New Zealand Work Visa from Dubai: the Accredited Employer Work Visa

Fatima
New Zealand work visa from Dubai: the Accredited Employer Work Visa

The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) is New Zealand’s work visa for people hired by an accredited employer, and it cannot be applied for without a job. The employer must be accredited and must hold an approved job check for your role before it can send you the link that opens your application. Several rules changed between March 2025 and August 2026, including the experience requirement, English testing for skill level 3 roles and the residence pathways that follow the visa, so anyone planning a move from the UAE should work from the current position. This guide sets out the requirements as at August 2026 and what to prepare from Dubai or Abu Dhabi before an offer arrives.

At a glance

  • The order never changes: employer accreditation, then a job check for the role, then the link you apply through. There is no “visa first, job later” route.
  • You need a full-time offer (30 or more hours a week) and either 2 years of relevant experience or a level 4 or higher qualification.
  • Maximum continuous stay is 5 years for most jobs, or 3 years for ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5 roles. Fee from NZD $1,540; 80% decided within 8 weeks.
  • Residence comes after the job: Green List Tier 1 (Straight to Residence), Tier 2 (Work to Residence after 24 months) or the Skilled Migrant Category, changed on 24 August 2026.
  • From the UAE, prepare before the offer: employment certificates, payslips, an English test for skill level 3 to 5 roles, and police certificates.

How the AEWV actually works

The AEWV process is employer-led. Only the employer that has offered you the job can send the unique link that opens your online application, and it can only do so once Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has accredited the business and approved a job check for the role. The three stages as at August 2026 are set out below.

Step Who does it What INZ checks Key detail
1. Employer accreditation The employer Business is genuine and complies with immigration and employment law Standard covers up to 5 migrants, high-volume 6 or more; initial accreditation lasts 12 months.
2. Job check The employer, per role Advertised to New Zealanders first, pays the market rate, skill level set At least 14 days’ advertising (21 days plus Work and Income engagement for level 4 and 5); expires after 6 months.
3. Your application You, online Experience or qualification, English if required, health, character Fee from NZD $1,540; 80% decided within 8 weeks.

INZ will decline an application if it considers that you or your agent offered or promised money to the employer in return for the job offer. Employers and agents cannot charge you for a job or for recruitment costs. An arrangement where you pay for the offer therefore puts the application itself at risk, whoever proposes it.

What you must show as the applicant

Skills: 2 years of experience or a level 4 qualification

Since 10 March 2025 you need either 2 years of relevant work experience or a qualification at level 4 or higher on the NZQCF. The experience does not have to be consecutive or full time, but it must total 2 years full-time equivalent in the same field as the job. A bachelor’s degree or higher can be in any field.

INZ’s guidance on evidence is specific. A CV on its own is not sufficient, and a reference letter or employment certificate without payslips or tax certificates may not satisfy the case officer. A qualification below bachelor’s level from outside New Zealand needs an International Qualification Assessment (IQA) from NZQA. The skills evidence is waived if the job is on the Green List, if occupational registration already required it, or if the role pays at least NZD $67.12 an hour.

Pay: the market rate, not a median wage

From 10 March 2025 the median wage requirement was removed from the AEWV. There is no set pay threshold beyond the New Zealand minimum wage, but employers must pay migrant workers the market rate, meaning on par with their New Zealand counterparts in the same role.

English: now required from skill level 3

Applicants for skill level 3, 4 or 5 roles must show they can speak and understand English; the level 3 requirement began on 1 June 2026. The minimum is IELTS overall band 4, TOEFL iBT 31, PTE Academic 29 or Cambridge B2 First 142, taken in person within the last 2 years. Level 1 and 2 roles are exempt.

Character and health

Police certificates are required if you are 17 or older and your total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or more. Each must be under 6 months old and you need one from every country of citizenship and every country where you spent more than 5 years since turning 17. Since 8 December 2025 INZ requires the certificate itself; a receipt showing you have applied for one is not accepted. For stays over 6 months you need a chest X-ray if you are a citizen of, or spent more than 3 months in the last 5 years in, a country without a low incidence of TB.

How long you can stay, and who can join you

The figure that governs your planning is the maximum continuous stay across one or more AEWVs:

  • 5 years if your job is ANZSCO or NOL skill level 1, 2 or 3, is on the Green List, or pays at least NZD $52.50 an hour.
  • 3 years if your job is ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5 and none of the above apply.

Once you reach the maximum you must spend at least 12 months in a row outside New Zealand before you can be granted another regular AEWV. For a level 4 or 5 role, the 3-year limit is therefore the window in which any residence application has to be made.

