AEWV Employer Accreditation Compliance Risks Every New Zealand Employer Must Understand

Applying for Immigration New Zealand (INZ) accreditation under the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) scheme is often the easy part. The greater challenge is ensuring continued compliance with your obligations to INZ and to your migrant workforce. Accreditation is ongoing—not a one-off decision—and brings with it monitoring, audits, and enforcement risk. Non‑compliance can result in suspension or revocation of accreditation, stand‑downs, fines, and lasting reputational damage.

Understanding Your Obligations as an AEWV Accredited Employer

Employer accreditation requires you to meet the commitments you made during your application to be an accredited employer; including for example to provide all new AEWV holder workers with settlement activities information; to not pass on the recruitment, advertising, accreditation and job check costs to any AEWV holder; to comply with New Zealand employment laws and standards, and with the Immigration Act 2009; and tell INZ of any changes to your organisation or if an AEWV worker stops working for you.

Checks by INZ

INZ checks a number of accredited employers each year. They may complete inspections, either desk-based or through site visits, to confirm you are meeting your requirements as an AEWV employer, and may require you to provide information as part of their checks. If you do not give them the information asked for, your accreditation may be revoked. INZ’s checks may include:

• Accreditation accuracy: Confirming your accreditation type remains appropriate for your business structure and the number of migrant workers you employ.

• Business viability: Evidence of ongoing financial stability, such as GST or PAYE records and financial forecasts.

• Key personnel compliance: Ongoing verification that nominated key personnel continue to meet immigration requirements and have no compliance issues.

• Responsible employment practices: Records demonstrating compliance with employment legislation, including visa verification processes and health and safety training.

• Migrant settlement support: Documented induction and settlement support provided to new migrant employees within their first month of employment.

Given the breadth and complexity of an accredited employer’s obligations, it is essential that your organisation maintains clear, well‑organised, and up‑to‑date records. This enables you to readily demonstrate to INZ a genuine commitment to immigration compliance best practice. In practice, this means establishing a simple, centralised system supported by appropriate tools, with roles and responsibilities clearly allocated to ensure the system is managed effectively.

When designing that system, consideration should be given to how you will, for example, ensure that you have verified whether:

• an individual is entitled to work in New Zealand without holding an AEWV (for example, through VisaView);

• the minimum skills threshold has been met before a job token is released to any prospective AEWV applicant;

• a Job Change application to Immigration New Zealand is required where there are changes to an AEWV worker’s role; and

• Immigration New Zealand has been notified of other relevant changes, including where:

  • an AEWV holder ceases employment with your organisation;

  • your key people change;

  • your organisation undergoes significant change (such as restructuring, redundancies, bankruptcy, or liquidation); or

  • job location or other job details change after the job check has been approved.

This is not an exhaustive list of an accredited employer’s obligations. A robust and comprehensive compliance plan should be developed to ensure ongoing adherence to accreditation requirements, tailored to your organisation’s structure, operations, and workforce.

How does INZ deal with a breach?

A failure to meet your accreditation requirements can result in you:

• having your accreditation suspended or revoked; 

• being subject to a stand-down period or being placed on a stand-down list;

• receiving infringement notices and fees; or 

• being prosecuted and permanently banned from supporting visas for other migrant workers.

Accredited employers who are being actively investigated for any breach of accreditation may have their accreditation suspended.

If your employer's accreditation is suspended, INZ may not make a decision on your job check application until after the suspension ends.

If INZ revokes your employer accreditation, any unused job tokens will be cancelled.

If INZ suspends or revokes your employer accreditation, you cannot hire new migrants – INZ will contact any affected migrants who are not in New Zealand, as they may not be able to travel here on their AEWV. Any AEWV workers that you currently employ, and who are already in New Zealand, can continue to work for you.

Suspension or revocation of your accreditation may also have significant flow‑on consequences for your migrant workers. In particular, it will prevent them from applying for New Zealand residence under the skilled residence categories, as employment with an accredited employer is a core eligibility requirement.

