Working in New Zealand from Zimbabwe: the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV)

The AEWV explained

New Zealand's standard route for hiring from overseas is the AEWV, short for Accredited Employer Work Visa. It lasts for a limited period, and nothing can be lodged until a job is secured.

Applications begin with the employer rather than with you. An accredited employer makes an offer and then emails the link to the online form; without that link no application is possible. The post has to run for at least 30 hours a week, at the market rate for the work, which cannot be lower than a statutory floor such as New Zealand's minimum wage.

Three kinds of work sit outside the AEWV: being self-employed, crewing a foreign fishing boat, and crop work in horticulture or viticulture (planting, maintaining, harvesting or packing).

Who is checked: business, position, applicant

Three separate approvals stand behind each visa, and they come in the same order every time.

1. The business. Immigration New Zealand has to accredit it first.
2. The position. The employer persuades INZ that wages and conditions meet the rules and, if required, that New Zealanders were offered the vacancy beforehand. Once approved, a job check stays valid for 6 months.
3. The person hired. That is you. The employer passes on an individual link, the "job token", and through it you submit evidence of skills, English, health and character.

Showing you have the skills

An offer from an accredited employer with an approved job check is the starting point. After that, any one of these three is enough to demonstrate your skills:

• two or more years of work experience that relates to the job (at least 2 years);
• a New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF) qualification at level 4 or higher; or
• a bachelor's degree or above, in any subject.

Overseas awards below bachelor's level, such as a ZIMSEC or HEXCO certificate, only count after an NZQA International Qualification Assessment (IQA). A few groups skip the skills test entirely: people in Green List roles, people whose work requires occupational registration (electrical or plumbing work, for example), and people earning NZD 67.12 an hour or more (as of October 2026, official page).

To see which roles are open now, go to sponsored jobs in New Zealand.

English evidence, and when it applies

It is the skill level of the post that matters here, and your nationality does not. No English evidence is asked for jobs at skill level 1 or 2 (on ANZSCO or the NOL). Posts at skill level 3, 4 or 5 do require it, with these lowest accepted results (as of October 2026, official page):

In-person testing is compulsory, and on the day you lodge the result has to be under 2 years old.

Health screening and police certificates

Health. Applicants staying more than 6 months who are citizens of, or have lately spent time in, a country with a higher TB rate must provide a chest X-ray for tuberculosis (TB). Any medical or X-ray report you submit has to be less than 3 months old at the moment INZ gets it.

Police. If you are 17 or older and expect to spend 24 months or more in New Zealand altogether, you supply a certificate from each country of citizenship plus one from each country where you lived for over 5 years after turning 17. Certificates older than 6 months are not accepted. A citizen of Zimbabwe provides the police clearance from the Criminal Record Office.

The application, step by step

1. Apply for a vacancy posted by an accredited employer.
2. Interview, usually on a video call to Zimbabwe, and take the offer if the terms suit you.
3. Give the employer time to obtain approvals: accreditation, followed by a job check for your position.
4. Receive your job token, the link that unlocks your application.
5. Attach your evidence: passport, qualifications or employment history, English results where the post demands them, police certificates, medicals, and certified translations if any are needed.
6. Pay the application fee online and submit.
7. Await the decision. When the visa is granted, resign, book your flight and begin the job.

Processing, fee, maximum stay and switching employers

• Processing. Within 5.5 weeks INZ decides 80% of AEWV applications (as of October 2026, official page). Counting begins on the day you lodge, so remember to add the employer's accreditation and job check, and your own time spent collecting papers.
• Cost. The fee starts at NZD 1,540 (as of October 2026, official page) and depends on your country; the official page works out yours.
• Maximum stay. The usual cap is 5 years in total. For jobs at ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5 it is normally 3 years, except where, for example, the post is on the Green List or pays NZD 52.50 an hour or more (AEWV time limits). Reaching the cap means 12 months outside New Zealand before another AEWV can be granted.
• Restrictions. Work is tied to one approved employer and one approved job, so a second job is not allowed. Study is permitted for up to 3 months in any 12 months.
• Switching jobs. A new employer, role or location calls for a variation of conditions or a Job Change; both need an accredited employer and a new job check. A Job Change leaves the end date of your visa unchanged (changing visa conditions).

Partners and children

Relatives are not covered by your AEWV and each needs a separate visa. Which visa is open to them is determined by what you earn per hour and by the job you hold (as of October 2026, official page):

• You earn NZD 52.50 an hour or more: your partner can apply for a work visa on the strength of your job, and each dependent child for a visa of their own.
• You earn NZD 28.00 an hour or more in a role at ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3: your partner can seek a Partner of a Worker Work Visa.
• You earn under NZD 28.00 an hour: a visitor visa is the only option for your partner.
• Children's visas (child visitor visa, or dependent child student visa) call for a yearly income of NZD 58,240 or more. Two partners who both hold an AEWV may count their incomes together.

