Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa: processing time and cost

Immigration New Zealand does not publish a single standard processing time for the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) Resident Visa, and the official guidance does not state a processing time or a fee for this visa. What the official pages do make clear is that the SMC is a residence pathway that requires a job offer from an accredited employer, that it has conditions you must meet before you can apply for a Permanent Resident Visa, and that you must verify the current fee and current processing times on the official SMC page before you apply. This page sets out what the official material confirms, what it does not confirm, and where you must check the numbers yourself.

What the official guidance establishes about the SMC

The official guidance confirms three things about the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa.

First, it is a residence visa. It appears under the heading “Other visas that require you to work for an accredited employer” alongside the Accredited Employer Work Visa, the Straight to Residence Visa, the Care Workforce Work to Residence Visa, and the Transport Work to Residence Visa. That means the SMC is not a temporary work visa; it is a visa that leads to residence, and it is one of the visas that requires you to work for an accredited employer.

Second, it is one of the visas that can carry section 49 conditions. The official page on checking or changing your resident visa conditions states that section 49 conditions are extra conditions that may be given to some visas under section 49(1) of the Immigration Act 2009. If your resident visa has section 49 conditions, they will be listed in your eVisa. Before you can apply for a Permanent Resident Visa, or sponsor someone for a visa, you must meet your section 49 conditions and get them removed. The same page directs you to the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa page for more information about section 49 conditions and how to remove them.

Third, the SMC is a residence visa with travel conditions. Like other resident visas, it will have an “Expiry date travel” condition that states the last day you can enter New Zealand using that visa. Your resident visa will expire if you are outside New Zealand and your “Expiry date travel” has passed. Most resident visas let you travel outside New Zealand as often as you like for up to 2 years from when you first arrive, stated as “multiple entries”. The only condition you can change on a resident visa is the “Expiry date travel” condition.

Processing time: what the official pages do and do not say

The official guidance does not state a processing time for the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa. It does not give a number of weeks, months, or days, and it does not give a range. It also does not state a processing time for any other visa in the official guidance.

What the official guidance does say about processing times relates to temporary visas, not the SMC. On the visitor visa page, Immigration New Zealand says you should apply for another temporary visa at least 1 month before your current visa’s expiry date, and that if your current temporary visa is going to expire while you are waiting for a decision, you will normally be issued an Interim Visa. That guidance is about visitor visas and interim visas, not about the SMC.

Because the official guidance does not give an SMC processing time, you must check the official Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa page on the Immigration New Zealand website for the current processing time. Processing times can change and can vary by application, so a number found elsewhere — including on third-party sites or in older versions of the official page — should not be relied on.

Cost: what the official pages do and do not say

The official guidance does not state a fee for the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa. It does not give a dollar amount, and it does not give a fee range. It also does not state a fee for any other visa in the official guidance.

The official guidance does mention costs in one specific context: sponsorship. If you were sponsored by someone for a resident visa, for example the Parent Resident Visa, your sponsor must pay any costs for you to be deported and repatriated if required. That is a sponsorship condition, not an application fee, and it does not apply to the SMC unless your visa has a sponsorship condition.

Because the official guidance does not give an SMC fee, you must check the official Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa page for the current fee. Fees can change, and the fee you pay will depend on the application type and your circumstances, so the official page is the only reliable source.

What the SMC requires before you apply

The official guidance makes clear that the SMC is not a visa you can apply for without a job offer. It is listed among the visas that require you to work for an accredited employer. The Accredited Employer Work Visa page — which the official guidance references but does not reproduce in full — is the visa that requires a job offer from an accredited employer, and the employer must send you a link to the online application form. The SMC sits in the same category of visas that require accredited employer involvement.

This has practical consequences for your planning. Before you can apply for the SMC, you will need an accredited employer to offer you a job. The employer must be accredited, and the job will need to meet the requirements of the SMC. The official guidance does not set out those requirements in detail, so you must check the official SMC page for the full list of requirements, including the points system, the skill level of the job, and the salary threshold.

Conditions after you get the SMC

Once you have the SMC, you will have a resident visa with conditions. The official guidance sets out the common conditions that apply to resident visas generally, and these will apply to the SMC unless the SMC page says otherwise.

The table below summarises the conditions that the official guidance confirms apply to resident visas.

Condition	What it means
Visa expiry date	Your resident visa will not expire while you stay in New Zealand.
First entry before	You must travel to New Zealand before this date to keep your resident visa valid. For most resident visas this is 12 months from when the visa is granted.
Expiry date travel	The last day you can enter New Zealand using this visa. Your resident visa will expire if you are outside New Zealand and this date has passed.
Number of entries	If stated as “multiple entries”, you can return to New Zealand as many times as you want before your “Expiry date travel”.
Section 49 conditions	Extra conditions given under section 49(1) of the Immigration Act 2009. You must meet them and have them removed before you can apply for a Permanent Resident Visa or sponsor someone.
Investment conditions	If your visa required you to invest in New Zealand, there may be conditions to keep funds invested for a set time.
Sponsorship conditions	If you were sponsored, your sponsor must meet conditions for a set time, not more than 10 years.

Travel conditions and the Permanent Resident Visa

The official guidance explains the relationship between the SMC’s travel conditions and the Permanent Resident Visa. Your resident visa only allows you to leave and return to New Zealand until a certain date, stated on your visa as the “Expiry date travel”. If you leave New Zealand, or are outside New Zealand, after this date, your resident visa will expire and you will not be able to return on that visa.

You can apply to extend your travel conditions or apply for a Permanent Resident Visa instead. A Permanent Resident Visa lets you leave and return to New Zealand indefinitely, because there are no conditions.

If you want to travel outside New Zealand and your travel conditions have expired, or will expire soon, you may be able to extend your resident visa travel conditions or apply for a Permanent Resident Visa. If you are outside New Zealand with expired travel conditions, your resident visa will expire and you cannot return and continue your residence. If you have been outside New Zealand for a short time, you may still be able to return as a resident by applying for a Permanent Resident Visa or a second resident visa.

What to do next and what to verify

The official guidance does not give you the two numbers you most need before applying for the SMC: the processing time and the fee. You must get both from the official Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa page on the Immigration New Zealand website.

Before you apply, verify the following on the official SMC page:

• The current fee for the SMC Resident Visa.
• The current processing time, including whether it is stated as a range or a median.
• The full list of requirements, including the points system, the accredited employer requirement, and the job offer requirements.
• Whether the SMC currently carries section 49 conditions and what those conditions are.
• The travel conditions that will apply to your visa, including the “First entry before” date and the “Expiry date travel” date.

You should also check the official page for the Accredited Employer Work Visa, because the SMC requires you to work for an accredited employer, and the accreditation process may affect your timeline. The official guidance confirms that the employer must send you a link to the online application form for the AEWV, which suggests the accreditation and job offer process is a prerequisite for the SMC.

Finally, remember that the official guidance does not state a processing time or a fee for the SMC. Any number you see elsewhere should be treated as unverified until you confirm it on the official Immigration New Zealand page.