Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV)

Key information about the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV)

Alert Please note the statistics below are accurate to the best of our knowledge but some are being manually collated while we update our systems. These statistics will be updated fortnightly.

• The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) is the main temporary work visa. It is designed to ensure New Zealanders are first in line for jobs and where genuine skill or labour shortages exist, accredited employers can hire skilled migrants.
  

• Accreditation applications opened on 23 May 2022, job check applications opened on 20 June 2022 and work visa applications opened on 4 July 2022.
  

• The AEWV also helps address migrant exploitation by ensuring only employers who are accredited can hire migrant workers.
  

• As at 14 August 2023 Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has approved 80,576 Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) applications, and there are 27,892 accredited employers.
  

• The vast majority of employers are doing the right thing and treat their migrant workers fairly and well. They are relying on much-needed workers from overseas to fill positions that have been hard to fill within the domestic market.
  

• Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) actively monitors employers and will take action where there are concerns.
  

• The AEWV improves our ability to detect and respond to exploitation, because of the system of post-accreditation checks and the ability to revoke an employer’s accreditation if breaches of accreditation standards are found. The AEWV replaces the previous Essential Skills Visa, where checks were only done on the employer at the point when a migrant applied for a visa.
  

• We aim to check about 15% of accredited employers each year, but post-accreditation checks can occur at any time. As part of the application process, employers are advised there may be follow-up checks to ensure the undertakings and declarations they make during the application are correct and they are a good migrant employer. Meeting your accredited employer obligations obligations

• The 15% of post-accreditation checks we undertake is a combination of random selection, as well as targeted checks on a sample of all accredited employer types in addition to checks on all franchisee and controlling third party business models and any businesses that have been referred to us through a complaint or issue raised.
  

• Post-accreditation checks are a routine process introduced as part of the new scheme, and they are not related to the investigations into employers of potential concern involving migrant workers holding an AEWV.
  

• We expect employers to take their responsibilities seriously and comply with AEWV conditions, and there are penalties for employers who do not comply with employment or immigration laws. These are outlined on our website. Non-compliance, stand-downs and permanent bans for accredited employers | Immigration New Zealand
  

• As at 14 August 2023 we have undertaken 609 post-accreditation checks and an additional 1,723 are underway currently being conducted. Of the 609 post-accreditation checks completed so far, all the employers were found to meet their requirements under the Accredited Employer Work Visa.
  

• As at 14 August 2023 MBIE has received 680 complaints against accredited employers. This number only indicates an allegation involving an Accredited Employer has been received, not whether the allegation can be substantiated. There are currently 173 active investigations underway.
  

• As at 14 August 2023 6 employers have had their accreditation revoked and 5 have had their accreditation suspended. 52 employers are under assessment to have their accreditation revoked. Revocations and suspensions are due to a range of reasons, and a number are due to liquidation.

Source: Immigration New Zealand