If you have a job offer from an accredited employer in New Zealand, you can apply for a work visa for up to 30 months under our Talent (Accredited Employers) Work Category. When you have worked here for an accredited employer for two years you can apply for residence.

Accredited employers

Accredited employers are employers that we have pre-approved who need skilled or talented workers from overseas. To become accredited, employers have to prove to us that they:

• are financially viable
• are committed to training and employing New Zealanders
• have sound human resource and workplace policies and practices.

Note:  If you are to work more than 40 hours per week, the minimum base salary must be calculated on the basis of 40 hours work per week.

If your employer is not accredited, then you will not be eligible for a work visa under this category.

See the list of accredited employers who have agreed to make their accreditation public.

Requirements you must meet

In addition to meeting our requirements for health and character you need to be aged 55 years or under.

If your occupation must be registered in New Zealand, we will also want to see evidence of your occupational registration here. This could be full or provisional occupational registration depending on your occupation.

Requirements your offer of employment must meet

You must have a genuine offer of employment from an accredited employer, for employment that is:

• full time (on average, at least 30 hours a week)
• for at least two years 
• with an annual base salary of at least NZ$55,000 (gross)
• in the employer’s main business activity, and where they are directly responsible for your output.

To be acceptable, an offer of employment must include:

The offer must meet the requirements of New Zealand's employment laws.

An offer of employment must be current at the time we assess your application for a work visa.

If you are eligible, we’ll issue you with a multiple entry work visa that allows you to work in New Zealand for an accredited employer for 30 months.

Visa requirements

When you are here you must meet the conditions of your work visa. You may only work for an accredited New Zealand employer. If the accreditation of the employer you came to work for is cancelled or lapses, you will need to:

• find another accredited employer to work for and apply to us to have your work visa conditions changed or
• apply to us to have your work visa conditions changed to allow you to work for a non-accredited employer. We will make the change only if you are earning a base salary of at least NZ$55,000 per year (gross), and only after we have first considered all your employer’s – and your – circumstances.

To apply for a variation of the conditions of your work visa you must provide a completed Application for Variation of Conditions (INZ 1020) PDF.

Apply

If you meet the requirements, find out how to apply.

About applying for residence

If you meet the requirements and are granted a visa under Work to Residence instructions , after two years you can apply for a residence class visa. Find out more.