New Zealand immigration and residence options in 2026

New Zealand's immigration system separates temporary work permission, skilled residence, business/investor residence, visitor remote work, study, family status and permanent residence. A company, visitor visa, job offer or tax registration does not answer all of those questions at once.

Several important settings changed in 2025–2026, so older summaries can now be misleading.

Current New Zealand route map

• Accredited Employer Work Visa
• Skilled Migrant Category Residence
• Green List Skilled Residence
• Business Investor Work and Residence
• Active Investor Plus Visa
• Entrepreneur Work Visa Legacy Route
• Visitor Remote Work
• Student and Post-Study Work
• Partner and Family Work Options
• Permanent Resident Visa

Employment: AEWV and skilled residence

The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) remains the main employer-sponsored work route. It generally requires an accredited employer, approved job check and at least 30 hours a week. The old general median-wage requirement was removed in March 2025, although market-rate, minimum-wage and separate residence pay rules still matter.

The Skilled Migrant Category changed on 24 August 2026 and now has three pathways: points-based, Skilled Work Experience, and Trades and Technician. Green List roles remain a separate skilled-residence framework: Tier 1 supports Straight to Residence and Tier 2 supports Work to Residence after 24 months of qualifying work.

Business owners, founders and investors

The current Business Investor Work Visa is designed for experienced people who invest in and actively run an established New Zealand business. It requires at least NZD $1 million for the standard pathway or NZD $2 million for the fast-track pathway, plus reserve funds and business-experience requirements.

The older Entrepreneur Work Visa is closed to new applicants. It remains relevant only for existing holders and legacy residence cases. New founders should not rely on older articles describing the historical points-based entrepreneur category as open.

The Active Investor Plus Visa is different again: it is an investor residence route with NZD $5 million Growth and NZD $10 million Balanced categories.

Remote work for overseas clients

Visitor conditions can allow remote work for an employer or client outside New Zealand. This is often described as a digital-nomad option, but it is not a dedicated digital-nomad residence visa. The work cannot be for a New Zealand employer, cannot supply goods/services in New Zealand for gain or reward, and cannot require physical presence at a New Zealand workplace.

Study, partners and long-term residence

Eligible students can currently work up to 25 hours a week under the conditions that apply to their student visa. Post-study visas can allow up to three years, while additional post-study changes announced for 16 November 2026 are future rules as of this guide's verification date.

Some partner and post-study open work visas can permit self-employment or business ownership, but owner-operators cannot employ other people under those open-work conditions.

A Permanent Resident Visa is generally a later step after at least two years of resident status plus compliance with resident-visa conditions and evidence of commitment to New Zealand.

Official starting points: AEWV, Skilled Migrant Category, Green List, Business Investor Work Visa, remote visitor work, and Permanent Resident Visa.

Explore Oceania, work visas, entrepreneur visas, startup visas, digital nomad visas, methodology, and the legal disclaimer.

Related published research: Australia, Singapore, Japan, and Switzerland.

Published pathways