NZ Pathway
中文

Author

Lei Wang

Last updated: 2026-10-21

Programmer, independent developer, and a New Zealand skilled-migrant applicant

Who I am

I am a programmer and independent developer based in China. I build software for a living, and I have spent the last few years reading New Zealand immigration rules the way I read source code: line by line, checking each claim against the original document rather than against a summary of it.

Why this site exists

I am currently preparing an application under New Zealand's 6-point Skilled Migrant Category. While doing that, I ran into the same three problems that most applicants run into: the rules are scattered across the INZ website, operational manuals, amendment circulars and fee pages; they change without much warning; and almost every explanation online ends with "book a consultation".

I wanted one place that tracked the rules as they actually are, showed the date each figure was checked, and linked the official source next to it. Nobody was going to build that for me, so I built it. NZ Pathway is the result: free guides and calculators for the whole journey, from points to settling in.

What I am not

I am not a licensed immigration adviser, not an agent, and not affiliated with Immigration New Zealand. I do not answer individual eligibility questions and I do not take commissions for recommending anyone. What I can do is make the public rules legible, with real numbers and official links, so that your own decisions are made on better information.

How I keep the data honest

Every figure on the site carries a "data verified" date and links to the official page it came from. Policy changes are checked against the amendment circulars; fees, wage thresholds and processing times are re-checked on a fixed cadence. When something here is wrong, I correct it and record the correction in the site changelog. The full process is written down in the editorial standards. Every claim links to the official page, so you can check it yourself rather than taking my word for it.

What I track

Concretely, I track the handful of things that change most often: the median wage and its annual adjustment, visa fees and the IVL, Green List entries in the operational manual, amendment circulars that move rules, processing-time snapshots, and English-test equivalences. When one of them moves, the affected pages are re-checked and their "data verified" date changes. The site itself is a static build: no accounts, no server-side storage of calculator inputs, and every tool works without signing in.

Corrections and contact

The most useful message is a correction: if a figure no longer matches the official page, tell me and it gets fixed. Replies usually within three working days. You can reach me at [email protected].

Elsewhere

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Browse the guides · Free tools · Editorial standards