Employer Support - New Zealand Immigration Matters

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) grants visas to help employers to have access to the workforce. If you are facing shortage of skilled or experienced workers, you can hire from offshore.
Our tailored services are suitable for the big companies and small business owners. Our services cater to all aspects of business immigration.
We've dealt with situations of the most complex variety so please feel free to reach out to us and let us hear about your circumstances. We're sure we can find a solution best suited for your cause.

New Zealand Immigration Employer Accreditation:● What is it? ● What is the criteria?● How does it work? ● What are the benefits?● Will the subsidiary companies also get accreditation?
Popular questions.
Reforms to the Accredited Employment Work Visa (AEWV)

is in a sound financial position. This will determine if the employment is sustainable.
has high standards in human resource policies and processes: and
has a proven commitment to training and hiring New Zealand citizens or
Residence class visa holders (to ensure they are engaged and that they make up a significant part of their workforce); and
has satisfactory workplace practices, including a proven history of compliance with all immigration and employment New Zealand laws.

Once accreditation has been approved, it will be valid for 24 months and you will be able to recruit overseas workers freely in a streamlined process.

You will need to offer at least NZD $79,560 per annum (or NZD $38.25 per hour) to meet the minimum threshold, under this work to residence visa category.

Becoming an Accredited Employer with Immigration New Zealand will generally secure faster visa processing. It will also permit you to bypass the Labour Market Test.
As an Accredited Employer, you won’t have to prove that you were unable to find suitable New Zealanders to fill a role before you can offer the position to a migrant. You won’t have to demonstrate your efforts to recruit New Zealanders, nor provide evidence of advertising for each visa application.
Accredited employer visas are also prioritised.

The accreditation of a parent company cannot cover subsidiary companies.To be accredited, a subsidiary company must apply separately.

Is it difficult to hire a migrant and get the visa approved?
As an employer, you are required to make genuine efforts to hire a New Zealanders first. If you are unable to find a suitable New Zealander, you can offer the employment to a migrant. The migrant worker does not require any guarantee or sponsorship. However, you must comply with employment laws.
Is there a lot of paperwork involved?
Although essential documentation is certainly required, it's usually standard paperwork for most businesses. However, we can provide step-by-step guidance about the required paperwork and the process.
Why might the visa be declined?
The basis of an application decline can be if· The advertising was conducted in a manner intended to discourage or limit the ability of local candidates to apply or qualify for the role.· The role was one for which a person could easily be trained.· The advertising was clearly tailored to ensure that only the work visa applicant could meet the employer’s criteria for hire.· There are negative factors related to the applicant’s health, character and previous immigration history. · The candidate’s existing visa was issued with remuneration conditions and that employee was not paid according to those conditions.· Immigration New Zealand does not consider an employer to be compliant with labour laws.· Immigration New Zealand does not consider an employer to be offering terms and conditions of employment (including pay rate) at market standard.
How long will the visa application processing take?
A work visa application can be put together relatively quickly, and usually takes 25 working days to be processed. The application can also be processed through Immigration New Zealand’s online system, which we can facilitate very quickly.
Can I help the applicant with the work visa or let my HR team to handle immigration process or advice applicants?
Only a Licensed Immigration Adviser can provide immigration advice. The ability for people within HR teams to provide immigration advice is restricted by the requirement for those giving advice to hold a license, or to be exempted from holding a licence, to provide such advice. An immigration advice can constitute little things like telling a person how to answer a question on a form. The Immigration Advisers Authority has made it clear: just because you may be employed as an HR specialist within a company, you are not permitted to provide immigration advice to the company, to employees, or to prospective employees in the absence of a license (or an exemption from needing a licence).
Significant problems can also be caused by the failure of people in HR teams to understand immigration requirements and process.
At Zenith Immigration Solutions, we ensure that you get the process right. This will help in saving a lot of time and effort. You will not be required to worry about the legal requirements to help your employees in immigration matters.
What are your legal fees?
We have tailored packages for the current and prospective employees. There is no consultation fee. The fee will only be charged if you proceed with hiring an applicant.
How do I know if you can help me?
As Licensed Immigration Advisers and Immigration experts, we are well equipped and experienced to handle all the paperwork required during the application process. If you have general enquiries or need our services, you can book a consultation. We will provide you the required information.
I tried to hire a migrant worker but was unsuccessful
As Immigration experts, we can help you to follow the process and will be with you at each step. This is what we specialise in so the likelihood of success is high.

Removing the median wage requirement

Wage thresholds for all AEWV and Specific Purpose Work Visa (SPWV) roles will be removed.

Employers still need to advertise and offer AEWV and SPWV employees the market rate for their position and workplace location. This change does not affect existing employment agreements. There are no changes to the wages that AEWV or SPWV workers must earn to apply for residence.

New earning threshold

AEWV migrants will need to earn at least NZ$55,844 a year to bring children, along with meeting other criteria. This threshold has not been updated since 2019.

Reducing the experience requirements for migrants

The experience requirement for migrants will be reduced from 3 years to 2. This ensures migrants are sufficiently skilled while addressing key issues raised during consultation.

Introducing new pathways for experienced seasonal workers

In November 2025, 2 new pathways for seasonal workers will be introduced, including a 3-year multi-entry visa for experienced workers and a 7-month single entry visa for lesser-skilled workers. The existing temporary seasonal pathways will remain available until then.

Increasing the visa duration of ANZSCO Level 4 or 5 AEWV holders to 3 years

Following feedback through consultation, the visa duration will increase to 3 years for new AEWVs issued for jobs assessed as skill level 4 or 5 on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). The visa length will change from 2 years (with the option of 1 additional year) to 3 years to align with the total time these workers can stay in New Zealand (their maximum continuous stay). Those currently on a 2-year visa will be able to apply for a further AEWV for 1 year if they meet the requirements.

Amending Work and Income engagement requirement

The current requirement for employers to engage with the Work and Income will be amended to be declaration based. Employers must declare that they have, in good faith, advertised ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5 jobs with Work and Income and interviewed candidates who could have been suitable for the job. This can be done alongside the recruitment that employers will already be undertaking in the domestic labour market. There will also no longer be a set 21-day timeframe for the engagement with Work and Income.

Greater work rights for interim visas

From April 2025, interim work rights will be extended to AEWV applicants who are applying from any Work Visa type or from a Student Visa that allows them to work during term time, supporting migrants to maintain employment while their visa is processed.

Removing the requirements for completion of Employment New Zealand online modules

The requirements regarding online modules will be removed from 27 January 2025 for all current and future Accredited Employers and Recognised Seasonal Employers (RSE).

Immigration New Zealand will instead provide employers and workers with links of freely available Employment New Zealand or Immigration New Zealand webpages that set out employment rights and obligations at the most appropriate points in the immigration process.

Reducing the domestic workforce threshold for certain construction roles

The domestic workforce threshold for employers of certain construction roles is being reduced from 35 per cent to 15 per cent.