AEWV extension process announced
For Accredited Employer Work Visa applications submitted from 27 November, the maximum duration of the approved visa increases from 3 to 5 years.
Accredited Employers may support existing employees on shorter AEWV to apply for their visa balance. AEWV holders' partners and dependent children may apply for an extension of their temporary visas, in line with the AEWV holder.
Key information
Do extensions cost anything?
The usual government application fees apply. New Zealand Shores offers preferential rates to our client employers and migrants wishing to use our services to prepare and submit these applications.
Do employers need a new job check?
Employers will not need a new job check if:
- you are paying the employee median wage (or at least the amount listed in their AEWV conditions, whichever is highest) or employ them as part of the care workforce sector agreement, and
- the employee holds an AEWV as of 26 November 2023, and
- their role or location does not change
How do you apply?
Employers will need to login to Immigration New Zealand's ADEPT platform and send the migrant (or their representative) a request to apply for the balance.
Balance applications will be processed when the current AEWV expiry date is within the next nine months. While there is no urgency to apply for the balance, there may be reasons why it is in the employee's best interest to apply early, such as expiry of medicals or police clearance certificates.
What if an AEWV visa expires before the extension is process?
On rare occasions, an employee's AEWV may expire before their balance application has been processed. An interim visa with work rights would in that case be issued to keep them lawfully in New Zealand while the balance application is being finalised.
