Mandatory Employer Accreditation in NZ
Immigration New Zealand has introduced new rules under which an employer must be accredited to hire any migrant worker on the new Accredited Employer Work Visa.
Under the new rules, all employers have to obtain accreditation in order to secure the employment of a migrant worker on an employer-assisted work visa.
Don’t miss out on this article – discover why Immigration New Zealand’s new employer accreditation rules for the Accredited Employer Work Visa are essential.
This will be the first part of a three-stage process whereby Immigration New Zealand assess the employer, the labour market, and finally, the worker themselves. If an employer is not accredited, they will not be able to hire any migrants on employer-assisted work visas.
When do you need to get accreditation?
- Businesses employing migrants who hold a current talent or essential skill visa don’t need to become accredited until they want to hire someone on the new visa or until their employees’ visas run out. They must support them for the next one after 4 July 2022. You only need to become accredited before you need to submit the visa.
- You do not need accreditation if you only hire migrants on visas with open work rights, such as on student visas, partnership-based work visas, working holidays, and post-study work visas.
- Currently accredited employers will also have to apply again, as the requirements of accreditation under the new system and current are different; however, they may not have to start the process from scratch.
There are two significant types of employer accreditation levels – Standard and High Volume – every employer who needs to get accredited will apply under one of these two. Franchisees and labour hires will have additional requirements that will make the process more stringent.
During 2023, a new requirement will come into effect requiring employers to be accredited to employ any migrant (including open work visas, working holidaymakers, students etc.)
Accreditation Services
Every company is different. We pride ourselves on understanding your business, applying expert immigration advice and finding practical outcomes to enable you to hire migrants.
The employer accreditation process brings about a range of additional requirements for your business to meet, some of which will be standard practice while there might also be some more complex areas to address.
Small businesses in particular, who do not have the luxury of full-time Human Resources representatives will require some help with documentation requirements along the way.
Personalised Consultancy
We take care of the whole process for you to get company accreditation. From the outset, you will be assigned a dedicated licensed immigration adviser who will be your main point of contact throughout the process, right to the final approval.
You can engage in person, via video conference, phone, online, or email. Should they be unavailable for any reason, we have a number of other fully licensed advisers who are always happy to help.
Pathway
Upon capturing some initial information through our smart and secure online systems, your licensed adviser will review all the information and prepare instructions on exactly what will be required to obtain accreditation, specific to your business.
These instructions will outline all the information, documentation, and requirements to make your application successful.
Personalised Assessment
As you work through the process to provide the required information, your adviser will be available to answer any questions you may have. Once the information is available, your adviser will work through all the information and prepare your accreditation application.
There will likely be quite a few interactions during this stage, we are very thorough yet also very practical to ensure applications are only submitted to INZ that we believe will be approved.
If you are unable to provide some of the requested information, we can introduce you to our proven HR partner who can provide a range of excellent and cost-effective advice and documentation.
We will then liaise with all parties to ensure the documentation addresses the exact requirements for your accreditation.
Don’t wait. Contact us now for more information and get the right staff for the job.
International Full Fee Paying
These include both first-time offshore students and onshore returning students. Not every institute can provide offers of a place to international students.
Only those education providers who are signatories to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 can do so.
This visa usually allows the holder to study full-time with part-time work rights (full-time during holidays). The student visa granted is generally for the same length of time as the study paid for.
A person’s bona fide (genuine intentions) and funds are very closely assessed for these applications.
Immigration officers want to know why a particular course has been chosen, how this aligns with a person’s profile, and whether there is a genuine intent to study the course. Funds must be from a genuine source and available to the student.
Dependent Student Visas
Dependent children of certain kinds of work and student visa holders can apply for a student visa to allow them to go to school while their parents work or study in New Zealand.
These students are treated as domestic students and are not required to pay international tuition fees. However, it is critical that applicants are aware of the cut-off age for dependency on temporary visas.
Children aged 20 or over are not eligible to file for a visa based on their relationship with their parents but can file for a visa in their own right.
This age group will no longer be eligible for dependent student visas. To support a dependent student visa, a parent on an Essential Skills Work Visa must earn at least $43,322.76 pa before tax.
