Main content
GOC · CORU · AHPRA · ODOB · OEBC

New Zealand needs optometrists.

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

You are the first line of eye care — refraction, disease detection, referral.

A patient's eyes behind a phoropter while an optometrist turns the lens dials.

Optometrist

New Zealand · ODOB

NZ Green List · Tier 1IE Critical SkillsAU Shortage List 2025UK H&C visa

5 of 5

countries carry this profession on an official shortage or priority list

gov.uk · enterprise.gov.ie · jobsandskills.gov.au

NZ Tier 1

Green List Tier 1 — straight to residence

immigration.govt.nz · 2026-09-22

54

open listings — NHS Jobs, Health NZ portal, Job Bank Canada

exact title & keyword match · 2026-09-22

18,500

healthcare invitations in the last 12 months — 6 draws

canada.ca · rounds of invitations · 2026-09-22

What you do abroad

The work, and why it matters.

You are the first line of eye care — refraction, disease detection, referral.

For patients

Glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and macular disease caught early.

For the system

Regulated in every one of our five countries; Tier 1 in New Zealand; Critical Skills in Ireland.

For you

Clinical and retail settings, with independent-practice routes once registered.

Where the work happens

  • Hospital eye services
  • Independent practice
  • Retail optometry
  • Community screening
Where you're wanted

Five of five countries list this role.

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

United KingdomEligible for the Health & Care Worker visa (SOC 2252)gov.uk · 2026-09-22
36 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

New ZealandGreen List Tier 1 — straight to residenceimmigration.govt.nz · 2026-09-22
1 live · Health NZ portal

exact title · 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

You'd be in good company

Named, in their own words.

See how we support allied health workers like physiotherapists, optometrists, psychologists and more.
health.gov.au · see how we support allied health · 23 Sept 2026
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) — a separate regulator, not HCPC

Registered as Optometrist — regulated by the 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
  • Qualification recognition against the Irish standard
  • Syllabus, placement hours and scope of practice
  • English language and good standing
coru.ie
  • Qualification assessment or portfolio, board by board
  • Supervised practice and recency
  • English language test
optometryboard.gov.au
  • Qualification assessed against the NZ standard
  • Registration with the profession’s own board
  • Green List job offer → Straight to Residence
odob.health.nz
  • Credential assessment for the province you choose
  • A national certification exam for most professions
  • Language test — English or French
oebc.ca
Your route

Four steps to registration.

Fit check against the optical regulator’s standards

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

Syllabus and clinical hours mapped

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.

18,725

optometrists on the GOC register

optical.org · annual report · 31 Mar 2025

7,340

optometrists on the AHPRA register

ahpra.gov.au · australian health practitioner · read 23 Sept 2026

Tier 1

Green List Tier 1 — straight to residence

immigration.govt.nz · 2026-09-22

10,000

skilled-independent (189) invitations in the last SkillSelect round

immi.homeaffairs.gov.au · 2026-09-22

Canada's last six Express Entry healthcare draws

Draw dateInvitationsCRS cut-off
4 Sept 20263,500475
25 Jun 20264,000475
20 Feb 20264,000467
11 Dec 20251,000476
14 Nov 20253,500462
15 Oct 20252,500472

canada.ca · rounds of invitations · 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 an optometrist.

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