From 24 August 2026, Immigration New Zealand adds two new residence pathways to the Skilled Migrant Category (Immigration New Zealand news on SMC changes). Most of the coverage has been about those two new routes. Underneath them sits something that will decide more cases than either pathway does, and it gets far less attention: a set of occupation lists that determine which pathways your job can use at all.

Bottom line up front: there are effectively three tiers. If your occupation is on neither list, both new pathways are open to you. If it is on the amber list, one of them is open, with a harder test. If it is on the red list, neither is open, and you are back to the existing points route (Immigration New Zealand news on SMC changes). So the sequence matters. Check the list first, then count your years.

Why the lists exist

Immigration New Zealand introduced the red and amber lists alongside the new pathways, to manage immigration risk and keep the pathways targeted at genuine skill needs (Immigration New Zealand news on the SMC changes announcement).

That phrasing is worth reading plainly. The new pathways were designed to open residence to people with real, practical experience who do not have a degree or a high salary. The lists are the brake on that. They stop the widened door from opening equally for every occupation.

The three tiers, plainly

Not on either list. Both new pathways are available to you, subject to the usual requirements. The Skilled Work Experience Pathway asks for at least 5 years of directly relevant work experience, including 2 years in New Zealand earning at least 1.1 times the SMC median wage. The Trades and Technician Pathway asks for a relevant Level 4 or higher qualification and at least 4 years of directly relevant experience gained after qualifying, including 1.5 years in New Zealand at the SMC median wage (Immigration New Zealand news on SMC changes).

Amber list. These occupations can use the Skilled Work Experience Pathway, but with extra criteria, and they are not eligible for the Trades and Technician Pathway at all (Immigration New Zealand news on the SMC changes announcement). The extra criteria are specific: at least 5 years of relevant eligible work experience in New Zealand, including 2 years of skilled work experience earning at least 1.2 times the SMC median wage (Immigration New Zealand news on SMC changes).

Red list. These occupations are excluded from both new pathways. Residence is still possible, but only under an existing SMC pathway, which means claiming 6 points the established way: earning at least 1.5 times the SMC median wage, or holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, or holding a recognised occupational registration together with the required New Zealand skilled work experience (Immigration New Zealand news on SMC changes).

What the amber list actually costs you

It is easy to read “amber can still use the Skilled Work Experience Pathway” and relax. Put the two versions side by side and the gap is bigger than it sounds.

The standard version of that pathway wants 5 years of directly relevant experience in total, of which 2 years must be in New Zealand, at 1.1 times the median wage. The amber version wants all 5 years to be relevant eligible work experience in New Zealand, and the 2 skilled years at 1.2 times the median wage (Immigration New Zealand news on SMC changes).

Two changes, and the second one is the heavy one. A higher wage multiplier is a number you can sometimes negotiate or grow into. A requirement that every one of those 5 years sits inside New Zealand is a matter of history, and history cannot be renegotiated. Someone with 12 excellent years in their trade at home and 2 years here does not partly qualify. On the amber version of this pathway, they do not qualify yet.

And if your occupation is amber and it is a trade, the Trades and Technician Pathway is closed to you regardless of how well you fit its shape (Immigration New Zealand news on the SMC changes announcement). That is the detail I expect to surprise the most people, because the trades pathway is the one that reads as being written for them.

If your occupation is on the red list

The word sounds final. It is not. What the red list closes is the two new pathways, not residence (Immigration New Zealand news on the SMC changes announcement).

So the question becomes an older one: can you reach 6 points the existing way? For a lot of people in red list roles, the realistic answer is the wage route, because 1.5 times the median wage is a number, and numbers can change with a promotion, a different employer, or a different region. For others it is the registration route. It is worth working out which of the three is closest for you before assuming the answer is no.

Where to check, honestly

Immigration New Zealand has published the full list of eligible occupations for the Trades and Technician Pathway, roughly 170 roles with their ANZSCO codes (Immigration New Zealand eligible occupations for the SMC Trades and Technician pathway). The confirmation of the red and amber lists sits with the wider set of changes taking effect on 24 August 2026 (Immigration New Zealand news on SMC changes).

I will be straight with you about the awkward part. There is no single “type your job title and see your colour” tool. You are matching your actual role to an ANZSCO code, then checking that code against the lists. If your job title and your daily duties do not line up neatly, and for a lot of real jobs they do not, that matching step is where the answer is genuinely uncertain rather than merely unknown.

What I would actually do

I would start with the ANZSCO code, not the job title. Titles drift. “Site supervisor” and “project coordinator” can mean very different work in two companies on the same street, and the code follows the duties.

Then I would check three things in order. First, which list the occupation sits on, because that decides which pathways exist for you. Second, where your New Zealand years sit, because both new pathways care about New Zealand time specifically, and amber cares about it entirely. Third, the pay rate against the right multiplier, 1.1 or 1.2 or 1.5 depending on which route you are actually on.

If the answer comes out as red, I would not treat that as the end of the conversation. I would price up the distance to 1.5 times the median wage and see whether it is a year away or a fantasy. Those are very different situations, and only one of them is worth building a plan around.

Your future deserves honesty, not guesswork. Getting told early that a route is closed is worth far more than finding out after you have spent two years and a filing fee proving it.

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