AEWV vs Working Holiday Visa: Which Way Into New Zealand?
The Accredited Employer Work Visa needs an accredited employer and an approved Job Check before you can apply. A Working Holiday Visa needs neither — but it is age-capped, once in a lifetime, and only exists for citizens of the 45 participating countries. Nationality and age decide whether you have a choice at all.
Quick Facts
| Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) | Working Holiday Visa | |
|---|---|---|
| Job offer needed first | Yes — from an accredited employer with an approved Job Check | No |
| Total cost | From NZ$1,540 | NZ$770 |
| Component split | NZ$480 fee + NZ$1,060 immigration levy, no IVL | NZ$215 fee + NZ$455 levy + NZ$100 IVL |
| Processing | 4 weeks average, 80% within 8 weeks | 4 days average, 80% within 1.5 weeks |
| Length | Up to 5 years (skill levels 1–3); 3 years (levels 4–5) | 12 months, with country exceptions |
| Age limit | None stated | 18–30, or 18–35 for nine schemes |
| Who can apply | Anyone with a qualifying job offer | Citizens of the 45 participating countries only |
| Repeatable | Yes, subject to maximum continuous stay and stand-down | No — once in a lifetime, ever |
| Leads to residence | Yes, depending on the job | Not directly |
All figures as at August 2026. No general New Zealand visa fee or levy increase occurred in 2025 or 2026.
For most people this is not a choice
Two filters remove the option before preference gets a look in.
Nationality. Forty-five countries have a scheme with New Zealand. India does not. Neither does Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Indonesia, and no African country has one either. Those are among New Zealand's largest migration source countries, and for their citizens the AEWV is the working route. Full list in working holiday schemes by country.
Age. Thirty-six of the 45 schemes run 18–30. Nine run 18–35: Argentina, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and Uruguay. Over the limit and the scheme is closed to you regardless of nationality. The AEWV, by contrast, has no age limit stated on Immigration New Zealand's page — which is unusual, because Straight to Residence, Work to Residence, Care Workforce, Transport Work to Residence and the Talent visas all cap at 55.
And once you have used it, it is gone. Applicants must not previously have been approved a visa under a working holiday scheme. The country pages phrase it starkly: you cannot apply again even if you did not use the visa. Only the UK and Canada mechanisms allow a second application, and those top up to a longer maximum rather than granting a fresh entitlement.
The AEWV is a three-step process, and two steps are not yours
This is the structural difference. You cannot start an AEWV on your own.
Step 1 — the employer gets accredited. Standard accreditation is NZ$775 and covers hiring up to five migrants. High-volume accreditation is NZ$1,280 for six or more. Triangular employment accreditation, for placing migrants with a controlling third party, is NZ$4,060. Franchisee accreditation closed on 16 June 2024. INZ decides accreditation in 4 days on average, 80% within 1.5 weeks.
Step 2 — the employer runs a Job Check. NZ$735. The employer proves the role and pay are compliant and, where required, that they advertised the job. Advertising is 14 days for skill level 1–3 roles and 21 days for level 4–5 with Work and Income engagement. No advertising is needed if the job is on the Green List and meets Green List requirements, or pays at least NZ$70.00 an hour, or is on the Global Workforce Seasonal Visa job list. Job Checks are valid for 6 months. INZ decides them in 3 days on average, 80% within 2 weeks — or 2 days and 4 days for Green List roles.
Step 3 — you apply. NZ$1,540, and 80% are decided within 8 weeks.
By the time you are filling in a form, an employer has spent NZ$1,510 and several weeks on your behalf. That is why AEWV job offers are harder to get than the visa is to be granted, and why fake job offers are such a persistent problem — see how do I know if a New Zealand job offer is real.
