Yes, but only if you are already a registered midwife whose skills are current. You need two separate permissions: a visa from Immigration New Zealand (INZ), the government's immigration agency, to live and work in the country, and registration with the Midwifery Council of New Zealand (Te Tatau o te Whare Kahu) to practise. INZ lists midwives among the jobs that need occupational registration, which it says you must get before applying for a visa to work in them. Registration is not a visa, and a visa is not registration. The Council considers applications only from midwives registered with a regulator that does similar work, and it warns that a midwifery education completed outside Australia, the UK, Ireland, the USA (as a certified nurse-midwife), Canada or a European Union country may not be equivalent.

Registering as a midwife in New Zealand

The Council compares your qualification with a New Zealand bachelor's degree in midwifery: a 480-point degree at level 7 of the New Zealand Qualifications Framework, with at least 4,800 hours, of which at least 1,920 are theory and at least 2,400 clinical practice. You also need at least one year of practice after registration within the five years before you apply, covering care in pregnancy, labour and birth, and after the birth, plus evidence of continuing education from the last three years and a self-assessment against the Council's standards of competence.

The application has two parts. In Part A, the Council's Midwifery Advisor advises whether your qualification is comparable or equivalent to a New Zealand Bachelor of Midwifery. If it is, Part B collects further documents, among them references, police certificates through the Council's provider and a medical certificate sent by your own doctor; an immigration medical certificate is not accepted. If the Council needs more reassurance about your education and experience, it may invite you to an alternative pathway instead, described below.

If English is not your first spoken language, the Council recognises two tests: IELTS Academic, with at least 7.0 overall and in every part, or OET, with an A or B in reading, listening, speaking and writing. All sittings must fall within the three years before your registration, and you cannot combine parts from different tests.

Green List, work visas and residence for midwives

On INZ's Green List, a role leads either to residence straight away or to residence after 2 years of work in New Zealand, and the midwife role is in the straight-away group, with Midwifery Council registration as its stated requirement. What that means for you: once registered, and in a full-time job with an accredited employer, or holding an offer of one, at INZ's pay rate, you can apply for a Straight to Residence Visa, which lets you stay in New Zealand indefinitely, provided you are 55 or younger and meet its English and other requirements. Our Green List guide explains how the list is organised.

Accredited employers are those INZ has approved to hire migrants, and each visa here begins with their offer. The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) lets you come to work first: it needs a full-time job offer from such an employer with an approved job check, meaning INZ has approved that particular job, plus your registration or the Council's confirmation that the job is eligible for it. Our AEWV guide explains the steps.

The Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) is a residence visa with a route based on points. With a job or job offer from an accredited employer, you send INZ an expression of interest, a form setting out how you meet the rules, and INZ may invite you to apply. That route needs 6 points, and Midwifery Council registration gives 4. The other 2 can come from skilled work in New Zealand after you register, which INZ values at 2 points for 18 months. Our SMC guide and points calculator help you check the total.

What happens after the Council registers you?

Registration comes with standard conditions on your scope of practice, the legal description of the work you may do, and they stay until you complete the education or supervision the Council sets. Before it issues your first annual practising certificate, the licence you renew every year, the Council asks for formal evidence of employment in New Zealand, such as an offer of employment, among other documents. It also asks you to enrol in Te Ara Matatau, the competence programme for internationally qualified midwives run by the New Zealand College of Midwives, and to complete a Te Tiriti o Waitangi e-learning module. You must complete the programme within 12 months of your first practising certificate, working under supervision throughout: a supervisor appointed by the Council discusses your practice with you and sends the Council regular reports.

What does the Council's alternative pathway involve?

Two exams, and the second one is in New Zealand. The first is a multiple-choice exam run by a company called Aspeq and invigilated remotely, so you need a laptop with sound and video and a reliable internet connection. If you pass, you are invited to an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), a practical test of clinical skills, and you must be physically present in New Zealand to take it. The Council says these extra assessments carry additional fees that the applicant pays. It also leaves the arrangements for visas, flights and accommodation to you, and it advises staying in the country until your result arrives, in case you need to resit.

A common mistake midwives make

Committing to a job or a move before the Council decides. The Council says you may explore work in New Zealand while your application is in progress, but it strongly advises against entering any employment arrangement or making immigration arrangements on the assumption that your application will succeed, or that a decision will arrive by a certain date. It also does not accept applications from internationally qualified midwives who are new graduates or whose skills are not current, so build your practice where you are registered before you apply.

First steps

1. Compare your qualification with the New Zealand degree using the comparability document on the Council's overseas registered midwife page.
2. Confirm at least one year of post-registration practice across pregnancy, birth and postnatal care within the last five years.
3. If English is not your first spoken language, reach the Council's scores in IELTS Academic or OET.
4. Create a MyMCANZ account and start Part A of the application.
5. Explore jobs with employers accredited for the AEWV, and once registered with an offer, look at the Straight to Residence Visa.