Accredited Employer Work Visa

Visa details

Apply for this temporary visa if you have a job offer from an accredited employer, the skills and qualifications for the job, and a link to the visa application form.

Length of stay
Up to

3 years

Cost
From
NZD $750
Processing time
90% within
51 days
With this visa you can
  • Work in New Zealand for an accredited employer who has offered you at least 30 hours work a week.
  • Study for up to 3 months in any 12 month period, or do any study required as part of your employment.
  • In some cases, be eligible for a Straight to Residence Visa, or after 2 years in the role a Work to Residence, Highly Paid Residence Visa or Care Workforce Work to Residence Visa.
    Green List, highly paid skilled residence, and care workforce residence categories
Things to note
  • Your visa will be valid for up to 3 years if you are paid at or above the New Zealand median wage of NZD $29.66 an hour, and for up to 2 years if you are paid below the median wage.
  • This visa ties you to the employer who offered you the visa application for the length of your visa ⁠— if your situation changes you will need to vary the conditions of your visa or apply for a new visa.
  • You may be able to support a work visa for your partner and visitor or student visas for your dependent children. You can only support your dependent child's visitor or student visa if you earn at least NZD $43,322.76 each year. 
    Bringing family if you have a work visa

Who can apply

The criteria and evidence below will provide you with the information you need to provide to meet the requirements of this visa.

View All Evidence

Identity

You must provide proof of your identity

Acceptable photos

You must upload a copy of your passport when you apply. We will let you know if you need to send your passport after you have applied.

Sending your passport for online applications

Tips

  1. Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after you plan to leave New Zealand.

  2. Also provide your Kartu Keluarga.

  3. If you’re not a French national, also provide a copy of your carte d’assuré.

  4. Also provide a copy of your livret de famille.

  5. If you are a Filipino citizen departing the Philippines, your passport must also be valid for 6 months beyond your intended date of departure due to the exit requirements in the Philippines.

  6. If you are a citizen of China and you submit a paper application form in China, you must also complete a supplementary form.

    Supplementary form for Chinese citizens (INZ 1027) PDF 338KB

  7. If you are submitting a paper application form, you must provide a supplementary form for Hong Kong and Macao visitors, workers and students.

    Supplementary form for Hong Kong and Macao visitors, workers and students (INZ 1220) PDF 240KB

  8. Also provide a copy of your Identity card.

  9. Also provide your:

    • Hukou (household registration book)
    • Chinese identity card.

Character

You must be of good character

You may need to provide police certificates as proof of your good character.

If you are aged 17 or older and plan to stay in New Zealand for more than 24 months (including any time you have already spent in New Zealand), you must provide police certificates from:

  • any country you are a citizen of
  • any country you have spent more than 5 years in since you turned 17.

You do not need to provide police certificates if:

  • you have provided them to us with an earlier visa application, and
  • they were issued in the previous 24 months.

Good character

How to get a police certificate

Tips

  1. If you provide a police certificate that is not in English, you must provide an English translation.

    This includes police certificates that record no convictions.

  2. The acceptable character certificate for the Philippines is the NBI clearance.

Health

You must be in good health

After you submit your application we will check any medical information you have previously submitted and contact you if we need new medical information.

Tips

  1. You must provide a chest x-ray completed in the last 3 months, even if you've provided one to us previously, if:

    • you have spent 6 consecutive months in China since the last x-ray certificate was issued, and
    • you are now coming to NZ for more than 6 months.

New Zealand job offer

You must have an offer of full-time work from an accredited employer

Your job offer must be:

  • current at the time you apply for your visa
  • for at least 30 hours of work a week
  • from an employer who is accredited to hire migrants for the Accredited Employer Work Visa and has an approved job check for your role.

The accreditation process

In your visa application you must include:

  • a copy of the employment agreement and job description
  • a signed copy of the job offer.

The employment agreement must include:

  • your employer’s name, address and phone number
  • your name and address
  • your job title
  • the address for your place of work
  • the kind of work you will be doing and your responsibilities at work
  • details of any necessary qualifications or work experience
  • information about whether you need New Zealand registration to do the work
  • what hours you will work and how long the work will be for
  • how long you have to take up the job offer
  • pay and work conditions that comply with New Zealand employment law.

Your employment agreement must be with an accredited employer who has a history of compliance with immigration and employment law.

Check if an employer is accredited

List of non-compliant employers | Employment New Zealand

Tips

  1. Job offer scams are common in India and South Asia, ensure your job offer is genuine.

    How to determine how realistic the job offer is

  2. Your employer must pay you at least the New Zealand median wage unless your job is on an exemption list.

    Roles exempt from the AEWV median wage threshold

  3. Your job offer cannot be for:

    • work planting, maintaining, harvesting or packing crops in the horticulture or viticulture industries
    • foreign crew of fishing vessels, or
    • self-employed work.

Availability of New Zealanders

There must be no New Zealanders available to do the work you have been offered

Your employer will normally need to advertise the role, and show us evidence they have advertised and not found suitable New Zealanders as part of their job check, before we will let them offer the job to someone outside New Zealand.

They only do not need to advertise if your role is on the Green List and you meet the qualifications and experience listed for your role.

