How to Become an Accredited Employer in New Zealand: A Step-By-Step Guide

New Zealand encourages businesses to hire and train local workers before seeking migrant workers. However, if you are an employer who cannot find suitable New Zealanders for a role, you may apply to hire migrants on the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). To hire migrant workers on the AEWV, you need to become an accredited employer. In this blog post, we will guide you through the steps to becoming an accredited employer in New Zealand.

Understanding the Accreditation Process

Before applying for accreditation, it's important to understand the accreditation process. Accreditation shows that you are a viable business and you meet employment and immigration standards. To become an accredited employer, you will need to fill out an online application form on the Immigration New Zealand website. You will also need to pay an application fee and provide evidence that you are a viable and genuinely operating business.

Required Information for the Online Form

To complete the online application form, you will need the following information:

• Your organization’s New Zealand Business Number (NZBN)
• Your organization’s Business Industry Classification (BIC) Code
• Details of key people in your organization, including their full name, date of birth, and passport number
• Your organization’s IRD number

Evidence of a Viable and Genuinely Operating Business

To prove that your business is viable and genuinely operating, you may need to provide evidence of the following:

• Start-up capital or funding
• Cash-flow or revenue forecasts
• Contracts for work
• GST returns
• PAYE returns

Most employers will not need to provide evidence upfront, but evidence may be required to show that you meet the requirements once the application is submitted or at any time during your accreditation period.

Employer Declarations

As part of the online application form, you will need to make several declarations. These include:

• Confirming that you are a viable and genuinely operating business
• Confirming that you will provide support and training for AEWV holders
• Confirming that you will provide AEWV holders with local community and services and employee work-related settlement information within one month of the employee beginning their employment
• Confirming that you will provide AEWV holders with paid work time to complete online employee modules on the Employment NZ website within one month of the employee beginning their employment
• Confirming that staff in your organization who make recruitment decisions about AEWV holders will complete the employer modules on the Employment NZ website during your accreditation period

Compliance With Business, Employment, and Immigration Rules and Regulations

You will also need to answer questions about your organization's compliance with business, employment, and immigration rules and regulations. For example, you will need to disclose if your organization or any of its key people are currently on the employer stand-down list if any key people are currently banned from acting as a director of a business, or if your organization or any of its key people have ever been convicted or charged with an offense under the Immigration Act 2009.

What’s Next?

Once you have submitted your application, you should keep records to show that you have complied with your declarations during your accreditation period. Immigration New Zealand may request evidence of this later. If your application is successful, the job check is the next step for employers who want to hire migrants on the AEWV.

Job Check Process

Once your organization has been accredited as an employer, the next step is to perform a job check to determine whether a migrant worker is suitable for the job. The job check is a collaborative process between employers and Immigration New Zealand (INZ) designed to ensure that the job is genuine and that it meets immigration requirements.

Step 1: Check the Job Meets Immigration Requirements

The first step in the job check process is to confirm that the job meets immigration requirements. The requirements may vary depending on the visa type and the skill level of the job. For example, jobs for Accredited Employer Work Visas are generally considered to be high-skilled, while jobs for Essential Skills Work Visas can be low to high-skilled.

The job must meet the following requirements:

• Genuine and sustainable
• Remuneration is in line with New Zealand market rates
• Consistent with the job description
• Consistent with the employer's accreditation
• Consistent with New Zealand employment and immigration law.

Step 2: Provide Evidence to Support the Job Check

Employers must provide evidence to support the job check. This may include:

• The job description
• Evidence of the employer's accreditation
• Evidence of the remuneration package
• Evidence of the labor market test (if applicable)
• Evidence of the qualifications and experience required for the job.

Step 3: Inz Conducts a Review

INZ will review the evidence provided by the employer to ensure that the job meets immigration requirements. If further information is required, INZ may request additional evidence or information from the employer.

Step 4: Inz Makes a Decision

Once the job check has been completed, INZ will make a decision on whether to approve the job. If the job is approved, the migrant worker can apply for a work visa. If the job is not approved, the employer will be informed of the reasons for the decision.

Conclusion

Becoming an accredited employer is an important step for businesses looking to hire migrant workers in New Zealand. The accreditation process involves demonstrating that your organization is a viable business and meets employment and immigration standards. Once accredited, the job check process ensures that the job being offered to a migrant worker meets immigration requirements. By following these steps, employers can navigate the process of becoming accredited employers and hiring migrant workers in New Zealand.