New Zealand Skilled Migrant Category 6-Point Calculator

What the 6-Point Threshold Actually Measures

New Zealand rebuilt the Skilled Migrant Category around a single number. You need 6 skilled resident points, and you claim them from one of three skill categories: a qualification, a New Zealand occupational registration, or your income. Each of those categories can award between 3 and 6 points depending on how strong your claim is. If your best category tops out below 6, you may add up to 3 more points from skilled work experience gained in New Zealand.

The structure matters more than the total. Under the previous system, points from different sources added together without limit, so a candidate could compensate for a weak qualification with age, experience and bonus points. That is gone. Immigration New Zealand states plainly that you cannot mix points from different skill categories — you cannot bolt qualification points onto income points, and you cannot use registration plus qualifications. One category, one experience add-on, one total.

This checker mirrors four published tables: qualification points by level and by where the qualification was gained, registration points by years of training, income points by multiple of the SMC wage threshold, and additional points by years of New Zealand skilled work experience. Every figure in the calculator appears in the tables further down this page, with the source page named.

Which Skill Category Gives You the Best Result?

The category that serves you best is not the one with the highest ceiling — all three reach 6. It is the one where your own evidence clears the bar with the least further work. Three profiles show how differently that plays out.

A candidate with an international bachelor's degree claims 4 points. With one year of skilled work in New Zealand they reach 5, one short. Two more routes open: stay on qualification and add a second year in New Zealand for the third experience point, or switch to income and claim 6 outright with pay at 3 times the SMC wage threshold. The income switch needs no extra waiting period, but it needs a job that pays NZD $105.00 an hour — a demanding test that most applicants cannot meet.

A registered tradesperson whose registration required 4 years of training claims 4 points. Unlike the qualification route, the registration route has a 5-point rung, at 5 years of required training. Someone whose registration sits one rung higher can often move from 5 to 6 by claiming a registration that requires 6 years, or by pairing 5 registration points with 1 point from a single year of New Zealand experience.

An applicant paid 2 times the SMC wage threshold claims 4 points and cannot claim 5, because the income table has no 5-point row. To reach 6 they need 2 points of New Zealand experience, which means 1.5 years, not 1 year. This is the trap in the income category: the gap between 4 and 6 is wider than the gap between 4 and 5 looks on paper.

The calculator above runs all three categories against your stated experience and shows the points each one produces. Where none of them reach 6, the second table tells you the minimum level in each category that would close the gap, so you can see whether the shortest route is more time in New Zealand or a stronger claim in a category you already hold.

Qualification Points: New Zealand and International Awards

Where you studied changes the score. A New Zealand master's degree can be worth 6, while an international master's degree of the same academic standing is worth 5. The difference is deliberate: the New Zealand award carries an assumption that the study was completed here, in English, to a known standard.

For qualifications gained in New Zealand, the top rung is a Level 10 doctoral degree at 6 points, and a Level 9 master's degree also reaches 6 if you completed at least 30 weeks of full-time study in New Zealand and hold a bachelor's degree. A master's degree that does not meet both conditions drops to 5. Level 8 honours degrees, postgraduate diplomas and postgraduate certificates score 5 with a bachelor's degree, and a Level 7 bachelor's degree scores 5.

For qualifications gained outside New Zealand, you need an International Qualification Assessment that recognises the award on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework, unless it appears on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment. A Level 10 doctorate still reaches 6. Everything below it is one rung lower than the New Zealand equivalent: a master's degree gives 5, and Level 8 or Level 7 awards give 4.

Non-degree qualifications at Level 7 or below score nothing in this category, which rules out most trade certificates on the qualification route. Tradespeople are not stranded — the Trades and Technician pathway exists for exactly that profile, and it is assessed on a different basis, described in the official pathway pages linked in the sources block. If you hold an overseas qualification and have not started an International Qualification Assessment, note that the assessment reference number is required in the expression of interest itself, so that step has to happen before you submit, not after.

A separate rule closes a loophole: if you claim points from qualifications, you cannot then top up with registration or income points. Only New Zealand skilled work experience can be added. The official page says this in the qualification section, the registration section and the income section, which tells you how often applicants try it.

Occupational Registration Points

Registration points go to people whose job is licensed in New Zealand — chartered accountants, registered plumbers, electricians, and a long list of health and education professions. The points depend on how much training or experience the registration itself demands, not on your personal career length. A registration that requires 6 years of training or experience is worth 6 points, because the registration is treated as proof of a deep skill base.

