Key takeaways from INZ’s latest Accredited Employer Work Visa announcement and my recommendations for NZ Employers

On Friday 7th May, Immigration New Zealand announced further information about its upcoming “Accredited Employer Work Visa” (AEWV), which replaces the Essential Skills Work Visa and other key employer assisted work visas. From 1st November 2021, all NZ employers wishing to support a migrant worker for an AEWV (including an existing migrant worker for a further visa) must be accredited with INZ.

If you don’t know anything about the new AEWV and accreditation regime, you can read a detailed introductory discussion about it here: https://www.jamesmcleod.co.nz/news/inz-announces-new-information-about-the-new-accredited-employer-work-visa-regime . Otherwise, here are my thoughts about the key aspects of INZ’s latest announcement and my recommendations to NZ employers.

Key takeaways

• Even if you hold an INZ employer accreditation under the current accreditation regime, you will still need to get re-accredited under the new AEWV regime. This is significant, as there was some speculation that those employers holding an existing accreditation might not need to re-apply. This announcement also means that in my view there’s no point in NZ employers who aren’t yet accredited lodging an application now under the current accreditation regime in an attempt to “avoid the queue” (especially given that INZ processing times for accreditation applications under the current regime are around 6 months!).

• The “high volume” (full) accreditation will apply to employers who are hiring 6 or more migrant workers under an AEWV “at any one time”. There was some ambiguity in INZ’s previous announcements as to whether or not it would only apply to 6 or more new migrant workers (e.g. on a per annum basis) but this latest announcement clarifies the issue.

• It turns out there will be a pathway to residence under the AEWV regime, which will be similar to the current Accredited Employer Work To Residence category. However, given that employees will need to be earning twice the median wage (currently $106,080 per annum) to be eligible (and this amount will of course increase as the median wage increases), this is unlikely to benefit the majority of employers and their migrant workers. INZ hasn’t clarified yet whether there will be a new kind of the Long Term Skills Shortage Work to Residence visa.

• INZ has reiterated that the new accreditation only applies where employers are supporting migrant workers for an AEWV and not to other types of ‘non-employer assisted’ work visas (e.g. partnership based work visas, working holiday visas, post study work visas).

• INZ will start taking applications under the new regime from September 2021, and have indicated the processing times will likely be the same as for the current accreditation system. This is ambitious in my view, as I expect there to be some degree of teething issues and backlogs, and in any event INZ’s processing times for employer accreditation applications have recently been approximately 6 months which is already arguably too long.

• The last date for lodging Essential Skills Work Visa applications with INZ will be 31 October 2021.                

My recommendations to NZ Employers

There is still a lot of uncertainty and unanswered questions as to how the new accreditation regime will work, particularly the transition phase, so we’ll need to wait until INZ releases its Operational Manual Instructions (which, incidentally, we also don’t know when will happen). However, here are a few things employers can do in the meantime to help get prepared.

Firstly, if you haven’t already, you should be getting a handle on how many migrant workers your business employs and who hold the types of visas that will be captured by the new AEWV, namely Essential Skills Work Visa (including AIP), Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa, Long Term Skill Shortage List Work Visa Silver Fern Job Search Visa (closed 7 October 2019) and Silver Fern Practical Experience Visa. If you’re employing 6 or more staff who hold any of these visa types or you are projected to, you should be preparing for a high volume accreditation application.

Secondly, if you think you might require high volume accreditation, I would recommend developing a strategy and plan now for your application, which considers a number of factors including the earliest date by which you will likely require your accreditation and any interim steps that might be taken (e.g. seeking to obtain work visa extensions under the current regime and before the 31 October deadline to buy more time and avoid the potential backlog at INZ which could ensue once the changes take effect).

Thirdly, in terms of the high volume accreditation application itself, and if you expect to require this accreditation level, I would recommend starting the process of checking to ensure you have the necessary business systems, policies, procedures and processes in place to meet the current INZ accreditation regime (and, critically, that you also have the necessary documentation to demonstrate this), with a view to being prepared as far as possible for when INZ releases its Instructions for the new AEWV and commences receiving applications in September 2021. Specifically, you need to be confident your business will be able to demonstrate the following (as per current INZ Employer Accreditation Instructions):

1. is in a sound financial position;

2. has human resource policies and processes which are of a high standard;

3. has a demonstrable commitment to training and employing New Zealand citizens or residence class visa holders; and

4. has good workplace practices, including a history of compliance with all immigration and employment laws such as the Immigration Act 2009, the Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, the Minimum Wage Act, the Health and Safety in Employment Act, the Employment Relations Act and the Holidays Act.

Feel free to get in touch if you require help with getting your business ready for the new AEWV regime, including advice on strategy and planning, as well as the likely documentation requirements. You can reach me on +64 22 645 9875 or at james@jamesmcleod.co.nz.