Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV)

The Accredited Employer Work Visa is New Zealand’s primary pathway for skilled workers to take up a job offer from a sponsoring employer. Unlike some work visa systems where the worker initiates the process, the AEWV is employer-led: your potential employer must hold active INZ accreditation and have secured an approved Job Check for the specific role before you can lodge your visa application. This structure means the quality of your offer, your employer’s compliance record, and the documentation behind the role all matter as much as your own qualifications.

The 2025 policy reforms reshaped several settings that had applied since the AEWV launched in 2022. The median wage threshold is gone; a market-rate wage test applies in its place. Work experience requirements dropped from three years to two. And ANZSCO reclassifications moved a number of occupations from Level 4-5 into Level 3, opening longer visa durations and residence pathways that were not previously available. If you assessed your eligibility under the pre-March 2025 rules, it is worth reviewing again.

The 3-step AEWV process

The AEWV is structured as three separate approval gates that must each succeed for a worker to receive the visa:

1. Employer accreditation: the employer applies for and obtains AEWV accreditation from INZ. The accreditation tier (Standard, High-Volume, or Triangular) shapes how many migrants the employer can sponsor and under what conditions.
2. Job Check: INZ verifies the specific role is genuine, meets wage and ANZSCO-level requirements, and that local recruitment was attempted (where required). The Job Check is role-specific, not generic to the employer.
3. Worker visa application: the worker applies for the AEWV against the accredited employer’s job offer and approved Job Check, providing personal documentation per the eligibility criteria above.

Missing a requirement at any stage resets that stage’s timeline. Coordinating accreditation, Job Check, and worker visa application across employer and worker is one of the practical reasons AEWV cases benefit from licensed adviser oversight. An employer who is mid-accreditation, or whose Job Check has lapsed, cannot support a valid AEWV application until those gates are cleared.

Once accreditation is granted, employers face ongoing INZ post-accreditation checks throughout the accreditation period. See Post-accreditation maintenance for AEWV employers for the employer-side compliance obligations and how we support employers through INZ review.

What your job’s ANZSCO level means for you

Your job’s ANZSCO skill level (1 through 5, where 1 is most skilled) determines three things that materially affect your situation: how long you can stay, whether you need to demonstrate English, and which residence pathways are available to you.

Duration: ANZSCO Level 1-3 roles support AEWV stays of up to five years. Level 4-5 roles cap at three years. If your role was reclassified to Level 3 from March 2025, you may now be eligible for a longer visa and broader residence options than you previously qualified for.

English language: INZ requires evidence of English for Level 3, 4, and 5 jobs (not just 4-5 as previously applied). For Level 3 jobs, a transitional exemption applies if your visa expires on or before 1 December 2026. Level 1-2 jobs have no English requirement.

Skill and experience evidence: You need either two years of relevant work experience (backed by pay slips, tax certificates, or verified employment letters, not a CV alone) or an NZQCF Level 4 or higher qualification in the same field. Several categories are exempt from providing additional evidence, including Green List roles, occupations requiring NZ registration, and roles paying at or above twice the median wage (currently NZD $70.00/hour, from 9 March 2026).

Changing employer or job conditions

The AEWV is linked to the specific employer, role, and work location stated in your application. If any of those change, you need to act before the change takes effect. Depending on what is changing, the process is either a Variation of Conditions or a new Job Change process with INZ. Starting work for a different employer, at a different site, or in a different role without the right approval is a visa condition breach.

If you are in NZ on an AEWV and your employment ends, you have a limited window to find a new accredited employer and apply to vary your conditions. Getting advice promptly when employment ends protects both your visa status and your future residence options. See our guide on varying conditions on an AEWV for the process.

Bringing family to New Zealand

Family members cannot be included in an AEWV application. Your partner and dependent children must apply separately. Whether INZ will grant those visas, and what type, depends on your wage and job skill level.

The support threshold for a partner work visa depends on the AEWV job’s ANZSCO level: from NZD $28.00/hour for Level 1–3 roles, and NZD $52.50/hour for Level 4–5 (with lower rates for some care, transport, and Green List roles, and a grandfathered NZD $26.85/hour for partners supporting since 26 June 2024). Dependent children’s visitor or student visas require a minimum annual income of NZD $58,240. These thresholds are set by INZ and are reviewed periodically; confirm current amounts on the INZ website before relying on any figure. See our partner of a worker work visa guide for the full breakdown.

Family visa applications are independent of the primary AEWV and have their own documentation and timing requirements. In practice, they are best lodged after the AEWV is granted, so approval details can be referenced.

AEWV as a residence pathway

The AEWV does not grant residence on its own, but it is the primary on-ramp to NZ’s skills-based residence categories. The most common pathway is: accumulate qualifying employment on AEWV, then apply for the Skilled Migrant Category once you meet the points threshold and the relevant work experience criteria.

From 24 August 2026, the SMC also adds a Skilled Work Experience pathway for experienced workers in ANZSCO level 1 to 3 roles who may not hold a qualifying degree, alongside the points-based route (see our guide to the 24 August 2026 SMC changes). Immigration New Zealand has also signalled that from 2027, AEWV holders who need up to 12 more months of skilled work experience to meet SMC requirements will be able to apply to extend their AEWV; eligibility and process details are still to come, and this option is not available in 2026.

Where the worker’s ANZSCO occupation appears on the Green List, the route is faster. Tier 1 occupations (including nurses, select IT roles, civil and mechanical engineers, and project builders) qualify for the Straight to Residence pathway without a waiting period. Tier 2 occupations qualify for residence after 24 months of qualifying employment in NZ.

The Green List is reviewed periodically; confirm current Tier 1 / Tier 2 membership for your specific occupation code against INZ’s published list before planning around it. See also Green List occupations overview in our Resources.

After reaching the maximum continuous stay (five years for most roles, three years for Level 4-5), you normally need to spend 12 consecutive months outside NZ before a further AEWV is available. Planning your residence application timeline before hitting that limit is important.

Next step

If you have a job offer from a NZ employer, or you are an employer considering hiring offshore, the place to start is a clear-eyed review of where the application sits across all three gates: accreditation, Job Check, and worker eligibility. A gap at any stage delays the others.

Book a 15-minute consultation to map the process against your situation, or check your eligibility now to see where you stand on the key criteria.