There are exceptions, Green List jobs among them, so measure the official page against your own case.

Paths to residence

Holding an AEWV does not make you a resident, but it can be a stepping stone (as of October 2026, official page).

• The Green List. A Tier 1 job qualifies for the Straight to Residence Visa; with a Tier 2 job you become eligible for the Work to Residence Visa after 24 months of full-time work in the role in New Zealand (Green List pathway).
• The Skilled Migrant Category (SMC). This resident visa is for applicants aged 55 or under and has three pathways: points, skilled work experience, or trades and technicians (SMC Resident Visa).

The government reviews residence settings now and then. Confirm today's rules before you plan around them.

Checklist for applicants in Zimbabwe

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) measures every applicant against one set of rules. This is what they mean when you apply from Zimbabwe.

• Passport. It must still have 3 months or more left after your planned date of departure from New Zealand.
• Police clearance. Needed once you are 17 or older and plan 24 months or more in New Zealand in all. As a citizen of Zimbabwe you provide the police clearance from the Criminal Record Office; add one for every other citizenship you hold and for each country where you lived over 5 years after your 17th birthday. At the time you apply every certificate has to be under 6 months old, and INZ takes the certificate itself, not a receipt for it. The INZ police certificate tool explains the procedure for each country.
• Evidence of your work. INZ will not treat a CV as proof. Provide reference letters, payslips or tax records showing what you did, when, and who can confirm it.
• Certificates. ZIMSEC or HEXCO awards, like other qualifications earned outside New Zealand below bachelor's level, need an NZQA International Qualification Assessment (IQA) before they carry weight.
• Medicals. If INZ requests a medical or chest X-ray, it has to be under 3 months old on arrival at INZ.
• Translations. Not usually an issue for papers in English. A document in any other language, police and medical certificates included, must come with a certified translation; INZ rejects translations done by you, a relative or your immigration adviser (INZ translation rules).

Watch the dates. Both police certificates and medicals lapse, so request them when your employer is close to issuing the job token, not many months earlier. The AEWV page has the complete list.

Fraud warnings and avoidable errors

The same fraud exists in New Zealand, and the test is just as simple: a person who asks you for money before any job is in place is not offering one.

• Jobs are not for sale. No employer or agent in New Zealand can lawfully charge you for a job or pass their recruitment costs on to you, whether directly or through a third party.
• Paying for an offer gets the visa declined. Should INZ decide that you or your agent offered or promised the employer money in return for the offer, it declines the AEWV.
• INZ collects only its application fee. Visa fees are never requested by bank transfer.
• Advice comes with conditions. Immigration advice may be given only by an adviser licensed by the Immigration Advisers Authority or by an exempt person (INZ on immigration advice). Applying without an adviser is also allowed.
• Why applications are refused: a CV offered in place of proof of work; police certificates over 6 months old; documents left untranslated; or a job with an employer that lacks accreditation or whose job check was never approved.

INZ gives further advice at how to spot immigration scams.

Frequently asked questions

Could I lodge an AEWV application with no job?

No. First comes an offer from an accredited employer whose job check has been approved, after which the employer emails your job token, the link that opens the application form.

What level of experience do I need?

Normally 2 years or more of relevant work, or a qualification at NZQCF level 4 or higher. A handful of jobs ask for neither, such as Green List roles and very well-paid posts.

Is an IELTS or PTE result necessary?

Only where the job sits at ANZSCO skill level 3, 4 or 5. The required level is IELTS 4.0 overall, PTE Academic 29 or a matching score on another recognised test (as of October 2026), and the test must have been taken less than 2 years before you apply.

Which police certificate comes from Zimbabwe for New Zealand?

You need the police clearance from the Criminal Record Office if you are 17 or older and expect to spend 24 months or more in New Zealand in total, and it must be under 6 months old at the time of applying. For other countries, use the INZ police certificate tool.

How fast does INZ decide?

As of October 2026, 80% of applications are decided within 5.5 weeks. The AEWV page carries the latest figure.

How long may I stay in total?

For most jobs, up to 5 years. For most jobs at ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5, 3 years. When you reach the cap, 12 months outside New Zealand must pass before another AEWV.

Can my partner take a job?

That is decided by your own job and pay. Earning NZD 52.50 an hour or more, or NZD 28.00 an hour or more in a role at ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3, may open a Partner of a Worker Work Visa.

Does my Zimbabwean nursing or trade registration transfer?

Not automatically. Nurses register with the nursing regulator in New Zealand, and some trades, such as electrical and plumbing work, need occupational registration there. The job advert says what the employer needs.

May an employer charge me for the job?

No. New Zealand bans job fees and bans passing recruitment costs to workers, and an offer that was paid for means the visa is declined.