Infringement notices

INZ has an infringement scheme under the Worker Protection (Migrant and Other Employees) Act 2023, which allows them to issue infringement notices to employers who commit immigration violations. The scheme allows MBIE Immigration to issue infringement notices to both accredited and non-accredited employers who commit low-level offences, including if they:

• allow a person who is not entitled under the Immigration Act 2009 to work in the employer’s service to do that work

• employ a person in a manner that is inconsistent with a work-related condition of that person’s visa

• fail to provide documents requested by an immigration officer (under section 275A) within 10 working days.

Infringement penalties can include:

• a fine of NZD $1,000 for an individual, or NZD $3,000 for a body corporate or other entity (companies)

• loss of accredited employer or Recognised Seasonal Employer status, and

• being banned (stood down) from supporting further visas for migrant workers for a period of time, depending on the number of infringement notices the employer receives.

More serious breaches may result in criminal charges.

A common reason employers receive infringement penalties is a breach of section 359A(1)(b) of the Worker Protection (Migrant and Other Employees) Act 2023, which provides that an employer must not employ a person in a manner inconsistent with a work‑related condition of that person’s visa. This most often arises where an AEWV holder works at a location other than the location(s) specified in their visa conditions. For example, a visa may authorise work only in Auckland, but the employee undertakes work in Christchurch in breach of those conditions.

Who Enforces Compliance?

INZ’s investigations and compliance teams investigate immigration offending, ensure employers comply with immigration law, and ensure migrants comply with the conditions of their visas and are in New Zealand lawfully.

But not all allegations considered by an Investigator will lead to a prosecution. Investigators consider a number of options available to them when conducting an investigation, depending on the severity of the offence. These include:

• criminal prosecutions

• issuing infringements 

• issuing formal warnings

• educating people on the right thing to do

Responding to concerns raised by INZ

Before issuing an infringement notice, INZ will usually first write to the employer outlining its concerns and providing an opportunity to respond. This correspondence often follows a site visit and/or a telephone call from an INZ investigations officer. If you receive such a letter, I strongly recommend seeking advice from an immigration lawyer before responding.

In some cases, the concerns raised by INZ may be unfounded or based on a misunderstanding, or the issue may be so minor that it does not warrant the issuance of an infringement notice and its associated consequences. In other cases, taking immediate responsibility for a breach and demonstrating a clear commitment to rectifying it and preventing recurrence will be instrumental in mitigating its longer‑term impacts, including in the context of any future accreditation application.

Re-applying for Accreditation after an infringement notice

Where an infringement notice has been issued, I would again strongly recommend engaging an immigration lawyer to assist your organisation in preparing for any future re‑application for accreditation following the mandatory stand‑down period. Early professional advice can help ensure the organisation is well-positioned to demonstrate renewed compliance and credibility with INZ.

This process should include taking proactive steps to fully understand how the breach or breaches occurred, implementing effective measures to prevent recurrence, and embedding those measures into day‑to‑day operational practices. It is equally important that these steps are clearly and contemporaneously documented, so they can be provided to INZ as evidence of a sustained commitment to compliance and the likelihood of future lawful conduct.

Protecting Your Accreditation and Workforce

Employer accreditation under the AEWV scheme brings with it significant and ongoing legal responsibilities. As this article highlights, non‑compliance risks extend well beyond financial penalties and can affect business continuity, workforce stability, and migrant workers’ longer‑term residence prospects. Proactive compliance systems, accurate record‑keeping, and early, well‑considered engagement with INZ are critical to managing these risks effectively.

If you have concerns about your current compliance position, are responding to INZ enquiries, or require advice following an infringement or suspension, you are encouraged to seek specialist immigration legal advice. I regularly assist employers navigating AEWV accreditation, compliance audits, enforcement action, and re‑accreditation, and would be happy to discuss how I can support your organisation.