INZ work visa rules update - minimum salary levels

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has recently further tweaked the work visa changes it made last year. In effect, the minimum salary levels have increased.

Last year's changes make visas harder for low-skilled migrants

In August last year, INZ made several changes to how essential skills work visas are considered. These included:

• Sorting work visa applicants into low-skilled, mid-skilled, and high-skilled brackets.
• Ensuring that low-skilled migrants can only get work visas for 12 months, at a time.
• Making it impossible for low-skilled migrants to bring families with them to NZ.
• Making it impossible for low-skilled migrants to stay for more than three years.

Who are low-skilled migrants?