How to become an Accredited employer for a work visa
If you are thinking to hire migrants, our expert team can certainly help.
Immigration has introduced a new approach to hiring migrant workers and simultaneously is encouraging businesses to hire/train New Zealanders. There are 3 steps to hiring a migrant on the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). These are – Employer Accreditation > Job Check > Migrant check.
Getting accredited
You can apply for accreditation from 23 May 2022 and for a job check from 20 June 2022. This is a new type of accreditation. All employers must meet a minimum set of accreditation requirements, including:
- being a viable and genuinely operating business
- being compliant with employment, immigration, and business regulatory standards
- completing activities to support the settlement of migrant employees.
Employers will need to be accredited and depending on your organization structure it could be – Standard/High Volume/Franchise/Third-party accreditation.
Passing the job check
Once you are accredited, you need to apply for a job check (on the Immigration New Zealand website) for each job you want to hire a migrant worker for. Multiple positions for the same job can be included in one job check if the job details are the same and are all covered by the same advertising (where required) and proposed employment agreement. The applicants must be paid more than the median wage ($27.76 an hour from 4 July 2022)
Visa application
If the job passes the job check the migrant worker can apply for a visa from 04th July 2022. Immigration Department will check their suitability for the role, medical and character issues. All migrants would require an accredited employer work visa to work for an accredited employer.
Estimated application processing timeframes are:
- Standard and high-volume accreditation 10 working days
- Job check 10 working days
- Accredited Employer Work Visa 20 working days.