What the AEWV actually requires of you
| Requirement | The rule |
|---|---|
| Job offer | Full-time from an accredited employer, at least 30 hours per week |
| Pay | Market rate for the occupation, and at least the minimum wage |
| Experience or qualification | 2 years of relevant experience, or a qualification at NZQCF Level 4 or higher |
| English | Not required at ANZSCO or NOL skill level 1–2. Required at skill levels 3, 4 and 5 — IELTS 4.0 or equivalent |
| Health | Good health; chest x-ray for applicants from high-TB-incidence countries staying over 6 months |
| Character | Good character; police certificate if staying 24 months or more |
| Maximum stay | Up to 5 years at skill levels 1–3; 3 years at levels 4–5 |
| Stand-down | Normally 12 months outside New Zealand after the maximum stay |
Two of those lines correct claims still published across the internet.
The median wage is no longer an AEWV pay requirement. It was removed on 10 March 2025 and replaced by a market-rate test, with the minimum wage as the floor. Any page telling you that you must earn the median wage to get this visa has been wrong since March 2025. The correction is set out in the AEWV median wage requirement removed.
The work experience requirement is 2 years, not 3. That also changed on 10 March 2025.
The "3-year stand-down" many sites describe is a garbled version of something real: 3 years is the maximum continuous stay for skill level 4–5 roles, introduced in April 2024. The stand-down is normally 12 months. See AEWV stand-down period explained.
What the Working Holiday Visa actually requires of you
| Requirement | The rule |
|---|---|
| Job offer | None |
| Age | 18–30, or 18–35 for the nine listed schemes |
| Passport | From the scheme country |
| Funds | NZ$4,200 standard; NZ$350/month for the UK and Canada; NZ$2,250 for Austria, Malaysia and Singapore; NZ$7,000 for Thailand and Turkey |
| Onward travel | A ticket out, or money to buy one — additional to the living-expenses funds |
| Health insurance | Mandatory, full medical cover for the whole stay, and may be checked on arrival |
| Children | Cannot be accompanied by children |
| Study | Up to 6 months total, including any extension |
| Activation | First entry within 12 months of grant, or the visa expires |
| Passport validity | At least 3 months beyond visa expiry |
Six schemes impose a genuine English proficiency test — China, the Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam, and Peru, where English is optional but financially material (NZ$4,200 with an acceptable test result, NZ$7,000 without). Several also require a tertiary qualification.
How the schemes open, and why there is no lottery
Thirty-two of the 45 schemes are capped and thirteen are uncapped. Every capped scheme is allocated first-come, first-served, from a published opening date and time. INZ's own wording: once a scheme opens, applications remain open until the places are filled, after which the scheme closes until the following year.
New Zealand's only immigration lotteries are the Pacific Access Category, the Samoan Quota and the Parent Category. None of them is a scheme for young travellers, and content describing a "New Zealand travel-scheme lottery" is describing something that does not exist. The correct preparation is to know the opening date and be ready at the published time. See how places are actually allocated.
The thirteen uncapped schemes — Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the USA — accept applications year-round with no opening date at all.
Work conditions: the real gap between the two
| AEWV | Working Holiday | |
|---|---|---|
| Who you can work for | Only the employer, job and location on your visa | Any employer, subject to per-employer caps in some schemes |
| Second job | Not permitted | Permitted |
| Changing employer | Requires a variation of conditions, a Job Change application or a new visa | Free to change |
| Permanent job | Yes — that is the point | Not permitted |
| Self-employment | Not permitted | Not permitted from 20 April 2026 |
| Excluded work | Horticulture and viticulture crop work; foreign fishing crew; self-employment | Commercial sexual services |
That last row is a genuine 2026 change. From 20 April 2026, working holiday visa holders must work under an employment agreement or a contract for services. They cannot sole-trade, cannot own or operate a business, and cannot employ others. Existing holders are grandfathered until their visa expires. See working holiday visa self-employment rules.
Several schemes also cap time with a single employer: three months for Denmark, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico and Poland; six months for Lithuania. Spain is unusual in having no per-employer limit at all.
Extending: the two mechanisms are completely different
AEWV. You stay up to the maximum for your skill level — 5 years at levels 1–3, 3 years at levels 4–5 — then normally spend 12 months outside New Zealand before reapplying. INZ has announced that from 2027 the AEWV will become extendable by up to 12 months.
