How do Skilled Migrant Category points work?
The Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa uses a 6-point system. You score from one of three skill indicators — occupational registration, qualification or income — and, if that indicator gives you fewer than 6, you can add points for skilled work experience in New Zealand. Nothing else counts. This walks through the published tables and shows the arithmetic.
Checked against immigration.govt.nz on 2026-09-15
Points are set by the minimum years of experience or training New Zealand requires before you can be registered in your occupation.
The working
6 + nothing else. The six-point system has no other additions: there are no points here for age, for a partner, for time in the country, or for anything a previous points system counted.
Points from the published table
6 of 6
The table reaches 6. That is arithmetic, not an outcome — INZ decides.
What this number is not
- Not a decision, and not a prediction of one
- Not a check of whether you are eligible
- Not advice about which visa to apply for
- Not the job offer, employer, health and character requirements, which are separate
Only Immigration New Zealand decides, and only a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer can advise you on your own situation.
The published criteria, fee and processing time for this visa are on our Skilled Migrant Category page. The three indicators reproduced above are occupational registration, qualification, income.
How this tool works
Immigration New Zealand publishes three tables, one per skill indicator, plus a fourth for New Zealand skilled work experience. This page reproduces those tables and adds up the two numbers you choose. That is the whole method.
The part people most often get wrong is that the indicators do not stack. INZ scores one of registration, qualification or income — you cannot add your degree points to your income points. The only addition is work experience, and INZ says plainly that it is available only when the indicator itself falls short of 6: “you cannot use your qualifications or income to claim more points”.
Reaching 6in the table is not the same as qualifying. The visa also requires a job or job offer that meets INZ’s requirements, and health, character and other conditions that no calculator can see. INZ decides; this page counts.
The wage thresholds the income indicator uses
Effective 9 March 2026, as published on INZ’s pay-rates page:
| Rate | Amount | What INZ says it applies to |
|---|---|---|
| SMC wage threshold | $35.00 an hour | ANZSCO skill levels 1 to 3 |
| 1.5 times the threshold | $52.50 an hour | ANZSCO skill levels 4, 5 or not listed — 3 points |
| 2 times the threshold | $70.00 an hour | 4 points |
| 3 times the threshold | $105.00 an hour | 6 points |
| Skilled Work Experience pathway | $38.50 an hour | 1.1 times the threshold |
| Amber List jobs | $42.00 an hour | 1.2 times the threshold |
INZ says these thresholds are based on the median wage but does not publish the median wage figure itself on that page, so we do not publish one either.
Questions
How many points do you need for the Skilled Migrant Category?
Six. Immigration New Zealand publishes 6 skilled resident points as the requirement for the points-based pathway, scored from one skill indicator plus, where that indicator falls short, New Zealand skilled work experience.
Can I add my qualification points to my income points?
No. INZ scores one indicator only — occupational registration, qualification or income — and the tables are alternatives, not components of a total. The single exception to the 'no adding' rule is skilled work experience in New Zealand, and INZ states that you cannot use qualifications or income to claim those extra points.
What counts as 6 points on income?
A job paying three times the Skilled Migrant Category wage threshold or more — NZD $105.00 an hour, from the rates effective 9 March 2026. Two times the threshold ($70.00 an hour) is 4 points and 1.5 times ($52.50 an hour) is 3 points.
Does this tool tell me whether I qualify?
No, and it is not allowed to. It reproduces two published tables and adds two numbers. Whether you qualify depends on a job offer, an employer, health, character and conditions this page cannot see, and only Immigration New Zealand decides. For advice about your own situation you need a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer.
Is this the old points system with points for age and a partner?
No. The six-point system replaced the older residence points table. There are no points here for age, for a partner's qualifications, for time already spent in New Zealand, or for a job outside Auckland. If a figure you have read somewhere mentions 160 points, it is out of date.
Sources
- INZ — Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa (the points tables)
- INZ — Pay rates for the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa
- INZ — Claiming skilled resident points from occupational registration
Read on 2026-09-15. Immigration rules change: if this page and the source disagree, the source is right.