Work visa applications are very complex, require careful handling and must meet a high threshold of proof that there are no New Zealand residents or citizens available to fill the positions.
In most cases, the candidate will need a job offer before applying for a work visa , though some migrants already hold an ‘open’ work visa or working holiday visa to work for any employer.
ESSENTIAL SKILLS WORK VISAS
The Essential Skills in Demand Lists are Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ’s) three occupational skill shortage lists. If you offer a job to someone in an occupation on one of the lists and the candidate has qualifications and experience as specified on the list, it is normally easier to obtain an Essential Skills work visa. You can check whether or not an occupation is on one of the skills shortage lists here.
If you have a temporary or short term vacancy in an occupation not listed on the Essential Skills in Demand Lists you may still be able to recruit a worker from overseas. You’ll need to show you have made genuine attempts to recruit New Zealand residents or citizens.
ESSENTIAL SKILLS – APPROVAL IN PRINCIPLE
You could apply to Immigration New Zealand for Approval in Principle to recruit workers from overseas. If your application is approved, you’ll have assurance that you can recruit appropriately qualified and experienced people from overseas.
SPECIFIC PURPOSE OR EVENT – WORK VISA
If you need to employ someone temporarily for a specific purpose or event, they can apply for a work visa. The people who qualify for this visa have skills and expertise that will benefit New Zealand, such as specialist machinery installers, sports referees, or people involved in film production.
ARE YOU AN EMPLOYER IN THE HORTICULTURE OR VITICULTURE INDUSTRIES? DO YOU NEED TO EMPLOY SEASONAL WORKERS?
If you need seasonal workers to plant, maintain, harvest and pack crops in the horticulture and viticulture industries, you might like to consider becoming a Recognised Seasonal Employer.
DO YOU WISH TO ENGAGE FOREIGN FISHING CREW?
To engage foreign fishing crew you must request an approval in principle from Immigration New Zealand.
HOW ABOUT PEOPLE WITH ‘OPEN’ WORK VISAS TO WORK FOR ANY EMPLOYER?
Working Holiday Schemes
You can temporarily employ young people from overseas who are travelling around New Zealand on Working Holiday visas. They can work for any employer.
International Students
Many international students studying full-time in New Zealand are able to work for any employer for up to 20 hours per week in term time.
Silver Fern Visas
There are two types of Silver Fern Visa. The Silver Fern Job Search visa is a nine month open work visa, designed to bring skilled young people to New Zealand. Once these candidates have obtained skilled employment, they can apply for the two year Silver Fern Practical Experience visa. After that, it is likely they will be eligible to apply for a Skilled Migrant Category resident visa.
Work Visas for People Joining their Partner in New Zealand
If your prospective employee is the partner of a New Zealand citizen or resident, or the partner of a work visa holder, they could have an open work visa and be able to work for any employer.
To find out more on visa options for employing migrants please visit Immigration New Zealand
At Heartland Immigration we understand how difficult it can be to find and retain good employees. We appreciate the challenges that employers face in managing the ever-increasing perplexities of the immigration process and global movement.
With our immigration expertise and industry and labour market knowledge, we achieve a win-win outcome for the employer and the migrant worker by offering a full range of services.
Plan
We assist you in building your immigration strategy around your recruitment needs in line with immigration rules and global competitiveness.
Employer Accreditation application
We help you obtain and retain New Zealand employer accreditation, necessary to employ and support migrants to obtain New Zealand residence, work visas or vary the conditions of an existing visa.
Job Check
We assist employers in gaining the specific approval, in the form of job vouchers, required to recruit or retain migrant staff for individual roles within your New Zealand business. By helping you with the necessary employment documentation, including HR practices along with the advertising and selection process.
Labour Agreement
We help you gain approval to recruit roles for migrant workers to fill in Australia.
Sponsorships
We help Australian employers obtain Accredited sponsor, Standard business sponsor or Temporary Activity sponsor status thus allowing them to employ migration workers and to support migrant workers gain Australian visas.
Process visa applications for employees
We assist your employees to gain the necessary work visas, vary the conditions of existing visas and obtain residence. A complete and personalized service for those employees that you just don’t want to lose.
Right advice, first time, every time.
There are many different types of visas and choosing the right one can be confusing. Here, we present a brief overview of the most common visa types.
RESIDENT VISAS
Skilled Migrant
Applying under the Skilled Migrant category has always been the most popular visa class for obtaining residence in New Zealand. All principle applicants for this visa class must be under 56 years of age and are required to meet a minimum standard of health, character and English language prerequisites before an Expression of Interest can be lodged with Immigration New Zealand. The Skilled Migrant visa is for those with skilled employment in New Zealand and/or who have recognised qualifications and experience that will benefit New Zealand.
