Skilled Migrant Category changes: final details confirmed ahead of 24 August

Immigration New Zealand has confirmed the final settings for the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) changes taking effect on 24 August 2026, along with related changes to wage rate rules for work to residence visas. The SMC is New Zealand's main residence pathway for skilled migrants, and these changes build on the Trades and Technician and Skilled Work Experience pathways announced in September 2025.

Wage threshold simplified

From 24 August 2026, most SMC applicants will only need to meet one wage threshold rather than separate rates for work experience and residence. That threshold will generally be the one in effect when you started accruing skilled work experience, not the rate in place when you are invited to apply. A grace period also applies: if you began skilled work experience within five months of your work visa being granted, the threshold that applied on the day the visa was granted will be used, even if it has since increased.

The same wage-lock approach now applies to the Work to Residence Visa, Care Workforce Work to Residence Visa, and Transport Work to Residence Visa. You can use the wage rate that applied when your work visa was granted, provided you started earning at least that rate within five months of approval, and you will not need to meet a higher rate at residence stage if it has since increased, as long as you continue to be paid at least the rate that applied when you began accruing experience. The requirement to complete 24 months of work experience within the 30 months before applying for residence is unchanged.

Qualifications and work experience

Applicants claiming points for Level 8 or Level 9 qualifications, other than those claiming 5 points for a New Zealand master's, must now also hold a supporting bachelor's degree, evidenced by both the qualification certificate and academic transcript. Overseas qualifications generally require an International Qualification Assessment unless listed on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment, and points for bachelor's degrees, along with Washington and Sydney Accord accredited qualifications, increase from 3 to 4.

Under the Trades and Technician pathway, you need a relevant Level 4 or higher qualification recognised on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework. New Zealand qualifications must total at least 120 credits, which can now be made up of more than one qualification where a lower one was a prerequisite for a higher one. Overseas qualifications instead require an International Qualification Assessment confirming Level 4 or higher.

Work experience must also be independently verifiable. If you are applying under the Trades and Technician or Skilled Work Experience pathways, evidence of self-employment is not acceptable. Immigration instructions also now include a clearer definition of genuine employment, requiring that a job be available and ongoing with a genuine need to be based in New Zealand. For most applications this will have no practical impact, but it gives Immigration New Zealand clearer grounds to decline applications where employment is not genuine.

What to do next

The new SMC rules are complex. If you are working toward SMC residence, it is worth checking which wage threshold applies to your circumstances and confirming your qualifications meet the new evidential standard before 24 August. If you employ someone moving through this pathway, the same applies to their situation. If you have questions about how these changes affect you or a member of your team, our team can assist.