New Zealand’s working visa change welcomed by tourism industry

Changes to New Zealand’s Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) system have been welcomed by Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA).

The changes, announced yesterday by New Zealand Minister of Immigration and Minister of Education Erica Stanford, will see the removal of the median wage requirement, which had been causing distortions in how much people are paid with, in some cases, overseas workers being paid more than New Zealand for the same jobs.

Other changes, set to be introduced in four stages over the course of 2025, beginning in January, include reducing experience requirements to two years and introducing new seasonal visa pathways to support employers to fill skill gaps.

Announcing the changes, Minister Stanford stated “a responsive immigration system is fundamental to rebuilding the economy

“Earlier in the year, we made initial changes to the AEWV to get unsustainable net migration under control and reduce migrant exploitation. Since then, Immigration NZ has also made operational changes and focused on upskilling of immigration officers to mitigate risk, significantly increase productivity, and speed up AEWV processing.”

Praising the changes, TIA Chief Executive, Rebecca Ingram stated “this is excellent news for the industry. Fixing parts of the AEWV scheme is something we have advocated hard for, and it’s positive to see the government being responsive to tourism business needs.”

Commenting on the removal of the median wage requirement, Ingram noted “this change enables a more level playing field for businesses and employees in how they package up employee remuneration and benefits, and how they recognise individuals.

“It’s also positive to see changes to the seasonal pathways - this will make it easier to get skilled staff and better recognises their seasonal experience from the international talent pool, for example, those in the ski sector.”

Other changes coming into effect from March 2025 include:

• Reducing the minimum experience requirement for lower skilled migrants to two years.

• Increasing the visa duration for new applicants in Level 4-5 roles from two to three years to align with the maximum continuous stay.

• Extending interim work rights to AEWV applicants who are applying from any work visa type or from a student visa that allows them to work during term time. This will support migrants to maintain employment while their visa is processed.

• Reduce the domestic workforce threshold for labour hire employers of certain construction roles from 35 to 15%.

• Amending the labour market test to a declaration-based model. Employers will need to advertise with MSD and be able to demonstrate they considered New Zealanders who applied for any role in good faith.

• Inflation adjusting the income threshold for an AEWV holder to support a dependent child from $43,322 to $55,844.

• Reducing the domestic workforce threshold for labour hire employers of certain construction roles from 35 to 15% will come into effect from January 2025.

Click here for more information about the changes.