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Calculate your Skilled Migrant Category points under the rules Immigration New Zealand applies from August 24, 2026. Free, instant, no account required.
We last checked this page against the official immigration rules on August 5, 2026.
Important: This is not immigration advice
This calculator provides estimates only based on the information you enter. It is not a substitute for professional immigration advice. HowToMoveTo is not an immigration adviser and does not guarantee any outcome.
View official SMC requirements on immigration.govt.nzDegree-level qualifications at level 7 or above on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework earn points, up to 6 points. A higher level earns more, and the same qualification earned in New Zealand earns one more point than one earned elsewhere. From an honours degree upwards you also need a bachelor's degree behind it. Pick your level below to see what it scores.
Some professions in New Zealand can only be practised with a licence from a professional body, which New Zealand calls occupational registration. Immigration New Zealand publishes a list of the registrations it awards points for, and each one on that list carries its own points value, up to 6 points. Choose yours in the registration question below.
Your pay in New Zealand, or the pay in a job offer, earns points when it is well above the national median wage (the middle of what everyone earns, currently NZD $35.00 an hour). The bigger the multiple, the more you earn, up to 6 points. The multiples that count are listed in the income question below.
After choosing one core, you can add up to 3 points from full-time skilled work experience in New Zealand. The periods that qualify are listed in the New Zealand skilled work experience question below, and only the highest one that applies to you counts.
Points are only part of it. Whatever your score, New Zealand also sets mandatory requirements, including English language ability, health, character, an age limit, and a skilled job offer from an accredited employer paid at the level set for your occupation. This calculator asks about only some of them. Your free assessment asks the rest, and shows you free how many New Zealand pathways you are likely or potentially eligible for.
Some New Zealand residence pathways ask whether your job appears on a list Immigration New Zealand publishes. Those lists use a different job-coding system from the one this site uses, and the published jobs below could not be matched to ours. If your job is one of them, this site cannot tell you whether it is on a list, and that is not a decision about whether your job qualifies. Check it yourself on Immigration New Zealand's published lists.
Some of these titles end in "nec". That is Immigration New Zealand's short form for "not elsewhere classified", meaning jobs of that kind that have no entry of their own.
See the occupation lists on immigration.govt.nzImmigration New Zealand lists the registrations below at more than one points value, and does not publish what separates them. Rather than guess, this calculator leaves them out of the registration list and scores them at nothing. If you hold one, look it up on Immigration New Zealand's own tool to see what it is worth.
Select the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF) level of your highest qualification. Only degree-level qualifications at level 7 or above earn points.
A qualification earned in New Zealand is worth one more point than the same qualification earned anywhere else.
Immigration New Zealand asks for a bachelor's degree behind an honours degree, a postgraduate diploma or certificate, or a master's. It can be from any country. Tick this if you hold one.
Only used for a master's degree earned in New Zealand: 30 weeks or more of full-time study in New Zealand, with a bachelor's degree behind it, is what takes it to the top of the scale.
Choose the registration you already hold. Only the registrations Immigration New Zealand awards points for are listed, grouped by the body that grants them.
Your current New Zealand pay, or the pay in a job offer, compared with the national median wage (currently NZD $35.00 an hour).
Choose the highest option that applies to you. Skilled work means a job at skill level 1 to 3 on New Zealand's occupation list, which ranks jobs from 1 to 5 by the training or qualifications they normally need, with 1 the highest. Full time means at least 30 hours a week, and work outside the periods listed does not earn points.
Choose which core to use for your points, or let us pick the highest-scoring one for you.
Immigration New Zealand wants proof of your English from a test it accepts. The standard is IELTS 6.5 overall, or the equivalent on another accepted exam (TOEFL iBT 79, PTE Academic 58, Cambridge 176). If you have not sat one yet, pick the No test taken option: that is normal at this stage, and you can still see the rest of your score.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) asks residence applicants to show they are in good health, usually with a medical examination and a chest X-ray. Tick this if you expect to meet that.
Immigration New Zealand checks character with police certificates: one from your country of citizenship, and one from every country you have lived in for 12 months or more in the last 10 years. Tick this if you expect those certificates to come back clear.
An accredited employer is one Immigration New Zealand has approved to hire from overseas. The job must be full time (30 or more hours a week), permanent or on a fixed-term contract of at least 12 months, and pay at least the wage set for your occupation's skill level.
Your SMC Score
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This score reflects only what you selected above. The full assessment works it out again from the dates and details you enter, so it can come out differently.
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What you have told us
The lines above only repeat what you entered on this page. New Zealand's Skilled Migrant Category also sets an age limit, checks an accompanying partner, judges a job offer by your occupation's skill level and pay, and expects English test results from the last 2 years, none of which this calculator asks. Your free assessment does.
Your SMC points are one piece of the picture. Get a personalized report covering every New Zealand immigration pathway, from work and partnership visas to investor categories. Your eligibility summary is free; you only pay to unlock the full report.
Start Your Free AssessmentYour SMC points are one piece of the picture. Get a personalized report covering every New Zealand immigration pathway, from work and partnership visas to investor categories. Your eligibility summary is free; you only pay to unlock the full report.
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