New Zealand: New Change of Conditions Process and Extension of Automatic Work Rights for Temporary Work Visa Holders’ Partners

December 15, 2022

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Country / Territory

At a Glance

  • Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) and Essential Skills Visa holders can now apply to change the conditions of their visa to reflect changes in employers, occupations or job locations under their current visa instead of applying for a new visa.

  • These changes will result in fewer administrative steps and a slightly faster processing time compared to the prior process of filing a new Work Visa application to change such conditions.

  • Additionally, the automatic work rights of dependent spouses or partners of temporary work visa holders has been extended until April 2023.

The situation

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) announced several changes, one that will ease the change of conditions process for Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) and Essential Skills Visa holders, and another that extends the policy that grants the automatic work rights of spouses and partners of temporary work visa holders until April 2023.

CHANGE DETAILS IMPACT
AEWV Variation of Conditions
    • AEWV holders can now update their information regarding their employer, role (including promotions with their current employer in some instances), or location of their role by applying for a Variation of Conditions application.
    • The new employer must be an Accredited Employer and have a Job Check application approved prior to the filing of the Variation of Conditions application.
    • The new Job Check must meet standard requirements (including labour market testing and market rate requirements).

    • AEWV holders are not subject to labour market testing if their role is on the Green List (and the applicant meets the requirements of the list), or if they earn at least double the median wage. The median wage will increase from NZD 27.76 per hour to NZD 29.66 per hour starting February 2023.
    • Eligible applicants holders benefit from being able to change employers, roles or job locations without re-applying for a new AEWV.
    • This means fewer administrative requirements and a slightly faster processing time (around one month), compared to a new AEWV application which can take up to 25 business days.
    • Employers seeking to hire AEWV holders must have the required Accreditations and must comply with the necessary Job Check requirements, if needed for the role.
Essential Skills Visa Variation of Conditions
    • Essential Skills Visa holders can now apply to change any role or location through a Variation of Conditions application (rather than applying for a new Essential Skills Visa). Previously, an Essential Skills visa holder was only able to change their role or location if their new job was on the Essential Skills in Demand list and the visa holder met the requirements.
    • Employers of applicants changing their job or location must complete labour market testing for the role and provide a letter of support confirming labour market testing was completed.
    • Essential Skills visa holders are not subject to labour market testing if their role is on the Essential Skills in Demand List (and the applicant meets the related requirements).
Extended automatic work rights for partners of migrant workers
    • INZ previously announced that spouses and partners of temporary work visa holders would be granted Visitor Visas from December 2022, where the primary applicant was not sponsored for a role on the Green List, or not have a salary of over double the median wage.
    • However, the New Zealand government has announced that this policy change has been deferred to April 2023 to provide greater certainty to migrant partners of their ability to work in New Zealand in high skilled roles. Further updates will be announced in early 2023.
    • Dependent spouses or partners of temporary work visa holders will continue to be automatically work authorized in New Zealand until April 2023.
    • Those seeking to work in New Zealand after that time must ensure that they obtain their own work authorization unless they qualify for the automatic dependent visa with full work rights.
  • Addressing skills shortages. The New Zealand government continues to implement relaxed immigration rules to address skills shortages in the country.
  • Improving the AEWV process. The New Zealand government continues to improve the AEWV process in an effort to refine details such as processing times, requirements and related applications, to make the program more attractive.

The New Zealand government will likely continue to improve the AEWV program, such as implementing less administratively burdensome procedures for cancellations or process requirements for high-volume employers. We will report on related developments.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].

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