Green List roles

Qualifications and experience

You must be qualified to do the work you have been offered

You need to show that you meet the skills, qualifications, work experience and other requirements of the job you have been offered. Evidence of qualifications can include:

  • original or certified copies of your qualifications
  • evidence the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) recognises your qualification.

Evidence of experience can include documents that show:

  • the work that you did
  • the dates you did the work
  • how many hours a week you worked (on average)
  • the contact details for your employer or employers
  • how your work experience relates to the work you’ve been offered in New Zealand. 
Tips

  1. You can check the specific qualifications and experience you need by searching for your occupation using the INZ view of ANZSCO.

    INZ view of ANZSCO | Statistics New Zealand

  2. If you need to provide evidence of relevant work experience in Eastern Europe, you should provide a copy of your official workbook from that country.

  3. If you need to provide evidence of work experience in a European country but are not a citizen of a Schengen member state, you should provide evidence of your right to work in that country.

    Evidence of your right to work is a copy of your Schengen visa for the time you were working.

  4. Evidence of work experience includes employment certificates, employment contracts, payslips, Social Security System (SSS) records, PhilHealth records and income tax returns (with receipts).

    Employment certificates should be on the employer’s official letterhead and include the company’s contact details. A CV or resume is not sufficient.

    Certificates of employment must be complete and independently verifiable. The certificate must indicate as a minimum: the positions you held, the periods of your employment, your employer’s address and contact details

    If you have worked overseas, you should provide a copy of your work visa and Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) or an e-Receipt and copies of your job descriptions.

  5. If you are a citizen of Brazil you should provide your work book as evidence of your work experience.

Occupational registration

You may need New Zealand registration

If registration is required to work in your occupation in New Zealand, you must provide either:

  • a certified copy of your full or provisional New Zealand registration
  • confirmation from the appropriate registration body that you’re eligible for New Zealand registration.

Occupational registration

Stand down period

You must not currently need to spend time outside of New Zealand as part of a stand down period

If you have been working in New Zealand in a role that pays below the median wage on an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) you may be affected by a stand down period. A stand down period means you may need to leave New Zealand before you can get another AEWV visa for work paid below the median wage.

Some sectors such as tourism, hospitality, the care workforce and construction have agreements that allow them to pay less than the median wage for some roles and have specified stand down periods. The stand down period for your role depends on the sector you are employed in.

Tips

  1. Your employer can tell you if you are subject to a stand down period, or you can check which roles are exempt from paying the median wage on our website.

    AEWV roles exempt from paying the median wage

  2. If you are affected by a stand down period, you may still be eligible for other visas or for an AEWV if your job pays above the median wage. However, any further time spent in New Zealand will not count towards the stand down period.

Process and costs

The information below will help you understand the process, timeframes and costs involved in applying for this visa, so you can plan ahead and have the best chance of submitting a complete application.

Notes

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How to submit

Payment methods and receiving centre details if applicable.

Notes

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Conditions

These are the conditions that you must meet once you have your visa.

Entry permission

You must apply for entry permission when you arrive in New Zealand. You can do this by completing an arrival card, which you are given on the way to New Zealand.

Arriving in New Zealand

Notes

  • You can be refused entry permission if:

    • you don’t meet our character requirements
    • your circumstances have changed since you were granted a visa
    • you refuse to let us to take your photo, or provide us with your fingerprints or an iris scan, if we ask you for them.

Travel

If you want to travel in and out of New Zealand, you must have valid multiple entry travel conditions to return to New Zealand.

Varying the conditions of a work visa

Notes

  • If applying from inside New Zealand, we will normally give multiple entry travel conditions when we grant a visa.

    If there are no multiple entry travel conditions and you leave New Zealand the visa will expire.

    The travel conditions will be listed on the visa label or in a visa letter.

Work

You may work only in the specific occupation, for the employer and in the location specified on your visa.

To be accredited your employer has committed to:

  • give you specific work-related settlement information and support
  • allow you time to complete study modules about working in New Zealand
  • not pass on their accreditation, recruitment or operational costs to you, and
  • comply with New Zealand employment and immigration laws.

Migrant workers have the same rights as New Zealand workers. If you think your employer is mistreating you or your workplace is unsafe, report them. Reporting them will not affect your visa.

Your employer's commitments to hire you on an AEWV

They must also pay you at least the New Zealand median wage unless your occupation is on an exemption list.

Roles exempt from the AEWV median wage threshold

Study

You can study for up to 3 months in any 12-month period.

Notes

  • You may be able to do other study if it is required by your employer as part of your employment. Your employer must pay for any work-related study you need to do.

Visa expiry

You must leave New Zealand before your visa expires.

Notes

  • You can stay for up to 3 years on this visa if you are paid at or above the median wage and for up to 2 years on this visa if you are paid below the median wage.

  • If your role is on the Green List, or one paying you twice the median wage, you may be eligible to apply now for the Straight to Residence, or after 2 years in the role a Work to Residence, Highly Paid or Care Workforce Work to Residence visa.

    Green List, highly paid, and care workforce residence category visas

  • If you are paid below the median wage you may be affected by a stand down period. This means you will need to leave New Zealand before you can apply for another AEWV paid below median wage. When your visa expires you can move onto another visa type or onto another AEWV paid at the median wage or higher. However, any further time spent in New Zealand will not count towards the stand down period.

    AEWV roles exempt from paying the median wage