Peak Seasonal Visa

New Zealand job offer

You must have an offer of full-time work from an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) 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
• for a job that is on the Peak Seasonal Visa job list
• for a job during, or close to an industry or sector seasonal peak
• for at least 1 season of employment
• from an employer who is an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) accredited employer and has an approved Peak Seasonal Visa job check for the job
• paid at least the market rate for your job.

Peak Seasonal Visa jobs

Seasonal visa job durations and hiring months

What to include in your application

Your visa application must include:

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

What the employment agreement must include

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 experience of working in that type of job
• what hours you will work and how long the job will be for
• how long you have to take up the job offer
• pay and job conditions that comply with New Zealand employment law.

What the employment agreement cannot include

The employment agreement cannot include:

• clauses that do not comply with employment law
• unlawful deductions
• a trial period
• unacceptable bonding clauses — these are provisions in an employment agreement that require you to repay money to your employer if you leave your job within a certain timeframe.

If you apply for a work visa or apply to vary the conditions of your work visa based on a new offer of employment, and the employment agreement does not meet these requirements the application may be declined.

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

Accredited employer list

Immigration stand-down list

Employers on stand-down — Employment New Zealand

Minimum skill requirements

You must have at least 1 season of job experience in the same or similar job, gained in the last 3 years.

Job experience evidence

You must provide evidence that you have at least 1 season of relevant work experience.

The evidence must be from someone other than yourself, and can include:

• letters of reference from a former employer
• certificates of employment
• pay slips
• tax certificates.

Providing a CV or resume is not sufficient.

Skill levels and qualifications

We use the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) and the National Occupation List (NOL) to check:

• the skill levels of jobs
• the qualifications and experience you need to work in those jobs.

There may be other skill and qualification requirements to meet depending on the skill level of your job.

You must show you have the skills, qualifications and experience to work in your job's ANZSCO or NOL occupation.

Find your job's skill level

Employer's requirements of skills and experience

You must show you have the job skills and experience your employer has asked for.

These requirements may include evidence of your:

• job experience
• skills
• qualifications.

If you are providing this evidence for other Peak Seasonal Visa criteria, you do not need to provide it again.

How long you can stay in New Zealand

The total time you can stay in New Zealand on one or more Peak Seasonal Visas is 7 months. The total time you can stay in New Zealand on 1 or more Peak Seasonal Visas is also called your  .

At the end of your 7 months, you must spend at least 4 months outside New Zealand before you can be granted another Peak Seasonal Visa.

How we calculate how long you stay

We count any time you are on a Peak Seasonal Visa. If you are outside New Zealand when your visa is approved, your maximum continuous stay starts when you first arrive in New Zealand.

We also count any time spent on an Interim Visa, if you were given an Interim Visa after your Peak Seasonal Visa.

We do not count any time you are on any other visa, for example a working holiday visa or an Accredited Employer Work Visa, but you will still need to spend 4 months outside New Zealand before you can be granted another Peak Seasonal Visa.

Health

To get a Peak Seasonal Visa, you need to have good health. After you submit your application, we will check any medical information you have included and contact you if we need new medical information.

If you are staying for more than 6 months

If you will stay in New Zealand for more than 6 months, you must have a chest X-ray if you:

• are a citizen of a country that does not have a low incidence of tuberculosis (TB), or
• have spent more than 3 months in the last 5 years in a country that does not have a low incidence of TB.

You must provide a new chest X-ray certificate, even if you have provided 1 to us previously, if you:

• have spent 6 months in a row in a country that does not have a low incidence of TB since the date of your last X-ray certificate, and
• are now coming to New Zealand for more than 6 months — if you are in New Zealand this includes any time you have already spent here.

Countries with a low incidence of tuberculosis

Medical insurance

If you will be working for 3 or more months in New Zealand on this visa, you must have medical insurance.

Your insurance company must have:

• experience in medical or travel insurance business, and
• a credit rating of at least A from Standard and Poor's or B+ from AM Best.

Your medical insurance must cover:

• all your medical expenses while you are in New Zealand, including for diagnosis, treatment, prescribed medicine, ambulance, hospital and post-hospital discharge care, or home nursing care. 
• emergency dental care
• the cost of returning to your home country if you become very sick or disabled, and
• the cost of returning your body, if you pass away in New Zealand.

You must provide evidence of your medical insurance with your application. Some pre-existing conditions and other kinds of illness or injuries are not required to be covered.

Character

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

If you have a criminal conviction, or are a security risk to New Zealand, we might not give you a visa.

Character requirements for New Zealand visas

You must provide police certificates that are less than 6 months old when you apply, if:

• you are aged 17 or older, and
• your total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or longer — this includes time you spent in New Zealand in the past on other visas.

Police certificates must be from:

• countries you are a citizen of, and
• countries you have spent more than 5 years in since you turned 17.

You do not need to provide police certificates if you provided them with an earlier visa application and they were issued in the last 24 months.

If we ask for a new police certificate when processing your application, you will need to send us a new 1.

Police certificates

Genuine intentions

You must genuinely intend to meet the conditions of your visa.

When we decide if your intentions are genuine, we will consider all the information that:

• you provide to support your application
• we have about your personal circumstances that you have previously given to us.

Genuine intentions to visit or work in New Zealand