Looking for an IT job in new zealand? What you need to know if you're immigrating to NZ in 2022

Kaiteriteri, South Island, New Zealand photo by Sunstone

On Thursday 3rd February the Prime Minister and government announced New Zealand’s borders will re-open. We’ve reiterated the 5 step reopening plan below and then added some key takeaways and dates to help explain to you what this really means below the table.

Key takeaways & dates for candidates wanting to immigrate to New Zealand looking for IT jobs are:

Step 2 13th March Open to skilled workers earning at least 1.5 times the median wage.

What does this mean?

1.5 times the median wage equals NZD $84,240 a year or NZD $40.50 an hour) for roles longer than 6 months.

Step 3 12th April Open to current offshore skilled temporary visa holders

Step 4 By July 2022 The Accredited Employer Work Visa will open. Eligible employers need to apply to become accredited so you have everything in place to be able to hire overseas workers when this becomes live in July. Get cracking if you haven’t already…

Step 5 October 2022 ALL VISA CATEGORIES OPEN

This is good news for candidates looking to immigrate from overseas but the reality it’s not for another 8 months so we’re not seeing a lot of appetite from employers to hire overseas candidates yet because the visa processing times are taking a number of months.

The 13th March date is significant as this is great news for intermediate to senior IT candidates able to receive a job offer of NZD $84,240 permanent salary (or hourly contract rate of $40.50 per hour for minimum 6 month contracts). This will apply to roles like Intermediate to Senior Software Engineers / Developers, Lead Software Developer / Architects, IT Managers, Cloud Engineers, Systems Engineers, Product Owners / Business Analysts, Data Analysts, Data Engineers scientists & IT Project Managers upwards.

But it is progress for people looking to move to our awesome country and despite challenges ahead with Omicron things are moving forward.

For further info please check out:

In the news the initial announcement:

What you need to know about New Zealand’s borders reopening

NZ Government info ALL you need to know:

When New Zealand’s borders open

I'm Paul, I love coffee, dogs (+ cats), biking, surfing & skiing. Founder & Principal Consultant of Sunstone, an IT Recruitment & HR company specialising in recruiting IT roles within software, web, mobile, blockchain, big data, cloud infrastructure, security & networks in Christchurch & South Island of New Zealand.