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For employers

Hiring someone who needs a visa

Three approvals have to happen in order before your candidate can even apply, and the first two are entirely yours. Getting the order wrong is what costs employers the most.

The short answer

What does a New Zealand employer have to do to hire someone from overseas?

A New Zealand employer has to complete two approvals before the worker can apply for anything. The business must be accredited by Immigration New Zealand, and the specific role must then pass a job check, which for most roles requires having advertised and been unable to find a suitable New Zealander. Only then does the worker apply.

  • Making a firm offer before the job check is approved is the most damaging thing an employer can do, because the candidate resigns and the harm lands on them.
  • Immigration New Zealand publishes wage rates that must be met, and they are reviewed. A role priced below the current rate cannot proceed.
  • Where you advertised, for how long, what the listing said and why applicants were unsuitable all have to be evidenced later, sometimes under audit.
  • Accreditation carries continuing obligations around employment standards, record keeping and settlement support, and losing it affects every migrant already on your payroll.
  • Charging a worker a premium for employment is unlawful, including indirectly through deductions or repayment agreements.

You are the first two approvals, not the sponsor

Employers often describe this as sponsoring someone. That framing hides the part that matters: two of the three approvals are about you, and they happen before the worker does anything at all.

Immigration New Zealand assesses your business at accreditation, then assesses the specific role at the job check, and only then does your candidate apply. If either of the first two fails, nothing your candidate does will rescue it.

This is why the single most damaging thing an employer can do is make a firm offer before the job check is approved. The candidate resigns, the check fails, and the harm lands entirely on them.

Pay is a threshold, not a negotiation

Immigration New Zealand publishes wage rates that have to be met for these visas, and they are reviewed. A role priced below the current rate cannot proceed, regardless of how experienced the candidate is or how the market values the job.

Budget from the current published rate, not the one you used for your last hire. This catches employers who did everything else correctly.

Records are the part that gets audited

Where you advertised, for how long, what the listing said, who applied and why they were not suitable: all of this has to be evidenced later, sometimes much later. Employers who lose accreditation frequently did the right things and cannot prove it.

Keep the advertisement, the applications and a note of the decisions on file from the beginning, rather than reconstructing them under audit.

Accreditation is a status you maintain

It carries continuing obligations around employment standards, record keeping and settlement support, and it is monitored. Those obligations are worth reading before you apply rather than after, because losing accreditation affects every migrant already working for you, not just your next hire.

The sequence

Four stages, and they do not overlap

Each one has to complete before the next begins. Plan your start date from the total, not from the last stage.

  1. Employer accreditation

    Your business is assessed, not the role. You have to show you are a viable, compliant employer with acceptable employment practices. This is the approval that takes the longest to put right if it is refused.

    How to apply for accreditation

  2. Job check

    Each role is checked separately. Pay has to meet the published rate, the employment agreement has to comply, and for most roles you have to have advertised and been unable to find a suitable New Zealander.

    Advertising before your job check

  3. The worker applies

    Only now can the person you want to hire apply. Their approval depends on their own skills, English and health and character, none of which you control.

    The visa the worker applies for

  4. Ongoing obligations

    Accreditation carries continuing duties around employment standards, record keeping and settlement support. These are audited, and losing accreditation affects every migrant already working for you.

    Your obligations as an accredited employer

Detail

The parts worth reading in full

What goes wrong

Five mistakes employers make

Four of these are timing or record keeping. The fifth is unlawful.

  • Making an offer before the job check is approved. The candidate resigns, the check fails, and you have caused someone real harm with no way to fix it.

  • Budgeting on last year's wage rate. Rates are reviewed and a role priced below the current rate cannot proceed, however senior the person is.

  • Advertising that does not meet the requirement. Where you advertised, for how long, and what the listing said are all assessed, and you have to be able to produce the evidence later.

  • Treating accreditation as a one-off. The obligations continue, they are audited, and losing accreditation affects every migrant already on your payroll.

  • Recovering costs from the worker. Charging a worker a premium for employment is unlawful, and recruitment costs that get passed on are a common way businesses fall into it without intending to.

Questions

Common questions

How long does employer accreditation take?

Immigration New Zealand publishes processing times and they move, so the current figure is on their processing times page rather than here. What is more useful to plan around is the sequence: accreditation, then the job check, then the worker's own application. Three approvals in series, and the total is what determines your start date.

Can I hire someone who is already in New Zealand on another visa?

Often yes, and it usually still requires the same approvals unless the person holds an open work visa. Someone on a visa tied to a different employer generally cannot simply start with you, and starting before the new visa is granted puts their status at risk as well as your compliance record.

Do I have to advertise the role first?

For most roles, yes, and the requirement is specific about where you advertise and for how long. Some roles are exempt, including certain Green List occupations and roles paid above a set threshold. Check the current position before you decide you are exempt.

What happens if we make someone redundant?

Their visa is generally tied to your business, so redundancy has immigration consequences for them beyond the employment ones. There are obligations on you as an accredited employer as well. Both sides benefit from advice early rather than after the notice period has run.

Can we ask the worker to pay the recruitment costs?

No. Charging a worker a premium for employment is unlawful in New Zealand, and it is treated seriously. This includes indirect arrangements such as deductions or repayment agreements, so it is worth checking any recruitment arrangement against the rule rather than assuming.

Where this comes from

Immigration New Zealand publishes the rules and can change them without notice. These are the pages this one is based on. If something here and something there disagree, Immigration New Zealand is right.

Licensed advice

Working through accreditation or a job check?

A licensed adviser can look at your business, your roles and your records and tell you where the problems are before Immigration New Zealand does.

In New Zealand it is a criminal offence to give immigration advice without a licence or an exemption. ProVisas holds IAA licence 201301110.

Talk to a licensed adviser +64 22 112 1112