What Are The Remuneration Thresholds For Immigrating To New Zealand?

Every year in November, the New Zealand government updates its remuneration thresholds for the Essential Skills Work Visa or Skilled Migrant Category Visa applications. The remuneration thresholds are based on information from the yearly New Zealand Labour Market Statistics, which is released in the third/fourth quarter of the year and takes effect in immigration instructions.

This is how the remuneration bands are calculated:

Higher Skilled:

150% of the median hourly earnings from wages and salaries.

Mid-Skilled:

85% of the median hourly earnings from wages and salaries.

Lower-Skilled:

Minimum wage, which is the minimum amount that must be paid to be considered lower-skilled under the Essential Skills Work Visa category.

“The Essential Skills work visa and Skilled Migrant Category resident visa remuneration thresholds have been updated as part of our annual review. The new thresholds are based on the New Zealand median salary and wage rate of $25 per hour (up 2,9% from 2017), equivalent to $52,000 per annum for a 40-hour per week job,” said Immigration New Zealand (INZ) in November 2018.

From 26 November 2018, this is what an applicant in the Skilled Migrant Category must earn:

Threshold for skilled employment in an occupation at ANZSCO 1-3: $25.00 per hour or above (or the equivalent annual salary),
Threshold for skilled employment in an occupation at ANZSCO 4-5, or which is not included in ANZSCO: $37.50 per hour or above (or the equivalent annual salary), or
Threshold to earn bonus points: $50.00 per hour or above (or the equivalent annual salary).

This is what applicants in the Essential Skills work visa category must earn:

Threshold for mid-skilled employment in an occupation at ANZSCO 1-3: $21.25 per hour or above (or the equivalent annual salary), or
Threshold for higher skilled employment in any occupation (including those at ANZSCO 4-5): $37.50 per hour or above (or the equivalent annual salary).

Interested in immigrating to New Zealand? Then contact Tri-Nations Migration today.