New Zealand: Processing Time Updates for the Accredited Employer Work Visa and Specific Purpose Visas

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has started processing applications for the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) which involves three parts starting with the Employer Accreditation, followed by the Job Checks and lastly the Work Visa application. INZ announced that the Employer Accreditation application takes 10 business days to process, Job Checks take 2-21 business days to process and the Work Visa can take 12-25 business days to process. Furthermore, Fragomen has noticed delays with the processing of Specific Purpose visa applications, which currently takes around 45 calendar days, up from the usual 14-42 calendar days, due to heavy backlogs from the recommencement of visa processing after the pandemic.