Allocation priorities for Accredited Employer Work visa (AEWV) – INZ Announcement on 25 October 2024

Immigration New Zealand has announced that processing AEWV applications in an efficient and timely manner continues to be a top priority.

INZ are committed to improving visa processing times, as they are aware on the importance of this is to all the customers.

They have been working to improve AEWV processing times, but have mentioned that there is more work to be done. INZ want make sure that they are doing everything they can to be as efficient as possible in their approach to the AEWV.

The current focus is how they can use their people and processes to make efficiencies in the system.

That is why INZ have made some deliberate changes to group applications. They allocate these to a specific team to assess them at the same time – such as where there are large groups of applications from the same sector or location, or the applicants are in similar situations.

Applications that include the required evidence and documentation will be prioritised.

This means more applications across the AEWV process can continue to be assessed, and enables INZ to make more visa decisions.

Allocation priorities for the week 28 October 2024

Applications for the following groups are being allocated to dedicated teams for efficient processing. The groups will be reviewed on a weekly basis.

All other applications will continue to be allocated to teams for processing in date order from oldest to newest.

Employer Accreditation

  • Employer accreditation applications where the employer’s interim accreditation is expiring within 6 weeks.

Job Check

  • Job check applications for Green list and ANZSCO skill level 1 roles.
  • Job check applications for ANZSCO skill level 2 hospitality roles.
  • Job check applications where employer accreditation has expired or is due to expire before 30 November.
    • Job check applications where employer accreditation has expired will be given 5 days to submit an application to renew their accreditation. If a renewal application is not received, any job check applications in progress may be declined.

Accredited Employer Work Visa

  • Work visa applications where the employer accreditation has expired, or is due to expire before the end of November.
    • For any work visa applications where employer accreditation has expired, employers will be given 5 days to submit an application to renew their accreditation. If a renewal application is not received, any work visa applications in progress will be assessed and may be declined.
  • Applications for visa holders in New Zealand who currently hold an interim visa with no work rights and are moving off a visa where they had open work rights.
  • Applications to extend a work visa up to the maximum period allowed for Green list roles.
  • Work visa applications for Green list roles.

Even if your application is allocated first it does not necessarily mean it will be decided in that order. The quality and completeness of any application has a direct impact on how long it takes for the application to be decided.

You can check the visa requirements for the AEWV on the AEWV visa information page.

Accredited Employer Work Visa

INZ Employer section has information about the requirements to gain accreditation for the AEWV and requirements for Job Checks.

Accreditation for the AEWV

You will need valid accreditation if you want to employ new workers on an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV), support an AEWV holder to apply to extend the length of their AEWV up to the maximum period allowed or support a migrant worker to apply for a different visa that requires you to be accredited, such as a Work to Residence or Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa.

INZ also have provided information on the latest wait times for AEWVs and other AEWV statistics here:

Work visa and employer accreditation wait times

Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) key information and statistics

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