For New Zealand's skilled residence visas, the ones that lead to living there permanently, Immigration New Zealand accepts English test results from a short official list, and some people do not have to sit a test at all. This is the list, taken from INZ's English language requirements for skilled residence visas.

Who this is for

You are looking at moving to New Zealand as a skilled worker and you need to know whether the English test you have, or the one you are about to book, will be accepted. This post covers the accepted list, how long a result lasts, and the ways of meeting the requirement that involve no test at all.

The words you will meet

• INZ is Immigration New Zealand, the government agency that decides visa applications.
• Residence, sometimes called PR by people arriving from other systems, is the status that lets you live and work in New Zealand indefinitely. A resident visa is what these skilled routes lead to.
• Principal applicant means the person the application is built around, as opposed to a partner or child included in it. The rules on this page are strictest for the principal applicant.

Which visas does this apply to?

INZ's skilled residence page names the visas it covers: the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa, the Straight to Residence Visa, the Work to Residence Visa, the Transport Work to Residence Visa, and the Care Workforce Work to Residence Visa. If you are heading for the points-based route, our guide to the Skilled Migrant Category explains how it works.

Other visa types have their own English rules. The Accredited Employer Work Visa is a work visa rather than a residence visa and has its own requirement, so check the rules for the visa you are applying for.

Which tests are not on the list?

Two absences catch people out, and both are the mirror image of Canada's list.

CELPIP is not accepted. It was developed in Canada for Canadian immigration, and New Zealand does not take it.

PTE Core is not accepted. PTE Academic is on the list and PTE Core is not, and they are separate tests with separate bookings. This trips up anyone applying to both countries, because Canada takes PTE Core and refuses PTE Academic, so the same person needs a different Pearson test for each country.

If you might apply to both, this is worth planning before you book anything. IELTS is the only test on both lists, and the General Training module is accepted by both. Even there the two countries differ on the fine print: INZ's list includes IELTS One Skill Retake, which lets you re-sit a single part of the test, while IRCC does not accept it for Express Entry. Our post on which English tests Canada accepts sets out that side.

Are at-home tests accepted?

No. INZ's page states that tests taken remotely outside a test centre, such as at-home tests, are not acceptable. Several providers sell an online version of an otherwise accepted test, and that version will not do. Book a seat at a test centre.

How long does a result stay valid?

Your result must be no more than two years old at the time you apply, per the same INZ page. It is the date you lodge the application that counts, not the date you started thinking about it, so if you test early, check the calendar before you submit.

There is one exception. INZ says that from 24 August 2026, results are valid for five years for applicants who hold a recognised occupational registration, announced with its Skilled Migrant Category changes. Our post on the August 2026 changes covers what else moved that day.

Do I have to sit a test at all?

Not always, and this is the section most readers skip past. INZ lists ways of meeting the requirement for skilled residence that do not involve a test. Describing them in words, because the detail is on their page and it is the detail that decides your case:

• By citizenship. If you are a citizen of one of a small group of countries INZ names, and you have spent at least five years working or studying in one of those countries or in Australia or New Zealand, you do not need a test result. Both halves matter: the citizenship alone is not enough without the five years.
• By a bachelor's degree. A qualification comparable to a New Zealand level 7 bachelor's degree, gained in one of the countries INZ lists, where you lived in that country for at least two years while studying for it.
• By a postgraduate qualification. A qualification comparable to a New Zealand level 8 or higher postgraduate qualification, gained in one of the listed countries, where you lived there for at least one year while studying it.

We are not printing the country lists here, because that is exactly the detail that changes and that decides an application. Read them on INZ's own page and check yourself against them line by line.

One warning about the qualification route. "Comparable to a New Zealand level 7 bachelor's degree" is a judgement INZ makes about your qualification, not something you decide. Our guide to the NZQA qualification assessment explains how a foreign qualification gets compared to the New Zealand framework and when you need that done formally.

Be aware too that the ways of meeting the requirement that apply to family and business visas are not the same as the ones above. INZ says its general list of alternatives, the one covering schooling taught in English and similar evidence, does not apply to skilled residence visas. Do not read a rule from a different visa page and assume it covers you.

What level do I need?

That depends on the visa, and it is not one number. This post does not give you a required score for any of the tests, because the level belongs to the route rather than to the test, and printing one figure here would be wrong for most readers. INZ's page for the visa you are applying for is where the required level is stated.

What this means for your report

Our questionnaire asks which English test you sat, your score in each of the four abilities, and the date of the result. It does the conversion itself, so you never have to work out a level: the report shows you the English level we scored you at, and it says on that panel whether Immigration New Zealand can actually use the test you entered.

That second part is what this post is really about. If you enter a test INZ does not accept, we still convert your scores, and the report labels the result as indicative only, saying that INZ will ask for a result from a test they accept. You get a realistic picture of where your English stands and a clear statement that the paperwork will not do, rather than a silent zero.

The date matters too. New Zealand routes we assess that carry an English requirement include the requirement "English test results current", and where your result is stale the report gives you the checklist step "Make sure your English test result is less than 2 years old". Where you gave us no test date, the report says the requirement rests on an assumption instead of showing a bare green tick.

What it does not do: it does not book a test, does not decide whether your qualification is comparable to a New Zealand level 7 degree, and never tells you an application will succeed.

Next step

The English rule rarely stands alone. It sits alongside your occupation, your qualification and your job offer, each judged by its own rule, and a change in one can move which route suits you best. Answering one set of questions and seeing every New Zealand route measured against the same answers is what our report does in one place.

Our New Zealand page lists the routes we assess. The questionnaire is free, and the eligibility summary at the end of it is free too; payment unlocks the full report with the checklist and the requirement detail. Start with the free questionnaire.