Your partner and children cannot be included in the AEWV itself. You may be able to support a partner’s work visa if you earn at least NZD $28 an hour in a level 1 to 3 role, or at least NZD $52.50 an hour in a level 4 or 5 role (NZD $35 if the job is on the Green List). Supporting dependent children on an AEWV requires income of at least NZD $58,240 a year, the threshold that applies from 9 March 2026 and is updated annually with the median wage.

Pathways to residence

The AEWV is a temporary visa. As at August 2026 three routes lead from it to residence, and our New Zealand skilled migration page covers each in more detail.

Pathway Who it suits Core requirements Fee
Straight to Residence (Green List Tier 1) Civil engineers, registered nurses, GPs, primary and secondary teachers, software engineers Tier 1 job or offer from an accredited employer; aged 55 or younger; paid the role’s rate or at least NZD $35.00 an hour; English; can apply from outside NZ From NZD $6,450
Work to Residence (Green List Tier 2) Electricians, plumbers, motor mechanics, crane operators 24 months in a Tier 2 role in New Zealand within the 30 months before applying; wage rate locked at the rate when you started; aged 55 or younger From NZD $6,450
Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) Professionals with degrees, registration or a strong salary 6 points from registration, qualification or income (threshold NZD $35.00 an hour from 9 March 2026); skilled job with an accredited employer; aged 55 or younger; IELTS 6.5 From NZD $6,450

The Green List is revised periodically, so check the live search on immigration.govt.nz for your ANZSCO code and any pay condition attached to it before relying on a tier.

What changed in the SMC on 24 August 2026

  • A new Skilled Work Experience pathway: 5 years of relevant experience including 2 years in New Zealand at 1.1 times the SMC threshold. A new Trades and Technician pathway: level 4 or higher qualification, 4 years of post-qualification experience, 1.5 years in New Zealand at the threshold.
  • Bachelor’s degree points rose from 3 to 4; self-employment no longer counts; one wage threshold applies, fixed on the day your visa is granted if you start work within 5 months.

Work to Residence and both new SMC pathways depend on work already completed in New Zealand, so for most applicants the AEWV is the first application and the residence application follows it. The exception is Straight to Residence, which can be lodged from outside New Zealand with a Tier 1 offer.

From the UAE: what this means for you

Nothing in this process starts until an accredited employer decides to hire you. The AEWV has no expression of interest stage and no points test, and there is no visa that lets you enter New Zealand to look for work. What you can control from the UAE is the preparation, so that the employer’s job check and your own application are not held up by missing documents once an offer is made.

Before the offer

  • Ask whether the employer is accredited. If not, it must be before it can lodge a job check; an approved job check lasts 6 months.
  • Find your ANZSCO code and skill level. It decides English, 5 or 3 years, and your residence route. Some level 4 roles (cook, scaffolder) count as level 3 for the AEWV but not the SMC.
  • Build your experience file now. Ask each UAE employer, including former ones, for a certificate on letterhead with positions, dates and contact details, and keep your payslips, before you resign.
  • Book an English test if your role is skill level 3 to 5. IELTS, PTE Academic and TOEFL iBT are accepted. If residence is the goal, aim for the IELTS 6.5 the residence visas need.
  • Order police certificates. The UAE Police Clearance Certificate is issued to current and former residents through the Ministry of Interior website and app and Dubai Police channels. Add your country of citizenship and any country where you spent more than 5 years after turning 17. Each must be under 6 months old when you apply.

After the offer

Your employer lodges the job check and, once it is approved, emails you the application link. You upload the signed job offer, employment agreement, job description, passport scan, photo, evidence of experience or qualifications, English result and police certificates. If a medical examination or X-ray is required, it must be done by a doctor or radiologist on INZ’s approved panel list. INZ processes 80% of applications within 8 weeks.

See our New Zealand working visa guide for other temporary routes, and check your consultant’s individual registration on our verify credentials page.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a New Zealand work visa from Dubai without a job offer?

Not an AEWV. It requires a current offer of at least 30 hours a week from an accredited employer with an approved job check. What you can do now is the preparation above, so the wait after an offer is short.

Is there a minimum salary for the AEWV in 2026?

No fixed figure since 10 March 2025: the employer pays the market rate and at least the minimum wage. But NZD $52.50 an hour gives a 5-year stay in a level 4 or 5 role, and NZD $67.12 waives the skills evidence.

How long does it take from Dubai?

INZ decides 80% of AEWV applications within 8 weeks once the job check is approved.

What to do next

Offer or no offer yet, start with a free eligibility assessment so we can map your ANZSCO code, skill level and residence route before you approach employers. Call 04 357 7796 or book a 20-minute review through our contact page. We have completed 10,569 assessments since 2014 from our Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices. We do not promise outcomes; every decision belongs to Immigration New Zealand.

Sources

Cover photo: Trina Snow via Pexels

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