Working Holiday. The Working Holiday Extension Work Visa adds 3 months, costs NZ$800 (NZ$245 + NZ$455 levy + NZ$100 IVL), and can be used once only, ever. It requires at least three months of seasonal horticulture or viticulture work: planting, maintaining, harvesting or packing crops. Two kinds of work people assume are included are not — plant nurseries and food processing. Neither is accepted.
The UK and Canada use a different mechanism again. UK holders can reach a 36-month ceiling and Canadians a 23-month ceiling through a subsequent work visa, applied for on a paper form from inside New Zealand. The seasonal extension stacks on top of those where eligible.
Where the answer flips
If you are from the UK. The UK scheme is the most generous in the system: 15,000 places — capped, not uncapped, whatever you have read — ages 18–35, a choice of 12, 23 or 36 months, and a funds test expressed as only NZ$350 per month. Three years of open work rights for NZ$770 is a materially better deal than an employer-tied AEWV, and the UK cap has historically not been exhausted.
If you are 34 and from a country with an 18–30 scheme. The choice has already been made for you. The AEWV is the route.
If you want residence. The AEWV can lead to it, depending on the job — through Green List Tier 2's 24-month Work to Residence route, or the Skilled Migrant Category. A Working Holiday Visa does not lead to residence, and importantly it also cannot be used to support a partner's work visa. Working Holiday holders are on INZ's list of ineligible supporting partners.
If you already have a Working Holiday Visa and want to stay. The transition is to an AEWV, which means finding an accredited employer and starting the three-step process. The scheme is not extendable beyond the seasonal 3 months.
If your occupation is on the Green List. Job Checks for Green List roles are decided in 2 days on average and AEWV applications in 2 weeks — materially faster than the general queue. That changes the practical timeline more than the fee difference does.
If you are in a hurry. A Working Holiday Visa is decided in 4 days on average. An AEWV takes 8 weeks for 80% of applicants, on top of the weeks the employer spent on accreditation and the Job Check. There is no paid priority processing for any New Zealand visa, at any price, so speed cannot be bought.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a job offer for a New Zealand Working Holiday Visa?
No. The scheme is explicitly designed for people who arrive without work arranged. The Accredited Employer Work Visa is the opposite: you cannot apply until an accredited employer has passed a Job Check for your role.
Can I apply for a New Zealand work visa without a job offer?
Not for the AEWV. Options that do not need a job offer include a Working Holiday Visa if your nationality and age qualify, and the Post Study Work Visa for people who have studied in New Zealand. See working in New Zealand without a job offer.
Can I apply for a working holiday visa more than once?
No. It is once in a lifetime, and an unused visa still disqualifies you. The only exceptions are the UK and Canada mechanisms, which extend the same entitlement to a longer ceiling rather than granting a new one.
How long does it take to get a New Zealand working holiday visa?
INZ's published wait times give 4 days on average and 80% completed within 1.5 weeks, as published on 20 August 2026. The AEWV averages 4 weeks with 80% within 8 weeks.
Does the AEWV lead to residency?
It can, depending on the job. Green List Tier 2 occupations reach residence after 24 months in the role within the prior 30 months. Other occupations go through the Skilled Migrant Category. The AEWV itself is a temporary visa. See does the AEWV lead to residence.
Is the median wage still required for an AEWV?
No. That requirement was removed on 10 March 2025. Pay must now be the New Zealand market rate for the occupation and at least the minimum wage. The median wage still sets thresholds elsewhere in the system, including residence pathways and partner support.
Can I extend my working holiday visa in New Zealand?
Once, by three months, through the Working Holiday Extension Work Visa at NZ$800. It requires three months of seasonal horticulture or viticulture work — planting, maintaining, harvesting or packing crops. It is not offered to holders from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway or Sweden.
Before you act on this page
This page is general information about published New Zealand immigration rules. It is not immigration advice and does not assess whether you meet any requirement. Under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, only a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer may advise on your individual circumstances, and the Act applies whether or not you pay for the advice. Check a licence at https://app.mbieregisters.govt.nz/iaa/ui/start/searchForAnOccupationalRegistration.
