Check if you can apply for AEWV employer accreditation and what type

Who can apply for AEWV employer accreditation

To apply for employer accreditation:

• your business must be viable and genuinely operating
• your business must meet our financial requirements
• you must not be bankrupt or subject to a No Asset Procedure
• the business entity that has a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) must have the accreditation.

No Asset Procedures — New Zealand Insolvency and Trustee Service

About the NZBN | New Zealand Business Number

You cannot become an accredited employer if you or any key people in your organisation are:

• on the Employer stand-down list
• on the Immigration stand-down list
• permanently banned from hiring migrants.

Meeting your AEWV accredited employer requirements

Employers on stand-down — Employment New Zealand

Immigration stand-down list

There are extra requirements if your business is placing AEWV workers with a controlling third party, or you are a trust, partnership or sole trader.

Financial requirements

Accredited employers must have a viable and genuine business.

To show it is viable and genuinely operating, the business needs to meet 1 of these 4 requirements:

• it has not made a loss (before depreciation and tax) in the last 2 years
• it has had a positive cash flow for each month in the last 6 months
• it has sufficient capital or external investments to ensure it remains viable and ongoing (funding can come from a founder, parent company, trust or another source), or
• it has a credible business plan for at least the next 2 years, showing how you plan to remain viable and ongoing. For example, having contracts for work.

Check what evidence you need to provide to show your business is viable and genuinely operating.

Financial evidence for your AEWV employer accreditation application

Requirements if you have triangular employer accreditation

If you are placing AEWV workers with a controlling third party:

• you must have a history of placing staff in New Zealand for the past 12 months
• at least 15% of staff placed must be New Zealand citizens or residents and be guaranteed at least 30 hours of work each week.

If your accreditation is approved, you must meet this requirement during your accreditation period.

How we define controlling third parties and franchises

Requirements if you are a trust, partnership or sole trader

If you are a trust, partnership or sole trader applying for employer accreditation, then:

• New Zealand must be the primary place of established residence for at least 1 partner or trustee, or the sole trader
• the employer named on the employment agreement must be a key person, such as 1 or more of the trustees or partners, or the sole trader.

What type of employer accreditation you need

There are 3 types of employer accreditation. You can only apply for 1 type depending on your business and how many migrants you want to hire.

• Standard accreditation is for New Zealand businesses hiring up to 5 migrants.
• High-volume accreditation is for New Zealand businesses hiring 6 or more migrants.
• Triangular employer accreditation is for New Zealand businesses who place migrants with controlling third parties while being the direct employer named in the employment agreement. There is no limit to how many migrants you can hire.

You can change the type of accreditation later if you need to.

You can reapply for a different type of accreditation if your situation changes. You cannot upgrade your application while it is being assessed.