New Zealand's Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) is the main temporary work visa for foreign workers, tied to an employer that Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has already approved. If you plan to work in New Zealand for a company, this is almost always the visa you will be on. Here is how it is structured.

The three-check system

Every AEWV application flows through three checks, in order.

• Employer check. The employer must already hold INZ accreditation before they can hire any migrant worker on an AEWV.
• Job check. The specific role must be approved by INZ, including that the pay meets the required threshold, the conditions of the role are acceptable, and any advertising requirements have been met.
• Migrant check. The applicant must meet the skill, English, and health and character requirements for the visa.

All three have to pass for an AEWV to be granted. If the employer is not accredited, there is no point starting the process.

Types of employer accreditation

Employers choose a type of accreditation based on how they hire.

• Standard accreditation, for employers hiring a limited number of migrant workers.
• High-Volume accreditation, for employers hiring above the Standard cap.
• Triangular employer accreditation, for labour-hire businesses that place workers with another business while staying the employer named in the employment agreement.

Franchisees, and employers that place workers with another business, have extra requirements to meet.

See the INZ employer accreditation page for full details.

What the migrant has to meet

Once the employer and job checks are done, the focus moves to you.

• Skill level of the role. The role's occupation code and skill level decide several of the conditions below, such as whether you need to show English and how long you can stay.
• English language ability, which INZ asks for only when the job is at skill level 3, 4 or 5.
• Health and character requirements, the same framework INZ applies to most work visas.
• Pay of at least the market rate for the job (what a New Zealander doing the same work would be paid), and never below the minimum wage. Check the current figures on the official AEWV pay rates page rather than relying on an out-of-date number.

Advertising requirement

Most Job Checks require the employer to advertise the role in New Zealand for a minimum period before it can be approved. There are exemptions, including for Green List roles and certain other categories where the labour-market test is not applied. The INZ Job Check page lists the current rules.

Visa duration and family

The maximum length of an AEWV depends on the role's skill level, how much it pays and when you first applied, and can stretch to several years. INZ updates these settings over time, so the current duration rules are on the INZ AEWV page.

You cannot include a partner or children in the AEWV itself, but depending on your job and how much you earn, you may be able to support a visa for them: a visitor or work visa for a partner, and a visitor or student visa for a dependent child. A child on a student visa may be treated as a domestic student, which means no tuition fees at school.

Pathways to residence

The AEWV is a temporary visa, but it is often the first step on a residence pathway.

• Green List Tier 2 (Work to Residence). Some occupations qualify for residence after the required period of AEWV employment in the role. See New Zealand's Green List, explained.
• Skilled Migrant Category. AEWV time counts as skilled New Zealand work experience toward SMC points. See New Zealand's Skilled Migrant Category, explained, or estimate your score with our SMC calculator.
• Skilled Work Experience pathway. Since 24 August 2026, a way to get the same Skilled Migrant Category resident visa through work experience instead of points. INZ asks for at least five years of work experience related to your job, two of those years in New Zealand. See New Zealand's Skilled Work Experience pathway explained.
• Trades and Technician pathway. Also since 24 August 2026, a way to the same visa without points, for a job on INZ's list of eligible trades and technician occupations. It asks for a relevant qualification and at least four years of work experience gained after it, 18 months of it in New Zealand. See New Zealand's Trades and Technician pathway, explained.

On each Skilled Migrant Category route above, New Zealand work counts only if it was related to your job and paid at the required amount, so the pay and skill level of your AEWV job matter for residence as well as for the visa itself.

Other residence categories exist, including partnership-based visas, but they are outside the scope of this post.

What this means for your report

HowToMoveTo's report assesses the Accredited Employer Work Visa as a New Zealand pathway. It reads the job you gave in the questionnaire, the occupation code it resolves to and the skill level attached to that code, and compares them with the visa's requirements: a full-time offer from an accredited employer with an approved Job Check, the skills requirement (two years of relevant work experience, or a qualification at level 4 or above on the New Zealand framework; the report does not check the Green List alternative and tells you to look at the Green List yourself), English where your skill level requires it, and health and character.

It does not check your pay: the employer has to pay at least the market rate for the job, so the report asks you to check that in your job offer. What is still open comes back as checklist steps: the offer from an accredited employer, occupational registration where your occupation needs it, the medical examination and chest X-ray, and the police certificates from every country you have lived in. This is also where one questionnaire earns its keep, because the same answers are compared with the residence routes the AEWV leads to, not only with the work visa itself.

The report does not check whether a particular employer holds accreditation, and it does not run the Job Check: that is the employer's application, not yours. It does not tell you that you qualify either. INZ decides, and the New Zealand hub lists what the report covers.

Where to go next

If you want to know whether the AEWV route is likely to work for you, start with the role: pin down your occupation code and skill level, then check whether any Green List or SMC route applies. If residence through the Skilled Migrant Category is where you are heading, our free SMC calculator shows where your points sit today.

Then the questionnaire puts the AEWV beside the other New Zealand routes using one set of answers. The questionnaire is free, the eligibility summary at the end of it is free, and payment unlocks the full report.