The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) is New Zealand’s main employer-assisted temporary work visa. Unlike most visas, it is not one application by one person. It is three steps, and the first two belong to the employer.
That changes where things go wrong. A worker can meet every requirement and still be stuck, because the employer is not accredited yet or the role has not passed its job check. We act for both sides, and we are clear at the outset which one we are acting for.
How it is built
1 — Employer accreditation
The employer is accredited by Immigration New Zealand before it can support anyone. Accreditation has its own obligations, and it can be reviewed, suspended or revoked after it is granted.
2 — Job check
The role itself is checked: the terms, the pay, and whether New Zealanders were given a fair chance at it. This is approval for the job, not for a person.
3 — Migrant check
Only now does the worker apply, against the job that has already been approved. Skills and experience for the role, plus health and character.
The order matters. Work done out of sequence usually has to be done again.
How we can help
Accreditation applications and renewals. Job checks, including the advertising that has to sit behind them. Employment agreements and job descriptions that match what is being certified. Meeting the obligations that come with accreditation, and responding if Immigration New Zealand raises concerns about them.
Whether the role and your experience fit the job that has been approved. Preparing and filing the migrant check. Family members on partner and dependent child visas. Responding to requests for further information. What a change of employer, role or location means for the visa you hold.
An AEWV is often the first step rather than the destination. Where residence is the goal, it is worth knowing early which pathway the job leads to — and whether it leads to one at all.
Current settings · October 2026
There is no fixed median-wage floor for an AEWV. Since 10 March 2025 the requirement is the market rate for that role in that location, and at least the adult minimum wage — $23.50 an hour from 1 April 2025.
The immigration median wage still matters, but for other things. From 9 March 2026 it is $35.00 an hour, set on June 2025 data. Several thresholds are multiples of it.
Move the slider to see which thresholds a rate clears. Clearing a threshold is not the whole test — the rate must also be the market rate for the role and location.
Partner and dependent support thresholds are set off the median wage too. We confirm the figure that applies to your household rather than working from a general rate.
Length of stay
Up to five years
Roles at skill level 1 to 3, under ANZSCO or a recognised National Occupation List, Green List roles, and certain roles linked to a residence pathway. The five years can run across more than one AEWV.
Up to three years
Skill level 4 and 5 roles that do not meet the 1.5× median rate and do not fall under the residence-pathway rules.
The visa itself
Granted for the length of the job offer, capped at whatever maximum continuous stay applies to that role. A three-year offer in a five-year role gets three years.
Stand-down
Once the maximum continuous stay is reached, 12 consecutive months outside New Zealand before another regular AEWV can be granted. Time on the visa counts whether you are in the country or out of it — leaving for a while does not pause the clock.
Seasonal AEWVs run on shorter stays and shorter stand-downs. They are a separate set of rules.
Questions
A work visa for someone with a job offer from a New Zealand employer that Immigration New Zealand has accredited. The employer’s job check for that role has to be approved before you can apply.
Someone holding a job offer from an accredited employer, who meets the skill requirement for the role, is paid at the required rate, and meets the health and character requirements.
Yes, and it has to be genuine. An offer obtained by paying for it will not support a visa. Immigration New Zealand looks for premiums paid for job offers, and finding one is fatal to the application.
There is no fixed median-wage floor. Since 10 March 2025 the role has to pay the market rate for that job in that location, and at least the adult minimum wage — $23.50 an hour from 1 April 2025.
The immigration median wage, $35.00 an hour from 9 March 2026, sets other thresholds rather than the floor: Green List pay rates, the 1.5× rate that opens a five-year stay on some roles, and the 2× rate that exempts a role from advertising and minimum skills.
Up to five years for skill level 1 to 3 roles, Green List roles, and certain roles linked to a residence pathway. Up to three years for skill level 4 and 5 roles that do not meet the 1.5× median rate of $52.50 an hour.
The visa itself is granted for the length of the job offer, capped at the maximum that applies to the role — so a three-year offer in a five-year role gets three years.
Not freely. The visa is tied to your employer and your role, and often to the location. Your new employer has to be accredited and hold an approved job check for the role, and you then apply for a job change.
Do not start the new job before that change is approved. Immigration New Zealand declines these applications where the work has already begun, and it is a difficult position to recover from.
Often, but it turns on how your role is classified and what you earn. The support thresholds are set off the immigration median wage, so they move when it does.
We confirm the figure that applies to your household before anyone makes plans around it.
It can. Some roles lead to residence through the Skilled Migrant Category or the Green List. Whether yours does depends on the occupation, the pay and your circumstances.
This is worth knowing before you accept the job, not two years into it.
Yes — five years or three, by the same classification that sets the visa length. Reach the cap without a residence pathway and you must spend 12 consecutive months outside New Zealand before another regular AEWV can be granted.
Time on the visa counts whether you are in the country or out of it. Taking trips home does not pause the clock. Seasonal AEWVs run on shorter stays and shorter stand-downs.
Yes, and it can fail on the employer’s side as readily as on yours. Incomplete or inconsistent documentation is the common cause.
If yours has been declined, or Immigration New Zealand has written to you raising concerns, get advice before you reply. What you say at that point matters.
Related reading
Insight
From 24 August 2026 the Skilled Migrant Category has three pathways. Who qualifies, the pay and work experience rules, and what it means on an AEWV.
Read more →