Work visa streams

At a glance

All temporary work visas in New Zealand are grouped into four streams: the Skilled stream, the Family stream, the International/Humanitarian stream, and the Special work stream. [W2.5] The stream determines which specific policy instructions apply to an application. [W2.5]

Definition

Skilled stream

The Skilled stream facilitates the entry of people with skills, qualifications, or experience needed in New Zealand. [W2.5] It includes four broad sets of instructions:

• Work to Residence – for people whose skills are in demand and who have a pathway to residence. [W2.5]
• Essential Skills – for temporary workers filling shortages where no New Zealand citizen or resident is available. [W2.5]
• Specific Purpose or Event – for people with demonstrated skills or expertise that benefit New Zealand, without harming opportunities for locals. [W2.5][WS]
• Students and Trainees – for gaining practical work experience or training as part of study. [W2.5]

In addition, the Silver Fern work instructions (WL1) attract highly skilled young people to New Zealand and provide a pathway for these workers to remain in New Zealand upon gaining skilled employment through the Silver Fern Practical Experience visa (WL3). [WL1][WL3]

Family stream

The Family stream enables the partners of certain visa holders to undertake temporary employment. [W2.5] This applies to partners of New Zealand citizens or residence class visa holders, partners of Long Term Business Visa holders, and partners of work visa holders. [W2.5] Applicants under the Family stream must also meet the generic lodgement, bona fide, health, and character requirements set out at W2.10.1. [WF1]

International/Humanitarian stream

This stream covers two categories: [W2.5]

• Working holiday schemes that allow people from partner countries to work on a reciprocal basis. [W2.5]
• Provisions enabling New Zealand to meet its humanitarian and international obligations — for example, the Antarctic Treaty personnel programme (see Antarctic Treaty Personnel Work Visa). [W2.5][WI3]

The Pitcairn Islander work visa instructions (WI9) also fall within this stream, allowing Pitcairn Islanders who have applied for residence to work for up to 9 months (see Pitcairn Islander Work Visa). [WI9] The Interpreters from Japan work visa (WI10) allows New Zealand employers in tourism-related industries to recruit Japanese interpreters for up to 3 years (see Interpreters from Japan Work Visa). [WI10] The Thai chefs work visa (WI11) allows skilled Thai chefs with specified qualifications and experience to work in New Zealand for up to four years without a labour market check (see Thai Chefs Work Visa). [WI11] The China Special Work visa (WI12) allows limited numbers of Chinese nationals in specific occupations — chefs, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners, Mandarin teachers' aides, Wushu Martial Arts coaches, and tourism specialists — to work in New Zealand for up to three years, with a subsequent three-year stand-down (see China Special Work Visa). [WI12] The China Skilled Workers visa (WI13) allows limited numbers of Chinese nationals in specified skilled occupations — such as auditors, electricians, registered nurses, and structural engineers — to work in New Zealand for up to three years, with a subsequent three-year stand-down (see China Skilled Workers Visa). [WI13] The Philippines Work Visa (WI14) allows limited numbers of Philippine citizens with specified qualifications and a job offer to work temporarily in New Zealand (see Philippines Work Visa). [WI14.1] The Korea Work Visa (WI19.1) allows limited numbers of citizens of the Republic of Korea who are qualified and/or experienced in certain occupations, and who hold a full-time New Zealand job offer in that occupation, to be granted a work visa and entry permission. [WI19.1] The Indonesia Special Work Instructions (WI17) provide a bilateral scheme for Indonesian nationals to work in New Zealand. [WI17] The Primary Sector Trainee Instructions (WI18.1) allow primary sector trainees from countries with which New Zealand has an agreement to study and gain work experience in chosen fields, with a requirement to return to their home country for at least two years after completion. [WI18.1] Applicants under this stream must meet the specific requirements for the International/Humanitarian work instructions relevant to their application, and also meet the requirements under Generic Temporary Entry Instructions unless the relevant International/Humanitarian work instructions exempt them from this requirement. [WI1]

Special work policies stream

The special work stream includes: [W2.5]

• Horticulture and viticulture seasonal work instructions, which support seasonal labour in those industries. [W2.5]
• Foreign crew of fishing vessels instructions, enabling the grant of work visas to foreign crew on New Zealand‑flagged vessels. [W2.5][WJ]
• Religious worker instructions, whose objectives are to provide New Zealand communities with the opportunity to practise, maintain and advance their religious beliefs, and to maintain the integrity of the immigration system through clear guidelines for applicants to undertake genuine religious work [WM1]. They permit entry for genuine religious work. [W2.5][WM] The definition of ‘religious work’ for these instructions is set out in Religious work definition [WM2]. A dedicated visa page for this work visa is at Religious Worker Work Visa.
• Refugee and protection status claimant work instructions, which permit refugee and protection status claimants to work in a specific job while their claim is being determined. [WI6]
• Family violence victim work instructions, enabling victims of family violence to apply for a special temporary work visa. [WI7]
• Victim of people trafficking work instructions, enabling victims of people trafficking to apply for a special temporary work visa. [WI16]
• Migrant Exploitation Protection work visa instructions, enabling exploited migrant workers holding an employer-supported work visa to leave an exploitative workplace and obtain a temporary work visa. [WI20]

Application in decisions

When assessing a temporary work visa application, Immigration New Zealand first identifies the appropriate stream and, where applicable, the specific sub‑stream. [W2.5] Policy requirements – such as labour market tests, qualifications, and duration limits – differ materially across streams, so correct categorisation is fundamental to a lawful decision. [W2.5]

Interpretation & edge cases

The four streams are exhaustive for all work visa policies; every temporary work visa falls under one of them. [W2.5] No edge cases arise from W2.5 itself, but the precise scope of each sub‑stream is defined in separate instructions. [W2.5]

Citations

• W2.5 — Work visa streams
• WF1 — General rules
• WI1 — General rules
• WI3 — Antarctic Treaty personnel
• WI6 — Special work visas for refugee or protection status claimants
• WI7 — Special work visas for victims of family violence
• WI9 — Pitcairn Islanders
• WI10 — Interpreters from Japan
• WI11 — Thai chefs
• WI12 — China Special Work Instructions
• WI13 — China Skilled Workers Instructions
• WI14.1 — Objective
• WI16 — Special work visa for victims of people trafficking
• WI17 — Indonesia Special Work Instructions
• WI18.1 — Objective
• WI19.1 — Objective
• WI20 — Migrant Exploitation Protection work visa (MEPV) instructions
• WJ — Foreign crew of fishing vessels
• WL1 — Objectives
• WL3 — Silver Fern Practical Experience
• WM — Religious Worker instructions
• WM1 — Objective
• WM2 — Definition of ‘religious work’
• WS — Specific Purpose or Event Instructions