Family
If you have family member who is already a New Zealand citizen or residence you may be eligible to remain in New Zealand permanently. The family class is divided partnership, parent and dependent child category of residence.
The Partnership category is for those living together in a exclusive, genuine and stable relationship. You do not have to be legally married and you maybe in a same-sex relationship.
The Parent category is for those with an adult New Zealand citizen or residence and income and sponsorship criteria applies. Application are submitted by submitting an Expression of Interest and then being invited to apply for residence.
The Dependent Child category is for children (in some circumstance up to 24 years of age) of New Zealand citizens and parents.
Investor and Business Categories
For those with a proven record of running a business, have capital and are wanting to actively engage in running and business opportunities in New Zealand.
TEMPORARY VISAS
Work visa:
The most common type of work visa is the Essential Skills work visa. If you have a job offer from a New Zealand employer, then this is probably the visa for you. The employer will need to show that there are no New Zealand citizens or residents available to fill the vacancy. They can do this by showing that the occupation is on one of the Essential Skills in Demand Lists http://skillshortages.immigration.govt.nz/ or by providing evidence of advertising for the vacancy.
You will also need to meet health and character requirements as well as be able to demonstrate that you are appropriately qualified by training or experience to take up the position.
Important note: New Zealand employers can sometimes be reluctant to sponsor offshore candidates unless there are specific skills shortages and the candidate is generally unable to start for 4-6 weeks so careful planning is required.
Working Holiday Visa:
Younger citizens, generally between 18 years and 35 years, of certain countries may be eligible for a Working Holiday Visa. These visa, and schemes can differ, allows you to work and travel for one year with Canadian and United Kingdom passport holders able to stay longer. You must not undertake permanent employment and some schemes have a restricted on the length of employment for any one employer
Student Visa:
If you are enrolled into a qualifying course at a New Zealand tertiary institution, you can apply for a student visa. Some student visas also allow you to work up to 20 hours per week.
Temporary Retirement Category:
This is an extension visa designed for people who wish to stay in New Zealand longer than the 12 months of a visitor’s visa. Applicants will be issued with a 2 year multiple entry visitor’s visa which allows for travel in & out of New Zealand. It is only a temporary visa. At the end of the 2 years, applicants must leave New Zealand or re-apply for a further visa under this category, subject to meeting the requirement of this visa.
Applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Be aged 66 or over;
- Nominate funds/assets of at least NZ$0.75 million and undertake to invest that money in New Zealand for a period of two years;
- Be able to show that they own the (legally earned or acquired) funds/assets;
- Be able to transfer & invest the said funds in an acceptable investment in New Zealand;
- Be able to nominate funds of NZ$0.5 million of maintenance funds and demonstrate ownership of these funds;
- Have an annual income of at least NZ$60,000.
In this category, the applicant may include his/her partner but dependent children cannot be included. Both the principal applicant and partner must also meet the health and character requirements and hold and maintain comprehensive travel and or health insurance for the two year duration. Should you be successful in your application, you will need to transfer and invest your funds in New Zealand within 3 months of your approval in principle. If you fail to do so your application will be declined.
Visitor Visa
If you wish to visit New Zealand for a short time for tourism or visiting family, then you may need to apply for a visitor visa. Nationals of some countries are not required to apply for a visitor visa before travelling to New Zealand. Others must obtain visitor visa before travelling to New Zealand. Generally, visitors may stay for a maximum of nine months in New Zealand, although this can be extended in certain circumstances.
Australian citizens and people who hold a current Australian permanent residence visa or a current Australian resident return visa do not need a New Zealand visitor visa to enter New Zealand.
Develop a visa vision
Based on your dreams and assessed against either New Zealand or Australian immigration policies. We tailor bespoke visa plans for you and your family. We suggest alternatives and consider short-term and long-term goals.
Lodge successful visa and variation of conditions applications
We know how, when and where to make applications that are likely to succeed. Through correctly interpreting policy, preparing the forms, collating the right documentation and dealing with Immigration New Zealand.
Manage visa challenges
Whether you have received a potentially prejudicial challenge, have a particular complication, have been previously declined or have simply lost your way, we know the answers and have solutions.
Create employer-specific solutions
We work with employers to gain Employer Accredited, Job Check tokens, Sponsorship approvals and Labour Agreements. Right advice, first time, every time.
Finally, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) have announced a timeframe and a high level overview of the disruptive changes to employer supported work visa applications.
Promoted as easier and employer lead, the devil will be in the detail and the ability of INZ to deliver quality decisions in a timely manner for this is a three-stage process.
What is new on 1 November 2021?
– Employers of Employer Assisted Work Visa holders will need to be accredited under the new Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) system when new employees apply for a first-time work visa or existing employees apply for another work visa.