Two conditions decide whether this category is open to you at all. First, the registration must appear on Immigration New Zealand's list of eligible New Zealand occupational registrations — the official site publishes it as a searchable lookup rather than a printable table, so you have to search your occupation by name or sector. If your search returns nothing, you cannot claim registration points. Second, if you are using New Zealand work experience to add points to a registration claim, only experience gained after you became registered counts. Time served before registration is excluded, because registration is the point at which the occupation recognises you as skilled.

One practical benefit sits outside the points table: if you or anyone in your application holds an occupational registration that is eligible for points under this pathway, English language test results can be up to 5 years old instead of 2, for the person holding the registration. The registration certificate must be provided alongside the test result, and the registration must be full — not provisional and not limited.

Income Points and the SMC Wage Threshold

The income category is the most misunderstood, because the ladder skips a rung. Pay of three times the SMC wage threshold gives 6 points. Pay of twice the threshold gives 4. Pay of 1.5 times the threshold gives 3. There is no 5-point band, and pay below 1.5 times the threshold gives nothing at all from this category.

The SMC wage threshold is an hourly figure and it moves each year. For anyone who started gaining skilled work experience in New Zealand on or after 9 March 2026, it is NZD $35.00 an hour for ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3 jobs, with 1.5 times at $52.50 and 2 times at $70.00. The threshold is fixed at the rate in force when your skilled work experience began to count, and it does not rise afterwards — but everything you claim later, including the job you use to apply, must meet or exceed that fixed rate.

If your pay is set as an annual salary, Immigration New Zealand requires you to convert it using the maximum contracted hours in your employment agreement, not the hours you typically work. That conversion decides which band you sit in, and it is where carefully optimistic arithmetic tends to fall apart. There is also a grace period: if you started your skilled work experience within 5 months of your work visa being granted, and the threshold rose between those two dates, you may be able to use the lower rate that applied when the visa was granted. The grace period does not extend to a variation of conditions or an accredited employer work visa job change.

One more limit applies to how far back you can reach. The work experience used to set your threshold must fall inside an eligible timeframe equal to twice the experience you need, counted back from the date you submit your expression of interest. If you need 2 years of skilled work experience and you submit on 1 September 2026, the earliest threshold you can set is 1 September 2022.

Additional Points for Skilled Work Experience in New Zealand

The experience top-up is capped at 3 points and it is deliberately granular, because it exists to close small gaps rather than to carry an application on its own. One year gives 1 point, 1.5 years gives 2, and 2 years gives 3. Note that the step from 1 point to 2 points needs six months, while the step from 2 to 3 needs another six months — the intervals are even, but the first one starts at a full year.

The experience has to be genuine skilled work, not simply time on a visa. It must be in a full-time job of at least 30 hours a week, it must closely match the job title and description for your occupation in ANZSCO, and it must have been paid at the required rate throughout. What that rate is depends on how you are claiming: if you claim points for a qualification or a registration, ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3 jobs must have paid at least the SMC wage threshold, while skill level 4 and 5 jobs must have paid at least 1.5 times it. If you claim income points, the experience must have been paid at the same multiple you are claiming.

Extended leave does not automatically break the period. Immigration New Zealand allows parental leave, ACC leave and sick leave to be included in the skilled work experience period in some circumstances. Unpaid leave taken for other reasons, or a stretch on a lower rate, will usually break it, and the clock restarts when your pay meets the threshold again.

Do You Still Meet the Age, English and Health Rules?

Points decide nothing on their own. Every SMC applicant must clear a set of non-points requirements, and a strong score does not excuse a failure on any of them. The order below is the order in which they tend to sink applications.

On English, the standard for a skilled residence visa is higher than for other residence categories, and a principal applicant cannot buy language lessons as a substitute. The approved tests and minimum scores for a principal applicant are IELTS 6.5 overall, TOEFL iBT 79, PTE Academic 58, B2 First 176, B2 First for Schools 176, or grade C+ or higher in all four skills of the Occupational English Test. A partner or dependent child aged 16 or older needs IELTS 5, TOEFL iBT 35, PTE Academic 36 or B2 First 154, and can instead pay for English lessons in New Zealand if they fall short.

There is an alternative to testing. Citizenship of Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom or the United States, combined with at least 5 years of working or studying in one of those countries or in Australia or New Zealand, satisfies the requirement. So does a qualification comparable to a New Zealand Level 7 bachelor's degree gained in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States, with at least 2 years lived there while studying. A postgraduate qualification at Level 8 or above gained in one of those countries cuts the residence requirement to 1 year.

Tests must be taken in person at a test centre. Results taken remotely, such as at-home versions, are not accepted, and results cannot be more than 2 years old when you apply — or up to 5 years old if you hold an eligible occupational registration and provide the certificate. You cannot submit evidence of a future booking.

