The Accreditation Process

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If you want to sponsor any migrant for a work visa, you must first apply to become an Accredited Employer. This does not apply to migrant workers who hold visas with open work rights such as student visas, partnership-based work visa, working holiday visas, or post-study work visas. 

There are 3 different levels of accreditation, depending on your business and how many migrants you want to hire. 

1. Standard Accreditation - up to 5 migrant workers

2. High Volume Accreditation - 6 or more migrant workers

3. Controlling third party.

The Immigration NZ application fee is dependant on the type of accreditation being applied for. 

Advertising

Before you can apply for a Job Check, you may need to advise the role to check that there are no New Zealand citizens or residents that are available to fill the role.  The role must be listed on a national website or channel where suitable New Zealanders are likely to view and apply for the role.

There are exceptions where you don't have to advise such as if the role is:

• paying twice the median wage or
• on the green list. 

Advertising must be for at least:

• 14 days if the ANZSCO code for the role is levels 1, 2, or 3
• 21 days if the ANZSCO code for the role is level 4 or 5. 

Engaging with Work & Income

If your role/job is ANZSCO level 4 or 5, you must also engage with Work & Income before you are able to apply for a job check. This engagement can be at the same time your advertising is being run. 

Work & Income will either list your job or decide they are unable to fill the role and you do not need to engage with them any further. 

Once the engagement is completed, Work and Income will send you a "Engagement Check" document that needs to be uploaded with the job check. This will state the dates of advertising and if they were able to provide any referrals or not. 

 Basic principles apply - if the role is either of the below, you will not need to advertise the role:

• on the Green List and you want the candidate to meet the list requirements and/or
• paying at least 2 times the median wage and for at least 40+ hours per week

A job check must be applied for within 90 days of the advertising closing 

Approved job checks are valid for 6 months from the date or approval or until you no longer hold Accreditation. 

You will pay a fee for each job check but a single job check can cover multiple roles that are under the same Occupations Code and are within the same region.

Upon the approval of a job check from Immigration New Zealand, job tokens will become available for each position available (i.e.if there is 5 approved positions, there will be 5 tokens). 

Prior to offering a job to an individual, the onus is on the employer to ensure that the proposed applicant is suitably qualified for the role and meets the minimum requirements as set out by Immigration New Zealand. 

Failure to meet any of the requirements of being an Accredited Employer, may see your Accredited revoked by Immigration New Zealand.