NZ Visa Processing Times: SMC, Green List, AEWV (Aug 2026)

“How long will my visa take?” is the question everyone asks and no one can answer precisely — but INZ publishes real processing data every month, and it is the only number worth planning around. Here are the current figures, with the exact definitions INZ uses.

All figures below are working days (weekends and public holidays excluded), for applications processed in the last 4 weeks as of August 2026. “Median” means 50% of applications were decided within that time; “80%” means most complete within it.

Current resident visa processing times

Visa	Median (50%)	80% decided within	90% within
Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa	54 days	91 days	107 days
Straight to Residence (Green List Tier 1)	37 days	77 days	99 days
Work to Residence (Green List Tier 2)	42 days	66 days	86 days
Permanent Resident Visa	3 days	8 days	16 days

INZ’s broader planning summary (based on a longer window) puts the SMC at ~11 weeks average, most within 5 months; Straight to Residence ~7.5 weeks / most within 4 months; Work to Residence ~8.5 weeks / most within 3 months.

The monthly trend matters more than any single number: SMC medians have run between 40 and 59 working days over the first half of 2026, with slower patches in March–April. If you are planning a job change, a lease, or flights, use the 80% figure, not the median.

Work visas (for context)

Employer accreditation renewals run about 4 days; job checks around 3 days to 2 weeks; and Green List job checks and AEWV applications are prioritised. Work visa speed mostly depends on the employer’s paperwork, not yours.

What actually slows applications down

INZ’s own guidance plus consistent patterns from processing data:

• Incomplete documents — missing employment agreements, job descriptions, or qualification evidence pushes you into “further information required”, which effectively restarts your queue position
• ANZSCO mismatch — the declared code not matching the actual role triggers manual assessment
• Medical and police certificates — must be less than 3 and 6 months old respectively when received; stale certificates mean re-dos
• Verification checks — employment and qualification verification with third parties takes time you cannot see

How to track and (rarely) escalate

Your Immigration Online account shows real status stages. Two statuses confuse people: “gathering information” (INZ is verifying with other agencies — nothing to do) and any “waiting on you” status (the clock is on you, not them).

Escalation for urgent allocation exists but is tightly limited — read the criteria on INZ’s site before requesting it.

We update this page monthly against INZ’s published data. Last verified: 3 August 2026.