From 4 July 2022, the new Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) will be introduced to replace six of the existing temporary work visa categories, and ALL employers need to be accredited if they want to employ migrant workers. applications for employer accreditation will open on 9 May 2022.

There will be three accreditation levels each with specific requirements:

Standard: For any employer wanting to hire 1-5 migrants at any one time. Employers must have a history of compliance. Initial accreditation duration will be 12 months and renewals will be 24 months.

High Volume: For any employer wanting to hire 6+ migrants at any one time. Employers must have HR process, training and upskilling etc. Initial accreditation duration will be 12 months and renewals will be 24 months.

Triangular, Franchise Employers: This applies to labour hire companies who are not the direct employers and employers with limited control over cost pressures (e.g. francises), Initial and renewal duration will be 12 months.

What are the requirements on employers?

The criteria for employers to meet will depend on the category applied for, some of the main assessment criteria will include:

• The business is registered as an employer with IRD and hold an NZBN
• The business is in a sound financial position, which means the business is either profitable, has positive cash flow and sufficient capital, or external funding to sustain the business
• The employer does not have a recent history of non-compliance of immigration standards
• The employer must take steps to minimize the risk of exploitation

If you want to hire migrants from overseas

while the New Zealand border is closed, it is possible to bring only a small number of migrant workers in through the Critical Worker process. Since the border closed in March 2020, we have successfully made border exemption requests and subsequently critical purpose visa applications for employers who urgently need skilled workers from overseas.

Skilled workers earning at or above 1.5 times (currently at $40.50 per hour or $84,240 per annum) the median wage will now be eligible under the “Other Critical Worker” border exemption category for roles longer than 6 months, they will also no longer have to prove that their skills are “not readily obtained in New Zealand.

From July 2022, some Accredited Employer Work Visa holders will be able to enter New Zealand. The entry will mainly be limited to roles that pay above the New Zealand median wage. More information on this will be available soon.

Please contact us about the possibility of bringing migrants into the country while the border is closed.

If you want to hire migrants who are already in New Zealand

The Essential Skills work visa still remains an option until being replaced by AEWV on 4 July 2022.  Visa duration and steps you need to take to employ migrants already on a temporary visa in NZ (e.g. labour market test) will depend on a number of factors but the resulting visa can be for 2 or 3 years depending on their pay rate.

We can also help with visas for the migrant’s partner and children if they want to include family in their application.

How we can help in this process

• Initial consultation to go through accreditation requirements and pathway
• Updating you on any policy change regarding accreditation process
• Preparing and lodging your accreditation application with INZ
• Managing your application
• Immigration compliance audits

An estimated 22,000 employers will need to be accredited. This will likely create a backlog of accreditation requests with Immigration New Zealand and employers who take action now will be in the best position to retain and acquire key staff. We are happy to provide immigration guidance and solutions on employer accreditation. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact us, please call us on 07-571-1171 or email to info@accessnz.com