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GOC · CORU · ODOB

New Zealand needs dispensing opticians.

Green List · Tier 1 · straight to residence · immigration.govt.nz

You fit, adjust and dispense the correction an optometrist prescribes — the last mile of eye care.

A dispensing optician lifts a pair of frames from a wall display in an optical practice.

Dispensing Optician

New Zealand · ODOB

NZ Green List · Tier 1AU skilled list (CSOL)

2 of 5

countries carry this profession on an official shortage or priority list

immi.homeaffairs.gov.au · immigration.govt.nz

NZ Tier 1

Green List Tier 1 — straight to residence (listed as Dispensing Optician)

immigration.govt.nz · 2026-09-22

413

open listings — NHS Jobs, Job Bank Canada

exact title & keyword match · 2026-09-22

97,475

open NHS vacancies — 6.5% of the workforce

nhs vacancy statistics · mar 2026

What you do abroad

The work, and why it matters.

You fit, adjust and dispense the correction an optometrist prescribes — the last mile of eye care.

For patients

A prescription that actually works on the face in front of you.

For the system

Tier 1 on New Zealand’s Green List. On Australia’s skilled occupation list.

For you

A registered title in New Zealand and Australia; the Irish and UK routes are closed or unlisted today, and we say so.

Where the work happens

  • Optical practices
  • Hospital eye clinics
  • Retail optometry
  • Low-vision services
Where you're wanted

Two of five countries list this role.

Each card carries this profession's strongest fact there, and what is open on the boards today.

New ZealandGreen List Tier 1 — straight to residence (listed as Dispensing Optician)immigration.govt.nz · 2026-09-22
Health NZ allied health scaleNZD 77,087Primary confidence — From the regulator’s own site or fee schedule, September 2026.

Step 1 · entry grade · a year

Source: tewhatuora.govt.nz · allied health collective agreement · 2 Sept 2024

United KingdomHealth & Care Worker visa: extend or switch only — closed to new applicantsgov.uk · 2026-09-22
Not on an official list369 live · NHS Jobs

exact title · 2026-09-22

NHS Agenda for ChangeGBP 32,073Primary confidence — From the regulator’s own site or fee schedule, September 2026.

Band 5, entry step · a year

Source: nhsemployers.org · agenda for change pay scales · 1 Apr 2026

CanadaNot in the Express Entry healthcare categorycanada.ca · 2026-09-22
Not on an official list44 live · Job Bank Canada

keyword match · 2026-09-22

Who regulates you

Who decides, country by country.

The regulator assesses your qualification. We prepare and submit the file. The decision is theirs.

United Kingdom

GOC (General Optical Council)

Registered as Dispensing Optician — General Optical Council, not HCPC

  • Degree, transcripts & syllabus mapped to its Standards of Proficiency
  • Registration and experience in your home country
  • English language test
optical.org

Ireland

CORU (Optical Registration Board — Dispensing Opticians)

Registered as Dispensing Optician — Optical Registration Board

  • Qualification recognition against the Irish standard
  • Syllabus, placement hours and scope of practice
  • English language and good standing
coru.ie

New Zealand

ODOB (Optometrists & Dispensing Opticians Board)

Registered as Dispensing Optician

  • Qualification assessed against the NZ standard
  • Registration with the profession’s own board
  • Green List job offer → Straight to Residence
odob.health.nz

We hold a recorded route for three of the five. We did not confirm a registration route for the others in the September 2026 pass.

Your route

Four steps to registration.

Fit check against ODOB / Optical Dispenser standards

Your degree, syllabus and clinical hours read against the regulator’s own published standards.

Qualification and hours evidenced

Every document in the form the regulator asks for, translated and legalised in the right order.

Filed in your regulator account

Filed in your own account. Every query drafted by us, sent by you, tracked to the answer.

Registered

Registration comes first. The visa route follows the destination country’s published framework.

Recent numbers

The latest official figures.

Read from the government's own pages in September 2026. The date is the disclosure.

6,805

dispensing opticians on the GOC register

optical.org · annual report · 31 Mar 2025

234

dispensing opticians on the ODOB register

odobportal.in1touch.org · annual report purongo a-tau · 31 Mar 2025

Tier 1

Green List Tier 1 — straight to residence (listed as Dispensing Optician)

immigration.govt.nz · 2026-09-22

Route finder

Where could you be working next year?

Two answers. Ten seconds. Then we show you what's open for your profession.

These describe each country’s general immigration framework as published, not a route we can promise or advise on. Immigration rules change and are applied case by case. For your own circumstances, consult a registered immigration adviser.

See your own route as a dispensing optician.

One more answer — where you want to work — and the facts are on screen.