The route built for Samoans is the Samoan Quota, a ballot Immigration New Zealand draws each year from the people who register. People selected are invited to apply for a resident visa, which lets them live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely, and Samoan citizens holding residence can apply for New Zealand citizenship without first meeting the usual requirement for time lived there. The ballot is open to Samoan citizens within its age range who were born in Samoa or have a parent who was. Samoa is also in the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme for seasonal fruit, vegetable and wine jobs, but that visa is temporary, excludes partners and children, and cannot be switched to another visa from inside New Zealand.

Registration opens online for a limited period each year and needs an email address or mobile number and a copy of your full birth certificate. Include your partner and dependent children, with their birth certificates, because only people in the registration can join the visa application later. Each person can appear in only one registration a year, and anyone in it who is in New Zealand must hold a valid visa. Medicals and police certificates are not needed until an invitation arrives. Immigration New Zealand checks English itself, possibly by talking with you about your family and background. Documents not in English need certified translations, and invited applicants lodge a paper application at the visa application centre in Apia.

The mistake to avoid is treating a ballot win as a visa. Selection only brings an invitation to apply, and the application must show a full-time job offer in New Zealand, yours or your partner's, paying enough to support the family, within a fixed deadline. Start the job search before the results; Immigration New Zealand itself suggests asking family and friends in New Zealand about jobs. An invitation that lapses means registering again the following year, if you still qualify.