Glossary

O le fai faatautala o tagata fai mai o amioga nei e mafua ai, pe faatupulaia ai foi lamatiaga, ma afaina ai tulaga tau tamaoaiga, agafesootai, tulaga faaletino po o le mafaufau o tagata faigaluega fai mai. E aofia ai le solia o tulaga maualalo tau galuega po o le solia o tulafono mo tulaga faalesoifua maloloina, saogalemu ma femalagaiga. E lē aofia ai faaletonu laiti ma tulaga e lē afaina tele ai ona o tulaga ua solia ma e lē tupu soo ma e faigofie ona teuteu.

Prestige, authority, control, power, influence, status, spiritual power, charisma.

Hospitality, kindness, generosity, support — the process of showing respect, generosity and care for others.

Funds that are invested in either:

• a managed fund investment product offered by a financial institution
• equities that are managed by a fund manager or broker.

For us to accept managed funds as an investment, managed funds must be invested only in New Zealand companies. Managed funds with international exposure are acceptable only for the part of the investment that is invested in New Zealand companies.

A mandated refugee is someone protected under the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) International Protection Mandate and recognised as meeting the definition of refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention.

UNHCR International Protection Mandate

1951 Refugee Convention

Hammerhead shark.

Visitor, guest.

The New Zealand market rate is a range of pay that a New Zealander or resident would be paid within to do the job, or equivalent work. For example, the market rate pay range for a job could be between NZD $27 and NZD $30 an hour.

When we assess the pay rate for a job in a visa application, we may consider:

• what a New Zealand citizen or resident would be paid to do that job, or equivalent work
• any collective agreements for the industry the job is in
• where the job is
• how long the job is for
• any other terms and conditions of the job, for example the hours of work
• what training and experience is needed to do the job
• available industry salary guides.

Traditional knowledge.

A material change in circumstances is any change that may affect our decision to grant you a visa, or to grant you entry permission. This could include changes in your health, employment or partnership status.

The total time you can be on the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) in New Zealand before you must spend at least 12 months outside New Zealand to be eligible for another AEWV.

You can have multiple shorter AEWVs that add up to your maximum continuous stay.

For example, if your maximum continuous stay is 5 years, it can be made up of a 3-year visa and a 2-year visa. After 5 years you have to leave New Zealand for 12 months in a row before you can be eligible for another AEWV.

How long you can stay on an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV)

The 2024 median wage is NZD $33.56 an hour.

We update the median wage in February each year. The median wage we use comes from the 'median hourly earnings from wages and salaries' published by Stats NZ in the previous year.

Wage rates for work visas

Labour market statistics (income): June 2023 quarter — Stats NZ

The amount you need to earn to be eligible to sponsor a Parent Resident Visa is tied to the median wage and dependent on the number of parents and sponsors.

For more information about how we use the median wage to calculate entitlement to visas:

Wage rates for work visas

This is a document you get from a medical practitioner after you have completed a medical examination. The certificate tells us the results of that examination which we then use to determine whether you have an acceptable standard of health.

A decision to waive health requirements for a person who does not meet them, so that we can grant a visa.

We do not consider medical waivers for people who:

• require dialysis, or will require dialysis within the next 5 years
• have severe haemophilia
• have a physical, intellectual, cognitive or sensory incapacity that requires full-time care, including care in the community
• have any form of tuberculosis (TB) and have not completed full treatment as outlined in the New Zealand Guidelines for TB Treatment
• have a history, diagnostic findings or treatment for multidrug-resistant TB or extensively drug-resistant TB, unless they have been cleared by a New Zealand Respiratory or Infectious Diseases specialist as outlined in the New Zealand Guidelines for TB.

We also do not consider medical waivers for people who were eligible to be included in an earlier application for a residence visa as a partner or dependent child, and were:

• not declared in that earlier application
• not included in that earlier application, or
• withdrawn from that earlier application.

When we make a decision about whether we will grant a medical waiver, we take into account things like:

• the objectives of our health requirements and the objectives of the category under which the visa application has been made
• the degree to which significant costs or demands will be imposed on New Zealand's health or education services
• whether the person has immediate family lawfully and permanently resident in New Zealand, and the circumstances and duration of that residence
• whether the person's potential contribution to New Zealand will be significant
• the length of the person's intended stay in New Zealand.

A levy we used to charge to help fund settlement programmes for new migrants. The migrant levy has been replaced by the immigration levy.

Migrant exploitation is behaviour that causes, or increases the risk of, material harm to the economic, social, physical or emotional well-being of a migrant worker. This includes breaches of minimum employment standards or breaches of health and safety and immigration laws. This excludes minor and insignificant breaches that are not constant and easily remedied.

Migrant exploitation – Employment New Zealand website

Māori welcoming process or speech of acknowledgements.

The minimum threshold is the lowest number of points you need to score for your Expression of Interest to enter the Expression of Interest Pool. This threshold is set at 100 points.  You also need to have scored points for either recognised qualifications or work experience to meet the threshold.

Expressions of Interest in the Pool are ranked from highest to lowest and the greater your score the greater your chance of being invited to apply for residence.

The least amount someone working in New Zealand can be paid by law. Minimum wage rates are reviewed every year and are available on the Employment New Zealand website.

Minimum wage information – Employment New Zealand

Travel conditions that allow a visa holder to enter and exit New Zealand multiple times while their visa is valid.  However, the holder must not exceed any maximum stay conditions on their visa (if applicable).

Visa holders with multiple entry travel conditions still need to apply for entry permission each time they return to New Zealand.