In-person OET results required for New Zealand health visa applicants since July 12

Immigration New Zealand shut the door on remote OET testing for visa applications on July 12, 2026, forcing health-sector applicants back into supervised test centres for any English result submitted after that date.

In-person only for OET

Before the cutoff, applicants could sit the computer-based OET with a remotely administered speaking component and use that score for immigration purposes. From midnight July 12, 2026 NZST, INZ accepts only fully in-person OET sittings, the agency said in its June 29 update. Every part of the test must be completed at a supervised facility.

INZ also noted that OET@Home, the fully at-home version, was never accepted for immigration in the first place. What changed is the treatment of the hybrid remote-speaking format that many candidates had been using.

Results from a computer-based OET with a remote speaking section taken before July 13, 2026 are still valid, provided they otherwise meet the visa's minimum score and the two-year recency rule.

Who gets caught

OET is the go-to English test for nurses, doctors, midwives and other clinicians applying through New Zealand's health pathways, including the Care Workforce Work to Residence Visa and the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa. Those are the applicants directly hit.

The practical burden falls on candidates abroad who booked remote sittings expecting to file later in 2026. Anyone whose OET session is dated July 13 or later needs an in-person booking at an approved test centre or the result won't be accepted, regardless of the score. Test-centre capacity, travel to a venue and rebooking fees now sit in the timeline for applicants who were counting on remote testing from home.

Applicants who already hold a compliant remote-speaking OET result should file before the two-year validity window closes rather than resit unnecessarily. Those still preparing should assume in-person only and book accordingly. Full requirements for health-sector routes are set out in the New Zealand immigration guide.

The wider English-test picture

The OET change lines up with INZ's existing stance on skilled residence English requirements, which already states that remote at-home tests aren't acceptable and results must be no more than two years old. IELTS, TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic and Cambridge B2 First remain on the approved list alongside in-person OET, with score thresholds varying by visa.

No new INZ fee attaches to the change. The cost sits with the applicant: booking a supervised sitting and in some regions, travelling to reach one.