Employer Accreditation

Employers in New Zealand are required to be accredited with Immigration New Zealand, if they wish to support a migrant worker for any visa.

There are 4 levels of accreditation

• Standard Accreditaton – for businesses hiring up to 5 migrants
• High-volume Accrediation – for businesses hiring 6 or more migrants
• Franchisee Accreditation – for businesses that are a part of a franchise. There is no limit to the number of migrants they can hire.
• Controlling third-party Accreditation – for businesses who place migrants with third parties while being the direct employer named in the employment agreement. There is no limit to the number of migrants they can hire.

The employers must have a NZBN and a business IRD number.

To be eligible to apply for an Employer Accreditation, the organization is required to meet at least 1 of the following financial requirement.

• the business has not made a loss over the last 2 years
• the business has had a positive cash flow each month for the last 6 months
• the business has enough capital or external investment to remain viable

Job Check – the accredited employer must have a job check approved by Immigration New Zealand for any vacancy the employer needs to fill with a non-New Zealand citizen or resident worker.

Once an employer is accredited to employ workers on an Accredited Employer Work Visa, the employer must conduct a genuine labour market test and apply for a job check. Job check aims to support local employment opportunities, and ensure migrants recruited into New Zealand on an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) are mostly filling higher-skilled roles.

Job check involves advertising the role by listing the job for at least 14 calender days on a national listing website or channel where suitable New Zealanders are likely to apply. The job avertisement must close prior to making a job check application with Immigration New Zealand and the job check application must be submitted within the 90 days from closing of the advertisement.

If the Applicant’s occupation is on the Green List or the job pays twice the median wage, they are not required to undergo a labour market test.

The job offered must be for a full time position with a minimum 30 hours per week and pay the market rate and at least the median wage rate, unless the job is on the exemption list.