Employer Accreditation

Timing is everything…or at least it should be. The new Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme is now underway or at least the initial step for employers to become accredited is. If you aren’t yet aware of this new process here is a short breakdown…

• The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) scheme replaces six existing Work Visa policies including the very popular Essential Skills Work Visa and Work to Residence Visas.
• Employers looking to employ migrant workers from 04 July 2022 will need to become “Accredited” with Immigration New Zealand (INZ).
• Employer Accreditation applications opened up online from 23 May 2022.
  Once an employer is Accredited the next step for any potential offshore recruitment is to submit a “Job Check” application with INZ which outlines the role on offer and attempts to recruit from the local labour market - the can be submitted from 20 June 2022.
• Once the Job Check has been approved, Visa applications from potential recruits can be submitted to INZ from 04 July 2022.

Note: Currently the above Accreditation process is not required to keep any existing staff who have temporary Work Visas or any employees on Work Visas that are not specific to an employer, e.g. Working Holiday Visas, Post-Study Work Visas or Open Work Visas based on partnership. However if any staff have Visas due to expire then any new applications will require the employer to become Accredited. However, from a yet to be confirmed date in 2023, Accreditation will be required for existing staff and those on any form of temporary Visa with work rights - so essentially in the future any and all employers, employing migrants, will need to become Accredited.

The AEWV presents a fairly significant departure from previous Work Visa policies, placing a far greater level of responsibility in the hands of employers as well as making the entire application process more employer-driven. You might be tempted to think of this as being more centralised control of yet another process with increased costs on business (and plenty would agree with you) but on the positive side, it should also lead to faster processing times, less double-handling by INZ and more control for employers in terms of the candidate selection process. Either way, the goal is two-fold - to simplifyy previously complicated and fragmented Work Visa rules and also provide for a greater level of monitoring by Government of employers and their migrant employees - a double edged sword perhaps?

The system has been in the making for many years, although the roll-out was delayed partly due to Covid but also due to INZ not having the systems or rules completely set-down until fairly recently. To add to this, the policy is being rolled out alongside the new “Green List” of occupations as the Government attempts to prioritise some key skills to bring in to the country to assist with the post-Covid recovery. Arguably many of these skills are the same as those which we have been trying to attract for years and their isn’t too much ‘new’ about the new Green List.

And that is where the timing comes in. While the Government, through INZ, are introducing this new system which will initially add a layer of confusion and complexity for employers who have dealt with the Visa system before (and potential chaos for those that havent), the global hunt for talent and skills is heating up like never before. Many countries who have adopted the fortress approach to Covid and are now opening up are desparately trying to fill the gaps that two years of limited migration have left. For countries like New Zealand and Australia who have traditionally been reliant on a steady flow of migrant workers across a wide range of sectors, their is a sudden rush to stock back up on what the last two years has depleted. The question is are we as a country doing enough or the right things to attract those skills. From my view that is debatable.

Introducing a new system isn’t necessarily the issue because from what we can see thus far, a well prepared Accreditation application will be approved and will allow an employer to access global talent. Yes there is a process involved but if that is managed properly and with some guidance on how to maintain that Accreditation, it shouldn’t be seen as any sort of barrier.

The issue that I see is the longer-term view for potential migrants who want to work here but also live here as well. So far we have a relatively clear path on how to bring applicants across and for some, who have skills in particular sectors there is also a pathway to Residence available - some certainty then. However there is a gap for everyone else who doesnt appear on the Government’s Green List or won’t be earning a particular salary level to afford them a two-year pathway to Residence.

There are a significant number of skills that fall outside of the above lists, that we need and will continue to need in the future. Without a clear pathway to Residence for those skills, it may be difficult for employers to attract those skills in to the country when all that is on offer right now is a temporary Visa. Whilst changes are being proposed for the Skilled Migrant Category for Residence (which is where these other skills will fall in to), until those changes are announced, there will be plenty of people keen to bring their expertise to NZ, sitting on a fence until they have certainty.

Even within the “Green List” of occupations that do secure a pathway to Residence there are some rather strange anomalies. Nurses for example can secure Residence after working here for two years, whereas a Spatial Scientist with a job offer here is given a fast-track to Residence pathway. Right now, I know which of those two occupations would be on most people’s wish-list - so why aren’t we doing more to entice those Nurses here by also offering them a fast-track to Residence as well?

We also have to bear in mind that we are not alone in the hunt for talent and when your nearest neighbour puts up $4.5 billion towards recruiting 10,000 nurses and already offers higher salaries and faster Visa processing options, New Zealand starts to look like the last horse in the race.

As someone who has worked in this industry for a fairly long time, the one thing that successive Governments tend to overlook as they tinker with policies is the migrant. What drives people to come here, what will drive them to stay here and what will incentivise the best, brightest and most talented to make New Zealand home. There are a lot of variables to consider but one of the most important is certainty. Certainty of outcome for someone moving themselves, their family and their lives to a new country, goes a long way to increasing the demand and supply. New Zealand has a ways to go to recover from having closed borders for two years and we need to do all we can to attract the skills we need - a good place to start would be to roll out the future of the Skilled Migrant Category now, alongside the border reopening and to give prospective migrants that certainty. An overhaul of the Visa administration also wouldnt go amiss but that is a story for another day.

If you are an employer with current staff on temporary Visas or you anticipate needing to bring in some fresh talent from overseas in the near future, the one thing you can do to be competitive is to secure your Accreditation sooner rather than later. Don’t leave it until the last minute because you can be sure that the skills looking to move here will be looking for employers who are already Accredited.

Contact us today if you want to find out more or get your Accreditation process started.