Yes, and New Zealand fixes the order: registration first, visa last. Registration with the Nursing Council of New Zealand is your licence to work as a nurse, and the Council sets the standards that nurses educated overseas must meet before they can nurse in New Zealand. A visa from Immigration New Zealand (INZ), the government's immigration agency, is your permission to live and work in the country. INZ says that for jobs needing registration, and it names nursing as its example, you must get your registration before you can apply for a visa. Being registered does not give you a visa, and holding a visa does not register you. For the visas described below, you apply once both your registration and a job offer are in place.

Registering as a nurse in New Zealand

Unless you hold a current Australian practising certificate, which has its own process, the Council's process for internationally qualified nurses runs in two stages, and you cannot apply to the Council directly. First, TruMerit, a document verification service, checks your identity, your nursing registrations from the last 10 years, your nursing qualification, your English and your declaration of at least 1,800 hours of nursing practice after registration. You must also be registered as a nurse overseas when you apply (Council requirements).

Second, you apply to the Council, which checks your qualification against New Zealand's: registered nurses need a Bachelor of Nursing or its equivalent, or a nursing master's degree, that led to their registration. The Council also requires a criminal history check and free online courses on culturally safe nursing and Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi).

Some registered nurses and all enrolled nurses must also pass a competence assessment. It begins with an online theory exam in two parts, medication safety and nursing knowledge, taken at a Pearson VUE test centre overseas or in New Zealand. Then come a two-day orientation course and a three-hour clinical examination called the OSCE (objective structured clinical examination), with 10 stations for registered nurses, both in person at the Nurse Maude Simulation & Assessment Centre in Christchurch. You may sit the OSCE up to three times. The Council says registered nurses whose nursing education was in the UK, Ireland, Ontario, British Columbia, Singapore or the USA may not need the assessment.

Once registered, you keep practising by holding an annual practising certificate, renewed each year.

Green List, work visas and residence for nurses

INZ's Green List names jobs New Zealand needs workers for, and depending on the job, people who meet its requirements may be able to apply for residence immediately or after 2 years of working in New Zealand. Residence here means a resident visa, which lets you stay in New Zealand indefinitely. For nursing roles, registered and enrolled, the Green List means immediately. If you hold Nursing Council registration, have a full-time job or job offer with an accredited employer at the pay rate INZ sets, are 55 or younger and meet the other requirements, you can apply for a Straight to Residence Visa, from inside or outside New Zealand. Our Green List guide explains the list.

An accredited employer is one INZ has approved to hire migrants, and the job offer comes first. If you would rather start on a work visa, the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) needs a full-time offer from such an employer with an approved job check (INZ's check of that particular job), plus your registration, since nursing requires it. The employer sends you the link to apply. Our AEWV guide covers the details.

The Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) is another residence visa that starts from a job or job offer with an accredited employer: you first send an expression of interest (a form describing how you meet the requirements), and if INZ accepts it, it invites you to apply. Its points route needs 6 points. Registration as a registered nurse is worth 3 points, and INZ adds up to 3 more for skilled work in New Zealand done after you register, with 2 years giving all 3. Our SMC guide and points calculator show how they combine.

Can enrolled nurses use the same route?

Yes, though the job and the steps differ. An enrolled nurse in New Zealand must work with access to guidance from a registered nurse or another registered health practitioner, and the Council asks for a Diploma in Enrolled Nursing or a comparable qualification. Since 1 September 2025, internationally qualified enrolled nurses who apply need 1,800 hours of practice after registration and must pass the theory exam and the OSCE, which has 8 stations for enrolled nurses. Enrolled nurse roles have the same Green List standing as registered nurse roles, with Council registration required. But INZ's search of registrations that give Skilled Migrant Category points finds no enrolled nurse entry, and INZ says no result means no points from that registration.

Which English test should a nurse take for New Zealand?

Start with the Nursing Council's list, then check INZ's. Of English tests, the Council accepts only OET or IELTS Academic and does not accept PTE. For OET you need at least 350 in reading, listening and speaking and 300 in writing; for IELTS Academic, 7 in reading, listening and speaking and 6.5 in writing. You can reach those scores over more than one sitting, within 12 months of your first, and every sitting must fall within the three years before you apply to the Council. If your nursing education was taught and examined in English in the UK, Singapore, Ireland, Canada or the USA, TruMerit may invite you to show your English another way, at the Council's discretion.

INZ's skilled residence visas accept OET and IELTS Academic among other tests, taken in person at a test centre, so one result can cover both when it meets each body's minimum and time limit. INZ generally wants a result no more than 2 years old, but for the Skilled Migrant Category a registered nurse's result can be up to 5 years old. Our guide to accepted English tests lists INZ's options.

A common mistake nurses make

Applying too soon after you qualify. The Council requires a declaration of at least 1,800 hours of nursing practice after registration and says it is important to apply to TruMerit after you have them: fewer hours delay your application, and with no practice after registration you are not eligible to apply at all. So build that experience where you are registered first. The Council also says it has no role in recruiting or employing nurses and encourages you to explore jobs before applying for registration or coming to New Zealand.

First steps

1. Try the Council's self-assessment tool to see whether you may need a competence assessment.
2. Reach the Council's scores in OET or IELTS Academic.
3. Explore full-time nursing jobs with employers accredited for the AEWV; the Council encourages this before you apply for registration.
4. Have TruMerit verify your documents, then apply to the Council and finish the online courses.
5. Once you are registered and have an offer, apply for your visa, for example the Straight to Residence Visa.