Skilled Migrant Visa

Skilled Migrant Visa

There are two steps to applying for a resident visa under the Skilled Migrant Category:

1. You complete the Expression of Interest (EOI) form, online or on paper, and tell us about yourself, your family, your skills, and your experience.  You do not provide evidence at this point.
2. We accept your EOI and send you an invitation to apply. You will have to send us documents to prove you meet the requirements at this stage.

The fee is NZ$440 for online EOIs, or NZ$560 for paper EOIs. Online EOIs cost less because we have to do more work to process the paper EOI.

Will your EOI be selected?

As you complete your EOI you will claim points. If your EOI scores over 100 points, it goes into the pool of EOIs. Every two weeks we automatically select EOIs with over 140 points from the pool. Then we select EOIs with 100-140 points which include points for a skilled job or job offer. If we still have spaces available, we use additional criteria to select lower-scoring EOIs.

What happens after your EOI is selected?

We will send you a form that includes all of the information you told us about yourself. You will need to give us evidence you can claim all the points you have claimed, and proof that you and everyone else on your application meet all of our health, character, and English language requirements. You will have to pay a fee with your application. How much depends on the currency accepted in the office where we process the application.

Our decision on your application

There are three possible outcomes:

• We grant you residence.
• We defer your application and offer you a temporary work visa so you can work while you get a skilled job offer. If you get skilled work, we will approve your residence application.
• We decline your application.

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