Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa

What are the requirements for obtaining a Talent (Accredited Employer) Work visa?

• If you plan to submit your documents online, you must send a photo with other documents. If you prefer to use the paper application, it is necessary to send two photos.
• A passport, a certified copy of it, and a certificate of identity are required. Note that if you send your original passport, the application will be processed faster.
• Everyone over the age of 17 must send a police certificate. This certificate is issued by your country of citizenship or the country in which you have lived for five years or more after reaching 17 years old. For more detail on how to issue the police certificate, visit the New Zealand Immigration website. Note that this certificate must be in English.
• Anyone who intends to obtain a New Zealand visa, including this one, must have a medical examination and chest x-ray.
• As mentioned earlier, you must be 55 years of age or younger to qualify for this visa.
• You must have a job offer before applying for a Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa. Your job offer should:
  • Be given by an accredited employer.
  • Be full time
  • Be current at the time of applying for the visa.
• You should receive at least NZD 79,560 per year. You must also provide your employment agreement to prove that you have a job offer. This agreement should include the following:
  • Your employer’s name and contact details
  • Your name and contact details
  • Your job title
  • The address for your place of work
  • The kind of work you’ll be doing and your responsibilities at work
  • Details of any necessary qualifications or work experience
  • Information about whether you’ll need New Zealand registration to do the work
  • How long the work will be for
  • How long do you have to take up the job offer?
  • Pay and work conditions that comply with New Zealand employment law.

How to apply for a Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa?

Before hiring a migrant, the employer must:

• Apply for accreditation.
• Apply for a job check to ensure the job cannot be done by New Zealanders.
• Request a foreign worker to apply for a visa.

The migrant must meet the skills and experience stipulated as part of the job check.

Accredited Employer Work Visa checks

Before a company may hire a foreign worker, the system will impose three checks:

• The employer check – employers must be accredited to pass this.
• The employment interview
• The migrant worker verification.

Employer check

You must be accredited in the new system to fulfill the employer check. Only approved companies may engage an AEWV migrant worker. The direct employer mentioned on the migrant worker’s employment agreement must hold the accreditation.

The new certification levels are as follows:

• Standard accreditation. It is for businesses that wish to transport up to five migrant workers on AEWVs at once.
• High-volume accreditation. It is for businesses that want to transport six or more migrant workers on AEWVs at once.

To be certified, franchisees and employers that seek to deploy migrants on AEWVs with controlling third parties (including labor-hire organizations) must fulfill additional requirements.

Before the AEWV is established, Immigration New Zealand will publish a more thorough explanation of which franchisee business models must fulfill these standards.

Job check

The job check will establish that the position pays the market rate, that the terms and conditions follow the employment laws, and that the employer has conducted a labor market test if one is necessary.

A labor market test reveals that the company legitimately advertised the position to New Zealanders and that there are no New Zealanders available to fill the position.

• The labor market test includes verifying with the Ministry of Social Development for positions paying less than the median salary.
• A labor market test is not required for jobs paying 200% of the median salary.
• Jobs at or above the regional median salary do not require a labor market test.

Migrant worker Check

The migrant worker check is where the migrant worker applies for a visa. It is the final stage. The migrant must demonstrate that they fulfill Immigration New Zealand’s character, identification, and health standards, as well as the skills and experience specified in the employer’s employment check application. Migrant workers or employers pay for this check.

Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa Application

You can apply for this visa in two ways:

Paper application

1. Prepare the required documents based on the type of visa.
2. Fill out the paper visa application form and pay the visa application fee and immigration levy. Then send your documents to the nearest visa application center.
3. New Zealand Immigration processes your documents and decides whether to grant a visa. If your visa request is approved, you can apply for residency after two years.

Online application

1. You must first prepare the required documents carefully.
2. Complete the visa application form and submit it online along with other documents. To do this, first, you need to create an account on the New Zealand Immigration Website and then submit your documents through this account.
3. You can track the status of the visa application through the same account you have created.
4. If your visa application is approved, you can enter New Zealand to work and apply for a Talent (Accredited Employer) Resident Visa after two years.

Please note that it is not possible to apply for a work visa outside New Zealand dut to COVID-19. Also, note that if you submit your documents online, your application will be processed faster.

How much does it cost to petition for this visa?

The cost of applying for this visa varies depending on the country you are applying. Therefore, we recommend that you first go to the New Zealand Immigration website to get up-to-date information in this regard.

Can the visa holder travel?

Once you have received your Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa, you have three months to enter New Zealand. Upon arrival in New Zealand, you have up to 30 months to travel in and out of New Zealand.

How can a visa holder work in New Zealand?

As a visa holder, you can only work in a specific job for a particular employer. If after you receive the visa and your employer loses the accredited employer status, you can:

• Work for another accredited employer.
• Apply for a variation of conditions that, if approved, you can work for an employer who is not an accredited employer

If you want the New Zealand government to approve your variation of conditions, your employer must pay you at least NZD 55,000 per year.

Let’s sum up…

We reviewed the Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa application process, requirements, and other details in the previous sections. In different sections of the Visa Library website, you can find out about other New Zealand visas as well as visas from other countries.

If you have experience obtaining this or other New Zealand visas, you can share it with other readers through the comments section. Conveying your experiences can be very helpful to others. You can also ask your questions through this section. We will respond as soon as possible.