Transport jobs
in New Zealand

For workers

For a driver, the licence is often the real gatekeeper. Your visa depends on a job offer from an accredited employer, but the employer will also ask whether you can legally drive the vehicle on New Zealand roads. Sort out both together.

Visas that can fit

• Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). This is the usual route for drivers and logistics staff. You need a full-time offer from an accredited employer with an approved Job Check. Without a Green List role, INZ looks for at least 2 years of relevant experience, shown through payslips or tax records, or a New Zealand level 4 or higher qualification (INZ AEWV page, checked 7 November 2026).
• Residence for transport workers. INZ's Transport Work to Residence Visa page, which says applications are open, lists ship's master and deck hand as its approved roles, and says that bus drivers were paid at least $28 an hour in the work counted. INZ's wage-rates page says some transport roles were removed on 7 April 2024. An older operational manual instruction (SR7.15, marked archived) still describes truck and bus driver conditions, so read the live Transport Work to Residence page before assuming a driver pathway. INZ's Transport Work to Residence page also says you must be 55 or younger when you apply.
• Green List. Appendix 13 as dated 9 March 2026 had crane operators and earthmoving plant operators in Tier 2 (Work to Residence), and aircraft maintenance engineers in Tier 1. The live list can differ, so search it for your own job title. INZ says you must be aged 55 or younger when you apply (Straight to Residence Visa; Work to Residence Visa).
• Other routes. Partner, student and residence options are in our work visa guide and residence guide.

Registration, licences and English

• Heavy vehicle classes. The older INZ manual text speaks of drivers of class 4 or class 5 vehicles. NZTA sets the licence classes, and has separate pages on converting a truck licence from an exempt country and from a non-exempt country. Which one applies depends on where you got your licence.
• Buses. A private training provider describes a class 2 licence for two-axle buses and class 4 for three-axle buses, plus a Passenger (P) endorsement that you apply for through NZTA, with a medical and a fit and proper person check (drivingtests.co.nz). Confirm the details with NZTA.
• Other work. Port, forklift and warehouse jobs have workplace training and site rules set by the employer. We found no national registration body for them in the sources used.
• English. For an AEWV, English must be shown for jobs at skill level 4 or 5, and, since 1 June 2026, skill level 3 as well (INZ, 25 May 2026). Exempt from the level 3 rule: an AEWV expiring on or before 1 December 2026 when you apply for a further level 3 AEWV, people who already gave English evidence in an earlier AEWV application, Global Workforce Seasonal Visa and Peak Seasonal Visa applications, and Job Change applications (same INZ news item). Ask the employer how your job is graded.

How to find jobs

• Use INZ's accredited employer list to check a trucking firm, bus operator or freight company before you reply to an advert.
• Ask the employer whether they will help with the licence conversion, and whether the job starts before or after it is done.
• Check the employer against the stand-down lists from INZ and Employment New Zealand.
• Get the rostered hours, pay rate, depot and vehicle type in writing. Your Job Check is based on them.

Common mistakes

• Paying an agent or a driver for a job. Job offer scams are common — check with INZ before paying anyone.
• Assuming an overseas truck licence is accepted as it is. Whether it converts depends on the country and the class.
• Relying on the old bus driver pay exemption. INZ says the sector agreements and wage exemptions in place before 10 March 2025 no longer apply.
• Moving to a different depot or vehicle type without checking the Job Check details first.

For employers

Transport firms use the same three steps as any other employer: accreditation, a Job Check for each role, then the worker's visa. Licence checks sit alongside them, because a visa does not give a driver the right to drive.

• Accreditation. Standard accreditation covers up to 5 migrants and high-volume accreditation 6 or more, valid for 12 months. Prepare your NZ Business Number, industry code and IRD number (INZ process page).
• Job Check. If you advertised, apply within 90 days of the advert closing. For roles at the lower skill levels, declare in good faith that you advertised with Work and Income and interviewed suitable candidates, and keep the records.
• Pay. Since 10 March 2025 no median wage threshold applies to the AEWV. The floor is the minimum wage, $23.95 an hour from 1 April 2026, and you must pay the market rate for the job. INZ says the transport sector agreement, with the others, no longer applies (sector agreements and wage exemptions).
• Licences. Check the class and any endorsement for the vehicle before the start date, and plan for the time a conversion or test can take.
• Obligations. Do not pass recruitment costs to the worker, and give them information about living and working in New Zealand.

Our employer accreditation service covers the application, the Job Check and the worker's visa for transport firms of any size.