Notwithstanding (b) above, an immigration officer may, on a case by case basis, consider the following as evidence of the principal applicant meeting the minimum standard of English if:
they provide evidence that their recognised qualification(s):
was gained as a result of a course or courses of study in which English was the only medium of instruction; and
(if that qualification was gained in New Zealand) the qualification had a minimum completion time of at least two years and is at least a bachelor degree or it is a post-graduate qualification and the applicant has an undergraduate qualification that qualifies for points; or
they have current skilled employment in New Zealand for a period of at least 12 months that qualifies for points (see SM7); or
they provide other evidence which satisfies an immigration officer that, taking account of that evidence and all the circumstances of the application, they are a competent user of English. These circumstances may include but are not limited to:
the country in which the applicant currently resides;
the country(ies) in which the applicant has previously resided;
the duration of residence in each country;
whether the applicant speaks any language other than English;
whether members of the applicant's family speak English;
whether members of the applicant's family speak any language other than English;
the nature of the applicant's current or previous employment (if any) and whether that is or was likely to require skill in English language;
the nature of the applicant's qualifications (if any) and whether the obtaining of those qualifications was likely to require skill in the English language.