Australia vs New Zealand for skilled migration: a points test against a wage-floor system that just changed

Migratio Editorial · Last updated 25 September 2026

TL;DR: Australia's points-tested skilled visas (189, 190, 491) set a fixed 65-point minimum with no salary requirement at all. New Zealand rebuilt its main skilled residence category from 24 August 2026 into three separate pathways — a 6-point Skilled Migrant Category test, a Skilled Work Experience pathway (5 years' experience including 2 in New Zealand at 1.1x the wage threshold), and a Trades and Technician pathway — all pinned to a wage threshold of NZD 35.00/hour from 9 March 2026. New Zealand also runs a separate Green List of in-demand roles offering a faster Tier 1 straight-to-residence track or a Tier 2 work-to-residence track after 24 months. Base government fees sit at roughly AUD 6,135-6,140 for Australia against 'from NZD 6,450' for New Zealand's Skilled Migrant Category. And New Zealand grants residence in two steps — a Resident Visa with travel conditions for the first two years, then an unconditional Permanent Resident Visa — where Australia's 189/190 are unconditional from day one.

New Zealand's skilled residence system changed substantially on 24 August 2026 — recently enough that a lot of comparison content written even a few months earlier describes a structure that no longer applies. This page describes the system as it stands now, reading directly from Immigration New Zealand's own current pages, alongside Australia's points-tested skilled visas. It does not tell you which country's system your profile would clear; it describes what each one actually asks for, so you can work that out with accurate information rather than a stale comparison.

New Zealand just replaced its points system with three separate pathways

Since 24 August 2026, New Zealand's Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) offers three distinct routes to residence, not one points formula. The points-based pathway itself needs 6 skilled resident points, drawn from a single skill category — a relevant qualification (bachelor's degree or higher), occupational registration requiring at least 2 years' training, or income at 1.5 times the SMC wage threshold — and Immigration New Zealand states explicitly that you cannot combine points from different skill categories to reach 6.

Alongside it sit two pathways for people without that formal qualification route: a Skilled Work Experience pathway, needing 5 years of directly relevant work experience (including at least 2 years in New Zealand, paid at 1.1 times the SMC wage threshold), and a Trades and Technician pathway, needing a relevant Level 4+ qualification plus 4 years of post-qualification experience (including at least 18 months in New Zealand at the wage threshold). All three pathways carry a general age ceiling of 55. (Source: Immigration New Zealand, Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa page, checked 2026-09-07.)

Australia has nothing structurally equivalent to this three-pathway split. The 189/190/491 run a single points formula for everyone, with age, English, qualifications, work experience, partner skills, and state/regional nomination as the inputs — and, unlike every one of New Zealand's three SMC pathways, no income or wage component at all.

The number that drives New Zealand's system: the SMC wage threshold

New Zealand's wage threshold sits at NZD 35.00 per hour from 9 March 2026 (the country's median wage, recalculated annually from Statistics New Zealand data). The multiples that feed the different SMC pathways run from there: 1.1x is NZD 38.50/hour (the Skilled Work Experience pathway's floor), and 1.5x is NZD 52.50/hour (the points-pathway income-category floor). (Source: Immigration New Zealand, SMC wage threshold page, checked 2026-09-07.)

This wage-first design carries through New Zealand's employer-sponsored Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) too, though with a twist: since 10 March 2025, most AEWV roles no longer need to clear the median wage at all — only the New Zealand minimum wage — with the median wage retained specifically as the benchmark for roles that lead toward residence, and a higher NZD 26.85/hour threshold for AEWV holders who want to support a partner's visa. (Source: Immigration New Zealand news release, 20 February 2025.) Australia's system runs the reverse logic on its independent skilled visas: no wage test on the 189/190/491 at all, with income thresholds (the Core Skills and Specialist Skills Income Thresholds) reserved for the separate employer-sponsored 482 visa.

The employer-sponsored route on each side: 482 vs the Accredited Employer Work Visa

New Zealand's equivalent to Australia's employer-sponsored 482 is the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV), a five-step process: the employer applies for accreditation, advertises the role and engages with Work and Income, applies for a Job Check on the specific vacancy, the migrant then applies for the AEWV itself, and the employer takes on ongoing settlement obligations. An AEWV can run for up to 5 years and can lead toward residence, mirroring the 482's own route toward the permanent subclass 186. (Source: Immigration New Zealand, AEWV employer accreditation and job check process page, checked 2026-09-07.)

The wage rule attached to the AEWV changed substantially on 10 March 2025: most AEWV roles no longer need to clear the median wage at all, only New Zealand's statutory minimum wage, with the median wage retained only for roles carrying a residence pathway and a separate, lower threshold for AEWV holders wanting to support a partner's visa. (Source: Immigration New Zealand news release, 20 February 2025.) Australia runs the opposite design on its equivalent visa: the 482 requires clearing the Core Skills Income Threshold (AUD 79,423) or Specialist Skills Income Threshold (AUD 146,576) regardless of whether the role leads to permanence, with no separate lower minimum-wage-only tier.

New Zealand's Green List — a genuinely different lever from Australia's occupation lists

New Zealand also runs a Green List of in-demand occupations, split into two tiers: Tier 1 roles can go straight to a residence application (no qualifying work period required, provided you meet the specific role's qualification, registration and wage requirements), while Tier 2 roles require 24 months of relevant work experience in New Zealand, paid at the applicable wage rate, before a Work to Residence Visa application. (Source: Immigration New Zealand, Green List pathway to residence page, checked 2026-09-07.) Immigration New Zealand's own operational guidance states that health and social services occupations are represented in Tier 1 of the Green List; the specific tier for any individual occupation is set through a searchable tool on Immigration New Zealand's own site that renders its results client-side, so this page does not assert which tier any particular occupation sits in beyond that — check the live Green List search for your specific role.

