Accredited Employer Work Visa: Rules, Stay Limits, and English Requirements

AEWV Rules NZ: English, Stay Limits and Job Check Explained

The Accredited Employer Work Visa is the main way a New Zealand employer hires a migrant for a specific job. It is also the visa most people mean when they say they are “on a work visa” in Auckland. It looks simple from the outside: accredited employer, approved job, worker applies. The refusals sit in the detail — the skill level of the role, the pay rate on the day the job check is decided, the English evidence, and how long you have already spent in New Zealand on an AEWV.

This is written for both sides of that application. If you are the worker, you need to know what you are being offered. If you are the employer, accreditation is not a one-time badge. It carries ongoing duties, and a sloppy job check is the usual reason a hire stalls.

The three gates

An AEWV is not a single form. It moves through three gates.

Employer accreditation. The business must be accredited by Immigration New Zealand. There are standard and high-volume paths, and triangular employment has its own rules. Accreditation can be suspended or refused where INZ is not satisfied the employer will comply with employment law, or where previous hires were not genuine. Holding accreditation does not mean every role you advertise will pass a job check.

Job check. The employer asks INZ to approve a particular position: the location, the hours, the pay, the tasks, and, where required, the labour-market test. A job check is tied to that role. It is not a permission slip to hire anyone, into any job, at any site. For many ANZSCO or National Occupation List skill level 4 and 5 roles, the employer must engage with Work and Income before the job check will be approved.

The worker’s visa. You apply using the token or link from the approved job check. You must be offered full-time work, generally at least 30 hours a week, for a named employer, in a named occupation, at a named location. You also need identity, health, and character evidence, and — depending on the skill level — English and a skills threshold.

Skill level decides the length of stay

INZ still uses ANZSCO skill levels, and it is moving occupation classification toward the National Occupation List. The label on your offer letter is not what counts. The tasks you will actually do are matched to an occupation, and that occupation has a skill level.

As a working guide to the settings in force through 2026: roles at skill level 1 to 3 can be granted for up to five years, within the maximum continuous stay for that role. Roles at skill level 4 and 5, where there is no residence pathway attached, are generally capped at a three-year maximum continuous stay. When you hit that maximum, you need to spend 12 months outside New Zealand before you can be granted another AEWV. The visa is for the balance of the stay you have left, not automatically for a fresh five years.

That 12-month stand-down surprises people who have renewed twice and assumed the clock reset. It does not. If your plan is residence, the AEWV years only help if the job, the pay, and the occupation also fit a residence pathway. Time in a role that will never qualify is time spent, not time banked.

Pay is part of the job check, not a footnote. The rate has to meet whatever threshold applies to that occupation and skill level when the check is decided. Those thresholds move. The figure used for the Skilled Migrant Category median — $35 an hour from 9 March 2026 — is a reference point for residence, not an automatic AEWV rate for every job. Before you accept an offer, or before you file a job check, confirm the rate INZ requires for that role on that date. An offer that was acceptable last year can fail a job check lodged now.

English language, including the June 2026 change

From 1 June 2026, the AEWV English requirement covers skill level 3 occupations as well as skill levels 4 and 5. Skill level 1 and 2 roles still have no AEWV English requirement. Peak seasonal and global workforce seasonal visas are outside this rule.

You can meet the requirement with evidence of citizenship, study, or work in an English-speaking setting that INZ accepts, or with a test. The published minimums for a principal applicant include an IELTS overall score of 4.0 or more, TOEFL iBT 31 or more, or PTE Academic 29 or more. Other approved tests have their own floors. This is a functional test for the work visa. It is lower than the IELTS 6.5 overall usually required for a Skilled Migrant Category residence application. Passing the AEWV test does not mean you have met the residence English standard.

Two practical exemptions matter. If you have already shown you meet the AEWV English requirement on an earlier AEWV, you do not have to show it again. And if you hold an AEWV that expires on or before 1 December 2026 and you are applying for a further AEWV at skill level 3, you do not need to meet the newer skill level 3 English rule for that application.

Book the test before the job token is close to expiry. A job check does not wait for a speaking exam.

The skills threshold

For most AEWV roles, INZ expects either relevant work experience — commonly at least two years — or a relevant qualification at New Zealand Qualifications Framework level 4 or above. The exact requirement depends on the occupation and the instructions in force when you apply. A qualification that is relevant on paper but does not match the tasks in the job description is a frequent PPI point. So is experience that cannot be verified because the overseas employer will not answer, or because the reference letter describes a different job.

Employers should write the job description from the work that will be done in the business, then check which occupation that maps to. Workers should read that description against their own history before they resign overseas. A title like “supervisor” or “technician” is not a skill level.

If you are the employer

Accreditation is the start. You still have to keep employment records, pay at least what was approved, and tell INZ about changes that the accreditation conditions require you to report. A worker who is moved to another site, or given a different set of duties, can fall outside the visa conditions. That is a problem for them and, if it becomes a pattern, for your accreditation.

South Auckland employers — trades, transport, aged care, food production, construction — are a large part of the AEWV caseload we see from Papatoetoe. The files that move cleanly are the ones where the job check, the employment agreement, and the worker’s documents describe the same role.

Where to get the application checked

Immigration Matters acts for workers and for accredited employers. The work visa service covers AEWV applications, job-change issues, and employer compliance questions. If the AEWV is a step toward residence, the resident visa page is the right next read.

Jagjeet Singh Sidhu (IAA licence 201400260) leads the practice from 137 Kolmar Road, Papatoetoe. Call 09 392 0079 / 029 770 7979 or use the contact form before you lodge a job check that is close to a pay or skill-level line.

Frequently asked questions

Can my employer give me a different job once I arrive?
Not without checking the visa conditions. An AEWV limits you to the occupation, employer, and location on the visa. A change usually needs a variation or a new application.

Does skill level 3 still get five years?
The maximum continuous stay for many skill level 3 roles remains up to five years, but from 1 June 2026 you may also have to meet the English requirement. Always match the occupation, not the job title.

What if I reach the maximum stay?
You generally need 12 months outside New Zealand before another AEWV. If you have a residence pathway, look at that before the stand-down, not after you have already left.