New Zealand Work Visa 2026: AEWV Rules, Cost and Timeline

New Zealand's main work visa is tied to the employer, not just the job. Only an employer that Immigration New Zealand has accredited, and whose vacancy has passed a job check, can hire you on it. This guide explains the Accredited Employer Work Visa, the AEWV, as Immigration New Zealand set it out on 13 October 2026.

The visa at a glance

The visa links you to the employer who offered you the job. To change employer, job or location you must apply to vary the conditions of your visa, apply for a job change, or apply for a new visa.

Who can apply

• A job offer from an accredited employer. It must be full time, at least 30 hours a week, current when you apply, from an employer with an approved job check for the role, and paid at least the rate required for the job.
• The minimum skill requirement. Either 2 years or more of relevant job experience, or a qualification at level 4 or higher on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework, in the same field as the job. A bachelor's degree or higher can be in any field.
• The skills your employer asked for, and occupational registration if the job requires it in New Zealand.
• English, if the job is skill level 3, 4 or 5.
• Good health and good character, and a genuine reason for coming.

Jobs the AEWV does not cover

The job offer cannot be for planting, maintaining, harvesting or packing crops in horticulture or viticulture, for foreign crew of fishing vessels, or for self-employed work. Those need a different work visa.

Proving your experience

Immigration New Zealand is strict about this evidence. It says a CV is not sufficient, and a reference letter on its own may not be either. Evidence must come from someone other than you.

• Certificates of employment on the employer's letterhead, showing the positions you held, the periods of employment and the employer's address and contact details.
• Pay slips or tax certificates to back them up.
• Evidence of the number of hours you worked.

The 2 years do not have to be consecutive or full time, but they must add up to 2 years of full-time equivalent work. If your qualification is below a bachelor's degree and from outside New Zealand, you also need an International Qualification Assessment.

When you do not need this evidence

• Your job is on the Green List of jobs in demand and you meet its requirements.
• You hold occupational registration that itself required experience or qualifications.
• You are paid at least NZD 67.12 an hour, twice the 2024 median wage.
• You already gave this evidence in a previous visa application.

How long you can stay

Skill levels run from 1, the most skilled, to 5, and come from the ANZSCO classification or the National Occupation List that is replacing it. If your visa is shorter than your maximum stay, you can apply for another AEWV to reach it. Once you have stayed as long as you are allowed, you must leave New Zealand, normally for 12 months in a row, before you can get another one.

The English requirement

If the job is skill level 3 to 5 you must show you can speak and understand English, through your citizenship, your studies and qualifications, or a test. Test results must meet the minimum score and be no more than 2 years old. Jobs at level 1 or 2 have no English requirement. One transitional exemption applies: if your job is skill level 3 and your AEWV expires on or before 1 December 2026.

Your employment agreement

You submit the employment agreement, job description and a signed job offer. The agreement must meet set requirements, or the application may be declined. It cannot contain:

• clauses that do not comply with employment law;
• unlawful deductions;
• a trial period;
• bonding clauses that make you repay money if you leave within a set time.

Two protections are worth knowing. Employers and agents in New Zealand cannot charge you fees for a job or make you pay their recruitment costs. And an application will be declined if Immigration New Zealand considers that you or your agent offered money to the employer in exchange for the job offer. It warns that job offer scams are common in India and South Asia.

Health and character checks

If you will stay more than 6 months, you need a chest X-ray if you are a citizen of a country that does not have a low incidence of tuberculosis, or have spent more than 3 months there in the last 5 years. You must upload a valid police certificate with the application.

How to apply, step by step

1. Check the employer is accredited on Immigration New Zealand's accredited employer list, and not on the stand-down list.
2. The employer gets an approved job check for the role and gives you the unique link that lets you apply.
3. Gather evidence of experience or qualifications, English if needed, and your police certificate.
4. Apply online with the employment agreement, job description and signed offer, and pay the fee.
5. Complete medical checks if asked.
6. Wait for a decision. Most are made within 5 weeks.
7. Apply separately for your family, if your pay and skill level allow you to support their visas.

Bringing your family

You cannot include a partner or dependent children in an AEWV. Depending on how much you earn and your job's skill level, you may be able to support a visitor or work visa for your partner, and visitor or student visas for your children.

Frequently asked questions

Sources (official only)

• Immigration New Zealand — Accredited Employer Work Visa

All figures verified against the Immigration New Zealand page above on 13 October 2026. Fees, wage thresholds and processing times change, so check the official page before you apply. Information, not legal advice.