If you hold an overseas social work qualification, you may be eligible to apply to register as a social worker in New Zealand through the overseas qualification pathway.

If you qualified in Australia and have a social work degree accredited by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), please follow the Australian qualification pathway described on the Australian qualification pathway page.

Please note that there are fees associated with both of these registration pathways.

Registration requirements

Before your registration can be approved, the SWRB needs to be satisfied that:

• Your qualification is equivalent to an SWRB-prescribed social work qualification. In Aotearoa New Zealand, social work qualifications are prescribed for a Scope of Practice.
• You are registered or licensed as a social worker in a state or country other than New Zealand. If you are not registered or licensed then there must be a good reason for this – for example, the country you are working in does not have a licensing or registration system.
• You can speak and write English reasonably effectively and understand spoken and written English reasonably well. This means you need to be able to communicate in English to a high standard as outlined in our English Language Competence Policy Statement.
•  You have practical experience of working as a social worker, for example at least 12 months of social work practice.
• You are competent to work as a social worker. A competence assessment is part of the registration process.
• You meet our ‘fit and proper’ requirements. This means there are no concerns about your conduct or behaviour that would affect your social work practice.
• You intend to live and practise as a social worker in New Zealand.

The entitlement of overseas-qualified applications to apply for registration within a scope of practise is specified in Section 7 of the Social Workers Registration Act 2003.

Registration process

1. Create an account in MySWRB and select the option for the Overseas qualification pathway.

Overseas qualification assessment

2. Complete the overseas qualification assessment form and upload this into MySWRB. In addition to providing details of your social work education, this form also asks you to list your social work roles and professional development activities you may have undertaken.

Assessment of overseas qualification form

3. With your overseas qualification assessment form, upload:
   • a copy of your degree certificate(s)
   • a copy of academic transcripts for all qualifications listed in your application. Transcripts must show the subjects and the grades or results you achieved.
   • evidence of registration with the regulatory body or professional association in the country where you qualified, for example your Registration Certificate or Annual Practising Certificate. In MySWRB there is an option to upload these under ‘Evidence of qualification accreditation’.
   • your Curriculum Vitae (CV)/resume. This should be comprehensive and include details of your post graduate professional social work experience and professional development undertaken. Please append this to your assessment of overseas qualification assessment form.
   • Translations of any documents that are provided in a language other than English. Translations should be from an official translation service.
     
     Please note, from 1 February 2025 you will be expected to provide certified copies of your official documents. Please see the SWRB guide for registration applicants on certifying registration documents.

SWRB Guidance for applicants - Certification and verification of registration documents

You may find it helpful to refer to our document checklist for the Overseas Registration pathway.

Documents checklist - Overseas Registration Pathway

4. Pay your qualification assessment fee. This fee is non-refundable. Please note that making a payment does not guarantee that your application will be approved.

We will assess your overseas qualification(s) to see if it is equivalent to an SWRB-recognised NZ social work qualification. Please note that an NZQA document is not accepted for this process.

We will contact you to let you know the outcome of the assessment.

English language evidence

The SWRB needs to be confident in your ability to speak, write and communicate in English. You can read details of our English language requirements in our English Language Competence Policy.

SWRB English Language Competence Policy Statement

5. To provide test-based evidence of your English language competence, send us your IELTS Academic Test Report Form. We will verify the results with the IELTS verification service. Please note:
   • You must sit the test at an IELTS testing centre. Results from IELTS Online will not be accepted.
   • The Academic Test Report Form must include the test report form number, centre number, candidate number, and validation stamp.
   • You must achieve the following IELTS Academic results:
     • an overall band score of 7 or above, and
     • a minimum section band score of 7 in reading, listening, speaking, and writing.
     • Please see the Policy statement for details about retakes.
   • The test must be completed within the two years immediately preceding an applicant commencing their application.
6. If you can supply education-based evidence or registration-based evidence of English Language competence, this will be identified through the overseas qualification assessment step. Please ensure that you gather the correct evidence in accordance with our policy statement (see above). Your Registration Officer will confirm if your evidence meets the requirements of if any further information is needed.  
   

   If you do not have the required standard of English language competence, your application is unlikely to be successful. Please note that fees are non-refundable regardless of whether or not your application is successful.

Competence and conduct

7. You will be asked to supply IDs, references and other evidence of good conduct (for example Police certificates, certificates of good standing from the regulatory authority where you are currently practising).
8. Complete and return the Overseas Competence Assessment Template.
   
   You will be expected to address competencies 3-10 of the SWRB Core Competence Standards in your registration application. Please use the following form:

Overseas Competence Assessment Template (3-10)

If your registration application is successful, you will be expected to complete another competence assessment within 12 months of your first Practising Certificate being issued. This includes assessing competencies one and two which specifically relate to practice in the New Zealand context. See Core Competence Standards.

You may find it helpful to refer to the competence assessment guidelines while you complete the template.

9. Pay the competence assessment fee and inform your Registration Officer that you have paid. This will ensure that your assessment can proceed.

Completion of registration application

After your competence assessment, we will contact you if any more information is needed to complete your application. Updated versions of documents may be requested. The Board will then consider all the components of your registration application. We will contact you with the Board’s decision.

As there are several steps in the application process, we cannot specify how long it will take you to become registered from the date you start your application. However, please be aware that overseas registration applications may sometimes take more than six months to complete.  

After registration

Once you are registered with the SWRB, your details will appear on the Public Register of social workers and you may call yourself a social worker in Aotearoa New Zealand.

When you start working as a social worker, you will need a Practising Certificate. Practising Certificates are issued annually and there is a fee to pay. Most employers will pay for your Practising Certificate.

Find out more about Practising Certificates.

Initially, you will be provisionally registered while you build up your competence to practise social work with Māori and the diverse communities of Aotearoa. You will be expected to complete another competence assessment within 12 months of your first Practising Certificate being issued. If there is no action from you within two years your registration may be expired. When you hold a Practising Certificate you are expected to undergo Continuing Professional Development (a minimum of 20 hours per year) and receive regular professional social work supervision.

Last updated: 19 December 2024