Accredited Employer Work Visa
Hawke’s Bay
Visas for Hawke’s Bay horticultural workers
If you are employing migrant horticultural worker in the Hawke’s Bay to work in the orchards, pack houses, market gardens and vineyards in Napier, Havelock, Hastings, and Te Awanga, you’re not alone. Hawke’s Bay will require 1,140 more permanent workers and 3,570 seasonal workers by 2030.
IDESI LEGAL can assist you. The team of immigration lawyers at IDESI LEGAL has the training and experience to help with all types of New Zealand residency visa applications. Call us on 09 283 0157.
Accredited Employer Work Visa – Job Check
The new ‘Accredited Employer Work Visa’ came into effect in July 2022. How could this affect you as an employer?
- The six work visa categories NZ had are gone – there is now one.
- All employers wanting to employ migrant workers must be accredited, by law.
- There is more compliance for employers. Applying to employ migrants is a three-step process.
How does that affect you as an employer in horticulture?
Under the new visa, migrant workers must be paid at or above the minimum salary threshold (or an equivalent hourly rate) in order to be eligible for a three-year visa. Migrants starting with their employer after July 3rd must be paid $27.76 per hour in order to be approved for an accredited employer work visa or AEWV.
To hire a migrant worker on an AEWV – even if it is only one – an employer must be accredited by the New Zealand government and the job will need to be checked to confirm it pays the market rate and complies with current New Zealand employment laws.
Employers need to be aware of the ‘job check’ component
With the Essential Skills Work Visa (that no longer exists), the employer had to advertise any role in which they wanted to migrant workers, unless the role was long term and on a regional skills shortage list.
With the new job check, this has changed. Firstly, if the role is paid twice the median wage, then the role will not have to be advertised.
When roles are advertised however, they will need to meet conditions, including advertising for a minimum of two weeks in a recognised national employment website. The wording of the advertisement must also not deter New Zealanders. The job also needs to be registered and a fee of $610 must be paid by the employer.
It is important to get it right when advertising for these new roles. Please contact IDESI LEGAL if you need assistance. Our immigration team can manage all the details through the entire process. We can connect with you online and work with you using video calls.
We can connect right across the Hawke’s Bay
Even if we can’t meet face to face, we can still connect and help. IDESI LEGAL uses Microsoft Teams, so we can help you wherever you are in the Hawke’s Bay. We’ll send you a link, you click on it, and we’ll do the rest.
If you’re based in Napier or Hastings, you could also call us on 09 283 0157. We specialise in New Zealand immigration law and have the staff, experience and expertise to help you with all aspects of the new accredited employer work visa or AEWV.