– Accreditation criteria will differ: Standard employers with up to five migrant workers, High for those employing over five migrant workers, and a further category, Franchise and triangular employment arrangements.
– The AEWV system involves three separate applications, each with a unique criteria, referred to as the employer check, job check and migrant worker check.
What ceases on 30 June 2021
– Accredited Employer (Talent – Accredited Employer)
– Labour Hire Accreditation (Essential Skills)
– Approval in Principle (Essential Skills)
What ceases on 31 October 2021– Essential Skills Work Visa applications
– Approved in Principle Work Visa applications
– Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa applications
– Long Term Skill Shortage List Work Visa
– Silver Fern Practical Experience Visa applications
What does this mean for you as a migrant worker in New Zealand?
New visa rules apply to you when you apply for your next visa after 1 November 2021. After that time, your employer will need to have AEWV accreditation (employer check) and have gained approval to fill the role with a migrant worker (job check) before you apply for a work visa (migrant worker check).
What does this mean for you as an employer of migrant workers?
Employers of migrant workers will need to obtain AEWV accreditation (employer check) and obtain approval to fill roles with migrant workers (job check) when new employees apply for a first time work visa or existing employees apply for another work visa after 1 November 2021.
For more information as it comes to hand please register for news by filling in the form below.
Disclaimer: Mary Noonan is Heartland Immigration Ltd Managing Director her views expressed in this article are not intended to replace the professional service provided to individual migrants by a Licensed or Registered Immigration Adviser or Migration Agent.
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South Island Field Days
At Heartland Immigration we like to say that we are “on visa” while our farmers are “on farm”, however before Easter, at the Kirwee South Island Field Days we managed both. Meeting new people, greeting established clients while surrounded by folk passionate about agriculture, grass under our feet and canvas overhead. Wonderful exhibitions, fabulous equipment and innovation aplenty. I particularly liked the small helicopter for precision spraying.
Employers, with existing or who plan to employ employer assisted work visas holders, were eager to get to know about the new requirement for all employers to hold INZ Accreditation. By early May we hope to be able to share the implementation timeframe and are eagerly awaiting this from Immigration New Zealand (INZ).
At Kirwee we also met folk in the dairy industry pleased that assistant dairy farm manager and dairy herd manager roles join dairy farm manager as “skilled” occupations for residence assessment purposes. If you or your staff member would like to arrange a Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) residence pathway, now is the time.
If we didn’t meet you out and about and you would like to receive updates on employer assisted work visas or assistance with SMC please phone 021 793 205 or email [email protected].
Unsure about automatic visa renewals
INZ has a new tool for migrants to check if they met the criteria for an automatic visa without the need to formally apply. It isn’t always clear about who is eligible but now you can check it here.
Immigration (COVID-19 Response) Amendment Bill
A new immigration bill is currently before parliament aimed at extending temporary powers to administer visas until 15 May 2023. This is an extension of Covid-19 emergency immigration legislation which was first introduced May 2020.
Departures exceed arrivals
Migrant departures exceeded migrant arrivals, year ending February 2021, which hasn’t occurred since the late 1970’s. This is understandable with such restricted borders with folk relocating back to their original home country during this current emergency while others are unable to enter NZ. This is disruptive not only for split families but also as it adversely affects our economy.
Much is publicised from various industries highlighting the strain many employers are experiencing because they are unable to recruit onshore skilled personnel and yet they are unable to recruit offshore. Yes, upskilling and redeploying are good tools and have their place in the toolbox however that doesn’t resolve the immediate need. Let us not forget we are a country of migrants with a small population.
The sooner more places are available in managed quarantine (MQ) for skilled folk the better.
Vaccination passports
A vaccination pass or passport is documentation proving that you have been vaccinated against Covid-19. It may be in the form of a hardcopy but more likely an electronic version will be used. I remember carrying a yellow cardboard booklet detailing my vaccination status when I first travelled. Air New Zealand is trailing digital “vaccine passports” on trans-tasman routes. This travel pass application from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has been designed to confirm the traveller’s pre-travel test results and vaccination. Moving forward the need to prove our health status will go hand in hand with our visa status when travelling internationally. Good luck Air New Zealand.
In the UK they intend to use a National Health Service phone app to verify the Covid-19 status of individuals travelling internationally.
Time will tell which system is to be used but you can be sure being vaccinated, having evidence of this and providing recent Covid-19 testing results will be the norm.
Keep safe and do follow the Covid-19 rules. To flourish, the world needs international borders to be fluid.
Disclaimer: Mary Noonan is Heartland Immigration Ltd Managing Director her views expressed in this article are not intended to replace the professional service provided to individual migrants by a Licensed or Registered Immigration Adviser or Migration Agent.
