A post-study work visa gives you time in New Zealand after you graduate, and that time runs out. This guide sets out the usual next steps, what each one asks of you, and where Immigration New Zealand (INZ, the government agency that runs visas) publishes the rules. It is general information: INZ decides every application, and its pages are the authority.

Who this is for

You studied in New Zealand, you hold a Post-Study Work Visa (the work visa INZ gives graduates of eligible New Zealand qualifications), and it has months left to run. You may be hoping for residence: a resident visa, which "allows you to live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely", rather than a temporary visa with an end date (INZ, Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa).

Our post on studying in New Zealand as a route to residence covers getting the visa. This one starts where it ends.

You only get one

INZ is direct about it: "You can only have this visa once" (INZ, Post-Study Work Visa). The visa lets you "stay and work in New Zealand for up to 3 years depending on your study", and when it ends, staying on means moving to a different kind of visa.

Apply before your visa ends

If you apply for another temporary visa from inside New Zealand and INZ has not decided by the day your visa expires, it normally gives you an Interim Visa automatically, which lets you "stay in New Zealand lawfully while we assess your application for another temporary visa" (INZ, Interim Visa).

The condition is strict: INZ must receive your application, with every document it asks for, and accept it for processing before your current visa expires. An Interim Visa ends if you leave New Zealand. And if you have applied for residence and your visa may expire before INZ decides, INZ says to apply for a temporary visa as well, so you can be given an Interim Visa if you need one. Check the date your visa expires and plan back from it.

Staying on to work: the Accredited Employer Work Visa

To keep working once your visa ends, the visa to look at is the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV), a work visa tied to one employer. You need "an offer of full-time work" from an accredited employer, meaning an employer INZ has approved to hire migrant workers, and that employer sends you the link to the application form (INZ, Accredited Employer Work Visa). So the first question to ask a prospective employer is whether they are accredited.

The visa ties you to that job: "You may work only in the job, for the employer and in the location stated on your visa." If any of those changes, you must apply to INZ to vary your visa's conditions, for a Job Change, or for another visa. A post-study work visa based on a bachelor's degree or a higher qualification is looser: it lets you "do any work in any job, anywhere in New Zealand", within INZ's limits (INZ, Post-Study Work Visa).

There is also a ceiling on the total time you can spend in New Zealand on these visas. It depends on your job's skill level, your pay and when you applied for your first AEWV: INZ puts it at up to five years for most jobs, or three years for a job at skill level 4 or 5. Once you reach it, you must leave New Zealand for a period before you can get another AEWV (INZ, Accredited Employer Work Visa). A skill level is the grade from 1 to 5 that INZ uses for each occupation, "with 1 being the most skilled" (INZ, find your skill level).

Our guide to the AEWV explains the rest of the visa, and our guide to how time on an employer work visa counts toward residence sets that ceiling against each residence route.

Residence through Skilled Migrant points

The Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) is a resident visa for skilled workers. It has three pathways, and one of them uses points: "You must have 6 points to be eligible for the Points-based pathway" (INZ, Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa). You claim 3 to 6 points from one of three things: your qualification, your income, or an occupational registration (a licence some jobs need, such as a registered plumber's). You can then add up to 3 more for skilled work in New Zealand. Two parts of that matter most to graduates.

Where you studied. New Zealand ranks qualifications by level: a bachelor's degree is level 7 and a doctorate level 10. A qualification earned in New Zealand can be worth a point more than the same level earned overseas. A New Zealand bachelor's degree earns 5 points and an overseas one 4, while a doctorate earns 6 wherever you earned it. A New Zealand master's degree earns 6 if you studied it full-time in New Zealand for at least 30 weeks and also hold a bachelor's degree. One gap catches people out: "You cannot claim points for a non-degree qualification at level 7 or below". So if your post-study work visa came from a non-degree qualification, such as a diploma at level 7 or below, that qualification earns no points here.

Work in New Zealand. Skilled work in New Zealand adds points on a sliding scale, each step measured over a recent window:

To count, the work must be "in a full-time job (at least 30 hours a week)", closely match your occupation's description, and meet the minimum pay for your job's skill level. That pay is set against the SMC wage threshold, a rate INZ bases on the median wage (the wage in the middle when every New Zealand wage is lined up) and updates each year; the figures are on INZ's SMC pay rates page.

As an illustration of how the two combine, a New Zealand bachelor's degree (5 points) plus at least one year of skilled work in New Zealand in the last 2 years (1 point) adds up to 6. Points are one condition among several: the SMC also needs a skilled job or job offer with an accredited employer, English, an age of 55 or younger, and health and character checks. Our Skilled Migrant Category guide covers them, and our free SMC points calculator adds the points up.

Routes that need more years of work

The SMC's other two pathways use no points. Instead they ask for years of work experience, part of it in New Zealand.

Skilled Work Experience pathway. You need "at least 5 years of directly relevant work experience, including at least 2 years of skilled work experience in New Zealand", in a job at skill level 1 to 3 paid at least 1.1 times the SMC wage threshold (INZ, Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa). Five years is longer than any post-study work visa lasts, so unless you worked in your field before you studied, this route usually comes into reach later, on an employer work visa. Our Skilled Work Experience guide explains the rest, including the occupation lists that close or tighten it for some jobs.

Trades and Technician pathway. This one is for a job on INZ's list of eligible trades and technician occupations, paid at least the SMC wage threshold. You need "a relevant qualification that is level 4, comparable to level 4, or higher" on New Zealand's qualifications scale, and at least 2.5 years of relevant work experience plus "an additional 1.5 years of post-qualification, skilled work experience in New Zealand" (INZ, eligible occupations for the Trades and Technician pathway). Only experience gained after you finished the qualification counts, so for a recent graduate this route also tends to come later. Our Trades and Technician guide covers the list and the counting rules.

Outside the SMC: the Green List. If your occupation is on INZ's Green List of jobs New Zealand is short of, there may be a residence route without points: a role is either "Tier 1 for a Straight to Residence Visa or Tier 2 for a Work to Residence Visa" (INZ, Green List roles). Our Green List guide explains both tiers.

What our report checks, and what it does not

The questionnaire asks about your studies, your work and the visas you have held, and the report compares those answers with every New Zealand route we cover at once.

• It reads the visas you list, so a post-study work visa you already hold shows as one you cannot get again.
• For the AEWV, it compares your job's skill level and pay, and your experience or qualification.
• For the points pathway, it adds up your points, giving a New Zealand qualification the points INZ gives it and counting your full-time New Zealand work at skill levels 1 to 3.
• For the two pathways without points, it compares your occupation, your years of experience, the share worked in New Zealand and your pay with each pathway's conditions, and for Trades and Technician your qualification's level.

It does not tell you when to apply for your next visa, check how much of the AEWV's maximum stay you have used, or check whether a particular employer is accredited. It does not assess the Green List routes as pathways of their own, or decide whether your occupation is on the list. It never decides your case: INZ does.

Where to start

Check the date your visa expires, then read the routes above on INZ's pages. To see how they read against your situation, start the free questionnaire for New Zealand. The questionnaire is free, and so is the eligibility summary at the end of it. Unlocking the full report, with the requirement-by-requirement detail and checklist steps, is your choice.