Christchurch, New Zealand
Mon - Fri: 9:00 - 18:00 / On call on Weekends

Employer accreditation

All employers who hire migrant workers will need to become accredited. Before this was only for larger employers who wished to provide a pathway to residence for employees, but this has now changed and the previous accreditation system is not longer valid for new applications. We provide professional services for accreditation applications, coordinating all submission requirements and applying on your behalf. We make sure you have all the documents that INZ need, and help to make a complex process a little smoother. We also continue to work with employers to make sure everything goes smoothly through hiring and visa processing.

The new accreditation system needs to be coordinated through all three stages otherwise problems will occur. To make it smoother for your migrant workers to come to NZ or renew their visas the employer stages must be set up to suit what your workers will need to meet for the visa. 

Our services to employers

We can help employers remain compliant and maintain capacity to fill roles with skilled migrant workers when you need it.

"Have us handle the application process for you so you can concentrate on running your business rather than battling with bureaucracy"

Accreditation can be a complex process and requires a high degree of proof that your business meets INZ's criteria. Your business may be profitable and have been established for some time, but evidence is very important. The quality, believability and reliability of the evidence you provide that your business meets the specific criteria for accreditation will affect not only the outcome of the application, but the speed in which it is processed.

Apart from your basic registration details, INZ will want to check:

  • Your financial position: you must prove that your profit and loss , cashflow, tax obligation and so on is good. You also need to prove that your business is sustainable and has a long term future. 
  • Your HR policies: you mst prove that you have solid HR practices, are compliant and proactive in meeting health and safety, employment law and other administartive requirements
  • Your efforts to hire New Zealanders: you must prove that you consistently make serious efforts to hire New Zealanders, but for various reasons you still have a shortage of workers that you need to fill. This part will also require evidnece of balance between Kiwi and migrant workers, working conditions, etc
  • Your workplace practices: You need to prove that your employment agreements are appropriate, that your business is generally compliant and has good workplace practices
  • Continuing compliance: You will need to prove consistent compliance with all NZ employement, tax and immigration law and policy.

As Licensed Immigration Advises we are able to do all the work needed on your accreditation application, including dealing wth INZ when they don't underdstand what is going on. We act on your behalf so you and your staff can concentrate on running your business rather than dealing with bureaucracy.  

We handle applications for both employers to become accredited with INZ and for employees to work legally in NZ for you. For application costs, please see our costs page or contact us for more information. Employer accreditation can quite complex and depending on the structure of your business it may take a lot of preparation to get the documents that INZ want to see, at some stage in the process. We manage all of this process for employers to make sure that we are able to put in the strongest application possible.

We offer a set fee for employer accreditation of $4000 + GST + INZ fees ($740 or $1220) which includes all work necessary to the application and job checks for the duration of the 12 month accreditation period.