If your visa or your job depends on your qualifications, you'll usually need to show how they compare with New Zealand ones. For a visa, that normally means an International Qualification Assessment (IQA) from NZQA, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. For a job that needs a licence or registration, it means applying to the body that registers that occupation, which is a separate step.
How to do it
- Check whether your visa needs an IQA. Immigration New Zealand says most qualifications from outside New Zealand need one when a visa requires your qualification to be "equivalent to" or "comparable with" a New Zealand one. You don't need one for an engineering degree accredited under the Washington Accord or Sydney Accord. For the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa, you also don't need one if your qualification is on Immigration New Zealand's list of exemptions, though it may still ask for one while processing your application.
- Pick the right type of IQA:
- skill shortage list IQA, for Green List jobs
- standard IQA, to compare your qualification with New Zealand ones or for occupational registration
- teaching IQA, to register as a teacher or get a teacher salary assessment
- Check NZQA can assess your qualification. It evaluates tertiary or vocational upper-secondary qualifications of at least 400 notional learning hours (about 10 weeks of full-time study), from a provider recognised and accredited in the country of award. It can't evaluate secondary school qualifications, incomplete study, certificates of attendance, work experience letters, or professional registrations and licences.
- Gather all your evidence before you apply. NZQA can't evaluate incomplete applications, and says not to apply if you haven't finished the qualification or don't have the evidence it asks for.
- Contact your occupation's registration body early. An IQA places your qualification on New Zealand's qualifications framework. It isn't a licence to practise, so if your job is regulated, the registration body sets its own requirements.
- Registered in Australia? Under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement, someone registered to practise an occupation in Australia can register for the equivalent occupation in New Zealand without further testing or examination, as long as the occupation needs registration in both countries. Apply to the New Zealand body for your occupation.
- Moving from India? See also certifying your education documents before you leave.
Common mistakes
- Sending NZQA an evaluation done in another country. It can't accept those, since its assessment compares your qualification with the New Zealand framework.
- Including work experience letters with an IQA application. NZQA doesn't assess them.
- Leaving the IQA until you're ready to lodge a visa that needs it.
- Assuming an IQA lets you work in a regulated job without registering.
Useful links
- Immigration New Zealand: check if you need an IQA — includes the tool for checking the list of exemptions.
- NZQA: International Qualification Assessment — what NZQA can evaluate, evidence requirements and fees.
- MBIE: Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement — for occupations registered in Australia.