Getting New Zealand work visa is now a challenge

After Australia enforced stricter visa rules for foreign students to address record-high migration, now New Zealand has announced that it was making immediate changes to its employment visa programme after a near-record migration last year which it said was “unsustainable”. Recently, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford announced revisions to the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV), the primary temporary work permit established in mid-2022 to address post-pandemic labour shortages.

The changes include introducing an English language requirement for migrants applying for low skilled level 4 and 5 roles, a minimum skills and work experience threshold for most Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) roles. Also, for roles that fall into the level 4 and 5, employers will need to engage with work and income before approval to bring in migrants will be granted. The New Zealand government also reduced the maximum continuous stay for most level 4 and 5 roles from five years to three years.

“The government is focused on attracting and retaining the highly skilled migrants such as secondary teachers, where there is a skill shortage. At the same time we need to ensure that New Zealanders are put to the front of the line for jobs where there are no skills shortages,” Stanford said in a statement as quoted by The Guardian. It also stated that last year, the annual net migration to New Zealand hit a near record high of more than 173,000 non-New Zealand citizens in the year to December.

“These steps improve the scheme’s integrity and will help to prevent migrant exploitation, following recommendations from the recent Bestwick review, which found serious issues with the AEWV processes,” Stanford added. She emphasized that implementing an English language requirement for migrants will enhance their ability to comprehend their rights and promptly address any concerns with their employer.

With agency inputs