The Government has announced that they will be expanding the Green List to allow nurses, midwives, and specialist doctors immediate residency into New Zealand.

The Green List has been around for several months and nurses being excluded from the immediate residency category was the subject of criticism. 

Immigration Minister Michael Wood says that the previous two year residency commitment for nurses was a step forward in July, when the borders were open and the Green List was first established.

"We've made good progress, we've had about 3400 nurses come into New Zealand since Covid, we've seen the global labour shortage for nurses get worse and worse. We've seen countries around the world continue to make their settings more facilitative and we've always said we would keep an eye out and make changes."

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