Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV)

Contents

• Hire migrant workers on the new Immigration NZ Work Visa 2022
• Why does our business need to be Immigration Accredited?
• Accredited employers will have many advantages including
• Key steps involved for accreditation 
  1. Step 1 – Accreditation (employers can apply for this from 9 May 2022)
  2. Step 2 - The job check (employers can apply for this from 9 May 2022)
  3. Step 3 - The migrant check/visa application (migrants can start work on a AEWV from 4 July 2022)
     
     

Hire migrant workers on the new Immigration NZ Work Visa 2022

Find out how to become an accredited employer under Immigration New Zealand’s new accreditation scheme and how to hire a migrant on the new Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) available from 4 July 2022.

Why does our business need to be Immigration Accredited?

Under the new work visa requirements, all employers must be accredited if they want to employ a foreign worker. This is an entirely new type of accreditation, and even if you have been accredited under the previous system you will need to reapply.

Accredited employers will have many advantages including:

• Access to an international labour pool to source people with skills that are currently unavailable or scarce within New Zealand.
• Having a competitive advantage over other non-accredited employers by being able to provide a work to residency (pathway) visa, thus providing an attraction and retention advantage.
• Fast-track processing on all temporary visas and residency visas that are supported by the employer. In many instances this will reduce temporary visa processing by 15-20 working days.
• Reducing employer time and stress over lengthy and sometimes complicated visa processing.
• Reducing documentation requirements and saving significant time in supporting visa applications.

Key steps involved for accreditation

Step 1 – Accreditation (employers can apply for this from 9 May 2022)

This is the first step in the new employer-led visa application process. You can apply for different levels of accreditation, depending on how many workers the business wants to hire on working visas.

The first level is for employers who want to hire up to 5 migrants on Accredited Employer Working Visas at any one time and the second level is for those wanting to hire 6 or more migrants on AEWVs at any one time.
All employers will need to meet standard employment requirements, including showing you are a genuine business, that you have process compliance, and commit to activities to minimise exploitation & to assist your work visa employees to settle in easily.

Step 2 - The job check (employers can apply for this from 9 May 2022)

Once your business is accredited, you then need to apply for a job check for each job you want to apply for a work visa for. You can only hire a worker on an AEWV if it has passed the job check.

This process confirms the job pays the market rate, ensures that it meets NZ employment laws and standards and that you have completed a labour market test (LMT). Multiple positions for the same job can be included in one job check if the job details are the same (for example they have the same proposed employment agreement, position description, pay range location of workplace and minimum job requirements), and are all covered by the same advertising for Labour Market Testing purposes.

Step 3 - The migrant check/visa application (migrants can start work on a AEWV from 4 July 2022)

If the job passes the job check, you can invite the migrant worker to apply for a visa to work in that job. INZ checks if they meet the requirements for the AEWV, including that they have the skills and experience you advertised for. This process remains largely as it was with checks on identity, health and character, but with fewer requirements for a foreign worker to produce evidence of the qualifications and experience where it is not relevant to the application, or it has already been checked.

How can ConsultingHQ and/or RecruitNZ help you?

We work closely with VisaAide, Licenced NZ Immigration Advisors, ConsultingHQ and RecruitNZ and have extensive experience assisting clients with their applications for employer accreditation status with Immigration New Zealand. We have worked on all types of applications including complicated applications where high level HR advice is required.

To find out more about how we can assist you, please phone Tanya Gray, Director on 027 621 6111. Together with advice from VisaAide, in the first instance we will help you to decide if accredited employer status would be of benefit to your business.