New Zealand for permanent residence (the five routes, including the 184-day and 41-day requirements and the nine months of employment)
- Immigration New Zealand, how long you can stay on a Post Study Work Visa (three years for a master’s or doctoral qualification with at least 30 weeks of study, a visa the length of the study at level 8 or below, and the 32-week example)
- Immigration New Zealand, Post Study Work Visa (cost from NZD 1,670, 80% within 3 weeks, and the statement that you can only have this visa once)
- Immigration New Zealand, Fees Guide, INZ 1028, May 2026 (Band C for Indian citizens applying from outside New Zealand, the fee and levy rows for the student visa, post study work visa, Accredited Employer Work Visa, Skilled Residence and Permanent Resident Visa, the employer accreditation and Job Check fees, and the no-refund rule)
- New Zealand Qualifications Authority, International Qualification Assessment fees and how to apply (the NZD 445 standard fee and the stated average wait of 10 weeks)
- Immigration New Zealand, offshore student visa application decisions for 2025 (7,235 applications on Indian passports, 59% approved, against 83% across all nationalities)
- Immigration New Zealand, student visa wait times (four weeks as the median and eight weeks at the 80th percentile for university applications)
- Employment New Zealand, minimum wage rates (the adult minimum wage of NZD 23.95 an hour from 1 April 2026, which is not the immigration median wage)
- European Central Bank, euro foreign exchange reference rates (EUR 1 = INR 109.5495 and EUR 1 = NZD 1.9589 published for 31 July 2026, giving the NZD 1 = INR 55.92 rate used for every rupee figure here)
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