Australia's MLTSSL, STSOL, ROL and CSOL don't carry an equivalent fast-track/slow-track split within the list itself — an occupation is either on a given list or it isn't, and the visa options and points implications follow from which list, not from a tier inside it. The closer Australian equivalent to a 'fast lane' is regional nomination (the 491's 15 bonus points, or a state's own priority processing for particular occupations), which works through the points test rather than around it.

What it costs, and how residence is actually granted

Australia's base visa application charge sits at AUD 6,135 (subclass 189) or AUD 6,140 (190/491), current as at 1 July 2026, for the primary applicant. New Zealand's Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa costs 'from NZD 6,450' for the principal applicant, per Immigration New Zealand's own visa page, checked 2026-09-07 — with partners and dependent children charged additionally.

Where the two systems diverge sharply is what you're actually granted at approval. Australia's 189 and 190 are unconditional permanent residence immediately. New Zealand grants a Resident Visa first, which carries travel conditions — typically an 'expiry date travel' window of around two years, during which leaving and not returning before that date can end the visa — before you become eligible to apply for an unconditional Permanent Resident Visa, generally after holding the Resident Visa for at least 2 years and having spent at least 184 days in New Zealand in each of those two years. (Source: Immigration New Zealand, Becoming a permanent resident of New Zealand page, checked 2026-09-07.) Australia's 491 is the closer analogue to this two-step structure on the Australian side — provisional for up to 5 years, converting to the permanent subclass 191 after 3 years of regional living and work.

The route most comparisons miss entirely: New Zealand citizens and residents already have a shortcut

Everything above compares the two countries' skilled-migration systems for a third-country national choosing between them. If you are actually a New Zealand citizen, none of it applies to you at all — New Zealand citizens receive Australia's Special Category Visa (subclass 444) automatically on arrival, with no points test, no occupation list, and no skills assessment, described in full at /blog/special-category-visa-444-explained. After four years of continuous Australian residence on that visa and meeting an income threshold, a direct pathway to permanent residence opens through the New Zealand stream of the subclass 189 — see /blog/nz-citizen-skills-assessment-and-work-rights-australia and /blog/new-zealand-citizen-direct-citizenship-pathway-2023 for how that works. This is a genuinely separate system from the skilled-migration comparison above, and worth checking first if New Zealand citizenship or residence is already part of your situation.

What this page can't decide for you

Which of New Zealand's three SMC pathways (or the Green List) a given occupation and work history fits, and whether an Australian points-test score would clear a competitive occupation's invitation round, are both questions about your specific circumstances that a comparison article cannot answer. For the Australian side, /blog/points-test-guide walks through the points test in detail, and getting matched with a MARA-registered migration agent is the way to get a considered answer rather than a guess.

Frequently asked questions

Did New Zealand's skilled migration system really change recently?

Yes. From 24 August 2026, Immigration New Zealand restructured the Skilled Migrant Category into three separate pathways — a 6-point test, a Skilled Work Experience pathway, and a Trades and Technician pathway — replacing the previous single points formula. Any source describing New Zealand's system from before that date may be describing the old structure.

Does New Zealand have a minimum wage requirement for skilled migration the way it doesn't have a points minimum?

New Zealand's system runs the opposite way to a fixed points minimum — wage is the central mechanic. The SMC wage threshold is NZD 35.00/hour (from 9 March 2026), with pathway-specific multiples of 1.1x (NZD 38.50) and 1.5x (NZD 52.50). Australia's independent skilled visas (189/190/491) have no wage or income test at all; income thresholds only apply to Australia's separate employer-sponsored 482 visa.

What's the difference between New Zealand's Resident Visa and Permanent Resident Visa?

A Resident Visa is granted first and carries travel conditions for roughly the first two years. After holding it for at least 2 years and meeting a presence requirement (at least 184 days in New Zealand in each of those years), you can apply for an unconditional Permanent Resident Visa. Australia's 189 and 190 skip this two-step process and grant unconditional permanent residence immediately.

Is Australia's 491 visa similar to New Zealand's Resident Visa conditions?

They're structurally similar in that both are a conditional or provisional first stage. Australia's 491 is a 5-year provisional regional visa, converting to the permanent subclass 191 after 3 years of regional living and work, providing ATO notices of assessment for 3 of those years (there is no minimum income requirement). New Zealand's Resident Visa converts to a Permanent Resident Visa after roughly 2 years and a presence test. The specific conditions and timeframes differ.

What is New Zealand's Green List and does Australia have an equivalent?

The Green List is a set of in-demand occupations split into Tier 1 (straight to residence, no qualifying work period) and Tier 2 (24 months of qualifying New Zealand work experience first). Australia doesn't run an equivalent fast/slow tier inside its occupation lists — the closer lever is state or regional nomination, which adds points within the standard points test rather than bypassing it.

I'm a New Zealand citizen — does any of this apply to me?

No. New Zealand citizens get Australia's Special Category Visa (subclass 444) automatically on arrival, with no points test or skills assessment involved, and a separate direct pathway to permanent residence opens after four years of Australian residence. See /blog/special-category-visa-444-explained for how that works — it's an entirely different system from the skilled-migration comparison on this page.

How much does each country charge for a skilled visa application?

Australia's base charge is AUD 6,135 (subclass 189) or AUD 6,140 (190/491) for the principal applicant, current as at 1 July 2026. New Zealand's Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa costs from NZD 6,450 for the principal applicant. Both charge additional fees for a partner or dependent children.