The fee is a separate hurdle. The official visa page lists the cost as starting from NZD $6,450, and that is the government fee for the residence application rather than the full cost of the process once medicals, police certificates, translations and an International Qualification Assessment are added. Submitting the expression of interest itself carries no fee.

Step by Step: From Expression of Interest to Residence

The order of operations is fixed, and running the steps out of sequence is the most common way to lose months. This is what to do next, in sequence, from a standing start to an application lodged. The expression of interest is not an application and it does not require documents, but it does require accurate claim details, and an inaccurate claim is assessed against the evidence you later provide. Step 1 is the one people skip, and it is the one that decides whether the 6-point score is even the right test for them.

1. Confirm which pathway you are using. There are three: the Points-based pathway, the Skilled Work Experience pathway and the Trades and Technician pathway. You only need to meet the requirements for one. The 6-point score matters on the Points-based pathway; the other two are assessed on work experience and qualification depth instead.
2. Score yourself against one category. Use the calculator above to check your qualification level, registration or income band, then add New Zealand experience. If your total is under 6, do not submit yet — work out whether more time in New Zealand or a stronger claim is the faster route.
3. Complete any qualification assessment first. If you need an International Qualification Assessment, apply for it before the expression of interest, because the assessment reference number goes into the form itself.
4. Submit the expression of interest. There is no fee, and you do not have to finish it in one sitting — you can save and return. Immigration New Zealand tells you immediately after submission whether you meet the requirements.
5. Respond to the invitation within 4 months. If you do not apply within that window, the invitation lapses and you must submit a new expression of interest.
6. Gather evidence for every point claimed. Tax statements and summaries of earnings by month, employment agreements showing contracted hours, registration certificates, qualification certificates and transcripts, and the English evidence. This is where claims that looked fine on paper get tested.
7. Apply for residence and pay the fee. From NZD $6,450 on the published scale, plus medicals, police certificates and translations. Then apply for a Permanent Resident Visa later, once you meet those separate requirements.

Documents You Will Be Asked For

The evidence list follows the points you claimed. If you claimed income points, the required proof is earnings evidence; if you claimed registration, it is the registration certificate plus the training record behind it. Preparing the wrong set is slow and sometimes fatal, because an unproven claim is treated as a claim not made.

1. Identity and age. Passport or travel document, plus evidence of the age you are relying on.
2. Qualification evidence. Certificate and academic transcript, the International Qualification Assessment outcome where required, and evidence that a New Zealand master's degree involved at least 30 weeks of full-time study if you are claiming 6 points on that basis.
3. Registration evidence. A full registration certificate — not provisional or limited — and the training or experience record that supports the years the registration requires.
4. Income evidence. Employment agreement showing maximum contracted hours, and tax statements or summaries of earnings by month that show you met the required SMC wage threshold during the claimed period.
5. Work experience evidence. Employment agreements, job descriptions matching the ANZSCO title, and pay records covering the full period claimed, including any parental, ACC or sick leave you are relying on.
6. English evidence. Test results, or qualification certificates and transcripts for study completed in English in an approved country, or passport details establishing citizenship.
7. Health and character. Medical examination and chest X-ray references, plus police certificates from the countries where you have lived.
8. Family documents. Evidence of the relationship for a partner, and identity and custody documents for dependent children, with certified English translations for anything not in English.

Why Some Applications Fail at the Points Stage

Most point failures are not arithmetic failures. They are evidentiary ones, and they cluster around four habits.

The first is mixing categories. Applicants add a bachelor's degree to a salary band and arrive at a number that feels right and is not permitted. The official pages repeat the prohibition in each category section because it is the single most common misconception carried over from the pre-2023 system, where mixing was normal.

The second is counting the wrong experience. Time on a work visa before your pay reached the applicable threshold does not count, and neither does time before registration if you are claiming registration points. The clock starts when both conditions are met, and Immigration New Zealand asks for monthly earnings evidence precisely to check that start date. If your pay later dropped below your fixed threshold, that stretch drops out too.

The third is assuming a qualification is recognised. An overseas bachelor's degree without an International Qualification Assessment, or without a place on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment, cannot be scored. The assessment takes time, and it has to be done before the expression of interest.

The fourth is treating a refusal as a scoring problem. If an application is refused on the ground that a claimed point was not evidenced, submitting again with the same evidence produces the same outcome. The remedy is a corrected claim, which may mean accepting a lower score and building the missing point through time in New Zealand or through a genuine change in role.

Frequently Asked Questions