New Zealand work visa from Pakistan: the AEWV, and how to spot fake job offers

The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) is New Zealand's main work visa. It is led by the employer: you cannot start it on your own. This guide explains how it works for an applicant in Pakistan, what you need, how it can lead to residence, and how to spot the fake job offers Immigration New Zealand warns about.

How the AEWV works

1. The employer is accredited by Immigration New Zealand (INZ). You can check the employer on INZ's list of accredited employers.
2. The employer passes a Job Check for your job: full time (30 hours a week or more), at the market rate, after advertising it to New Zealanders.
3. The employer sends you a job token: a link to the online form, with the job offer, the employment agreement and the job description. You accept it before you apply.
4. You apply online and pay NZD 1,540 by card. INZ decides 80% of applications within 5 weeks.

What you need

• Skills: 2 years of work relevant to the job, or a qualification at level 4 or higher. A bachelor's degree or higher can be in any field; a qualification below a bachelor's from outside New Zealand needs an NZQA assessment.
• Evidence of work: employment certificates on letterhead, payslips or tax certificates. A reference letter counts only with these, and a CV alone is not enough.
• English, for skill level 3 to 5 jobs: IELTS 4 overall (or TOEFL iBT 31, PTE Academic 29, B2 First 142, or OET D in all four skills), taken in person in the last 2 years. Skill level 1 and 2 jobs need no test. Your employer's Job Check gives the skill level.
• Police certificate: if your total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or more, a certificate under 6 months old, uploaded with your application. A receipt is not accepted.
• Health: a chest x-ray for a stay over 6 months, and a medical examination for over 12 months, with a panel physician in Islamabad, Lahore or Karachi.

How long, and your family

You can stay up to 5 years in a skill level 1 to 3 job, or 3 years at skill level 4 or 5. Your partner and children cannot be in your application, but at skill level 1 to 3 you can support a partner work visa if you are paid at least NZD 28 an hour; at skill level 4 or 5, family visas usually need pay of NZD 52.50 an hour or more.

From work visa to residence

The Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa needs 6 points and a skilled job with an accredited employer, paid at least NZD 35 an hour. From Pakistan, most people get there through an AEWV first:

• an overseas bachelor's gives 4 points, so you need 1.5 years of skilled work in New Zealand for the other 2;
• an overseas master's gives 5, so you need 1 year;
• an overseas doctorate, or pay of NZD 105 an hour or more, gives 6 points on its own.

See the New Zealand residence page to check your points.

How to spot a fake job offer

Treat these as warning signs, from INZ's own list:

• you are asked to pay for a job, or offered a visa in return for money;
• you are promised priority processing or residence;
• you are told to lie or leave things out of your application;
• you are told an adviser is compulsory, or asked to pay visa or medical fees into someone's bank account;
• the offer comes from an email address that does not end in immigration.govt.nz or mbie.govt.nz but claims to be from INZ.

INZ takes visa fees by card on its own website only. New Zealand employers may not charge you for a job or pass on their recruitment costs. If you want help, use a licensed immigration adviser, check that the employer is on the accredited list, and never hand over money for a job offer.

See the New Zealand work visa page for the documents and fees.