Renewing Employer Accreditation: 12 or 24 Months
A first employer accreditation runs 12 months. Renewing it gives 24 months for standard and high volume accreditation, but only 12 months for triangular employment. Renewing more than 12 months after expiry drops back to 12 months. When accreditation lapses, any Job Checks and unused job tokens lapse with it.
Quick Facts
| First accreditation | 12 months |
| Renewal — standard and high volume | 24 months |
| Renewal — triangular employment | 12 months |
| Renewal more than 12 months after expiry | 12 months only |
| Cost | NZ$775 standard · NZ$1,280 high volume · NZ$4,060 triangular |
| Upgrade standard → high volume | NZ$505 |
| Job Check validity | 6 months, or until accreditation lapses, whichever is first |
| Unused job tokens | Expire when accreditation expires |
| Processing (as published 20 August 2026) | 4 days average, 80% within 1.5 weeks |
How long accreditation lasts
| Situation | Term granted |
|---|---|
| First accreditation, any type | 12 months |
| Renewal — standard | 24 months |
| Renewal — high volume | 24 months |
| Renewal — triangular employment | 12 months |
| Renewal more than 12 months after the accreditation expired | 12 months |
The pattern is a probation year followed by a longer term, with triangular employment held permanently on the shorter cycle because of the higher compliance risk in placing workers with third parties.
The last row is the one that costs employers real money. Let an accreditation sit expired for more than twelve months and the renewal resets to a 12-month term — so a lapse does not just cost the gap, it costs the longer term you would otherwise have earned.
The "up to 5 years" problem
One INZ employer page frames accreditation as lasting "up to 5 years". The renewal instructions give 12 months first, 24 months on renewal. Both are published by INZ, and INZ does not explain how they reconcile.
We cannot resolve that contradiction from published sources, and we are not going to guess. The practical position:
- Plan against 12 and 24 months. They are the granular figures on the page that actually governs renewals.
- Check your own expiry date in Immigration Online rather than relying on either framing. Your accreditation letter states the date that binds you.
- If a recruiter, adviser or supplier tells you your accreditation runs five years, ask which page they are quoting.
Flagging this is more useful than picking a number. An employer who plans a hiring round against a five-year assumption and discovers a 24-month expiry has a problem that no amount of confidence would have prevented.
What lapsing actually breaks
This is the part that reaches the migrant, and it is why an employer's renewal date is worth asking about even if you will never see the paperwork.
A Job Check is valid for 6 months, or until the employer's accreditation lapses, whichever comes first. And unused job tokens expire when accreditation expires.
So an expired accreditation takes three things with it:
- The ability to lodge new Job Checks. No accreditation, no Job Check.
- Existing Job Checks. They do not survive the accreditation they were granted under, even inside their own six-month window.
- Unused job tokens. A token that has not been used to support a visa application is gone.
A worked example. An employer is accredited in March with 12 months to run. In November they pass a Job Check, which would ordinarily be good for six months — to May. Their accreditation expires in March. The Job Check dies in March, not May, and any unused tokens die with it. A migrant who was still gathering documents in February has just lost the basis of their application.
For migrants: if the offer process is dragging, the employer's accreditation expiry date is a legitimate question to ask. It is not intrusive and it is not distrustful — it is the date that determines whether the job token you are relying on will still exist when you file.
When to renew
INZ publishes no fixed renewal window in the material reviewed here, so the sensible approach is operational rather than rule-based:
- Renew before expiry, not after. Everything above follows from lapsing, and the penalty for a long lapse is a shorter renewed term.
- Leave room for processing. Accreditation took 4 days on average and 80% within 1.5 weeks as published on 20 August 2026, but those are current-state figures on a page INZ refreshes weekly without dating it.
- Do not lodge a Job Check against an accreditation that expires before the hire completes. Count backwards from when the migrant will realistically file.
- Watch the 90-day advertising window too. A Job Check must be lodged within 90 days of the advertisement closing, so a renewal that slips can strand a completed advertising campaign as well.
What a renewal costs
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Standard accreditation (including renewal) | NZ$775 |
| High volume accreditation (including renewal) | NZ$1,280 |
| Triangular employment accreditation | NZ$4,060 |
| Upgrade standard → high volume | NZ$505 |
| Reconsideration of a declined decision | NZ$250 |
| Job Check | NZ$735 |
Renewal is charged at the accreditation fee for the type, so a standard renewal is NZ$775 again. The 24-month term is where the value sits: a renewed standard accreditation costs NZ$775 for two years, against NZ$775 for the first twelve months.
Triangular employers renew at NZ$4,060 every 12 months, which is the single largest recurring immigration cost in the New Zealand employer system. There has been no general INZ fee or levy increase in 2025 or 2026.
Renewing and upgrading at the same time
An employer who has grown past five migrant workers needs high volume accreditation. Two routes:
- Upgrade mid-term for NZ$505. The upgrade fee plus the original NZ$775 equals the NZ$1,280 high volume fee, so nothing is lost by having started standard.
- Renew directly onto high volume for NZ$1,280. Cleaner if the term is ending anyway.
Either way the renewed high volume term is 24 months. See employer accreditation types and fees.
If a renewal is declined
The same two routes as any accreditation decision: reconsideration at NZ$250, or a fresh application at full fee. Fees are not refunded on a decline.
A renewal decline is more consequential than a first-time decline, because there are usually workers already on visas tied to the employer. What happens to them is a separate question with its own answer — see what happens when an employer loses accreditation and if your accreditation or Job Check is declined.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does employer accreditation last in New Zealand?
Twelve months for a first accreditation. On renewal, 24 months for standard and high volume accreditation and 12 months for triangular employment. Renewing more than 12 months after expiry gives 12 months only.
Why do some sources say accreditation lasts 5 years?
One INZ employer page uses "up to 5 years" as an outer framing while the renewal page gives 12 and 24 months. INZ does not explain how the two reconcile. Plan against 12 and 24 months and confirm your own expiry date in Immigration Online.
How much does it cost to renew employer accreditation?
The accreditation fee for the type: NZ$775 standard, NZ$1,280 high volume, NZ$4,060 triangular employment. Upgrading from standard to high volume costs NZ$505.
What happens to a Job Check if accreditation expires?
It ends. A Job Check is valid for six months or until accreditation lapses, whichever comes first, and unused job tokens expire when accreditation expires — even if the Job Check's own six-month window has time left.
What happens to my visa if my employer's accreditation expires?
That is a different question from what happens to a pending Job Check, and it depends on where your application has reached. See what happens when an employer loses accreditation for the visa-holder side, and speak to a licensed immigration adviser about your own situation.
When should an employer renew accreditation?
Before expiry, with enough margin for processing and for any Job Check that must be lodged and used before the term ends. Everything that breaks — Job Checks, job tokens, the ability to lodge — breaks on lapse rather than on decline.
Does renewing accreditation renew the Job Checks too?
No. Job Checks are separate applications at NZ$735 with their own six-month validity, and they do not carry across a lapse. A new accreditation term does not revive an expired Job Check or a dead job token.
General information only. This page explains published Immigration New Zealand rules and does not assess anyone's circumstances. It is not immigration advice under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007. Durations, fees and processing times as published 20 August 2026 — confirm your own accreditation expiry date directly with INZ.
