Employer Accreditation Requirements in New Zealand
To be accredited, a New Zealand employer must meet one of four financial viability tests, must not fall into any of four disqualifying situations, and must commit to ongoing obligations towards migrant staff. Standard accreditation costs NZ$775. Failing all four viability tests, or triggering any disqualifier, ends the application.
Quick Facts
| Who must meet these | The employer. Migrants have no role in this step |
| Financial test | Meet 1 of 4 viability tests |
| Disqualifiers | 4, and any one of them stops the application |
| Cost | NZ$775 standard · NZ$1,280 high volume · NZ$4,060 triangular |
| First term | 12 months |
| Processing (as published 20 August 2026) | 4 days average, 80% within 1.5 weeks |
| If declined | Reconsideration NZ$250, or reapply |
| Extra for triangular | 12 months' NZ placement history + a 15% domestic workforce floor |
The two gates
INZ's accreditation assessment resolves into two questions. Can this business afford to employ people? And is there anything about this business that rules it out? An employer must pass the first and clear the second.
Everything else — settlement support, recruitment costs, the promises about how migrant staff are treated — is a declaration made at application and enforced afterwards. Those are covered under employer obligations under accreditation.
Gate 1: The financial viability test — meet any one of four
The employer must satisfy one of the following. Not all four. One.
Test 1 — No loss in the last two years
No loss before depreciation and tax in the last two years. The "before depreciation and tax" wording matters: a business showing an accounting loss driven by depreciation may still pass, because the test looks at trading performance rather than the bottom line after non-cash charges.
Test 2 — Positive cash flow for six months
Positive cash flow in each of the last six months. Each month, individually — six months of bank and accounting records, not a six-month average. One negative month breaks it, which is why seasonal businesses often use a different test.
Test 3 — Sufficient capital or external investment
The business holds sufficient capital, or has external investment, to support its operations. This is the route for a well-funded business that has not yet traded profitably.
Test 4 — A credible two-year business plan
A credible two-year business plan. This is the route for new businesses with no trading history, and the word doing the work is credible. A plan with unsupported revenue assumptions is not evidence.
Failing all four disqualifies the application. Employers who cannot clearly evidence one of these usually do better to wait until they can than to file and lose the NZ$775.
Gate 2: The four disqualifiers
Any one of these ends the application, regardless of how strong the financial position is.
| Disqualifier | What it means |
|---|---|
| On the employer stand-down list | INZ publishes employers barred from supporting visa applications for a set period following an employment standards breach |
| On the immigration stand-down list | A separate list, arising from immigration-side non-compliance |
| Permanently banned from hiring migrants | The most serious outcome, with no expiry |
| Bankrupt or under a No Asset Procedure | Personal insolvency of the applicant, including the No Asset Procedure, a low-debt alternative to bankruptcy |
Two separate stand-down lists exist and they are not interchangeable. Being on either one is enough.
If you are a migrant: stand-down lists are the reason a real, trading, apparently successful New Zealand business can be unable to hire you. It is not always about you or your occupation. A glossary explainer sits at what is a stand-down period.
Extra requirements for triangular employment accreditation
An employer placing migrants with a controlling third party must also show:
- At least 12 months of history placing staff in New Zealand. A new labour hire company cannot be accredited on day one.
- At least 15% of placed staff are New Zealand citizens or residents guaranteed 30 or more hours a week. A continuing ratio, not a one-off snapshot.
The 15% figure replaced a 35% threshold for labour hire construction roles in January 2025. See triangular employment accreditation explained.
What the employer commits to at application
Accreditation is granted against declarations, and those declarations bind for the whole term. The core commitments are:
- Provide settlement information to migrant workers
- Support workers to settle in New Zealand
- Not pass recruitment costs on to workers
- Maintain all obligations throughout the accreditation period
The last one is the one employers most often misread. Accreditation is not a test passed once. INZ can and does check compliance after approval, and failing an obligation mid-term is a live risk to the accreditation — see what happens when an employer loses accreditation.
What accreditation does not require
Being precise about the negatives is as useful as listing the positives.
- No minimum company size. A sole director with one employee can be accredited.
- No minimum trading history for standard or high volume accreditation. Test 4 exists precisely for new businesses. Triangular is the exception, with its 12-month placement history.
- No named worker. Accreditation is granted to a business, not against a candidate. An employer can be accredited before it has anyone in mind.
- No specific occupation. Occupation is assessed at the Job Check stage, not here.
- No advertising. Advertising belongs to the Job Check, not to accreditation. Employers regularly conflate the two and advertise too early or not at all.
Where the pay rules sit — and where they do not
Pay is not an accreditation requirement. It is assessed at the Job Check, against the role.
This is worth stating plainly because so much published material about New Zealand work visas is wrong on it. Since 10 March 2025, the pay test for the Accredited Employer Work Visa has been the market rate — INZ's definition is "a range of pay that a New Zealander or resident would be paid within to do the job, or equivalent work" — with the adult minimum wage as the floor. The median-wage threshold was removed on that date and does not apply.
The immigration median wage still exists and still governs other things: Green List pay floors, thresholds for supporting a partner or dependent children, and residence categories. It is NZ$35.00, effective 9 March 2026, and it is a residence-side figure. Anyone presenting it as the wage an accredited employer must pay is describing rules that ended in March 2025. See market rate pay for the AEWV and the median wage removed from work visas.
If accreditation is declined
Two routes, and neither is an appeal to a tribunal.
- Reconsideration — NZ$250. A different immigration officer reviews the decision. The deadline is short and runs from the decision, so read the decline letter first and confirm the date on it before doing anything else.
- A fresh application — full fee again. Usually the better route where the decline was factual (for example, evidence that did not meet a viability test) rather than an error of assessment.
INZ does not refund fees or levies when an application is declined. Detail: if your accreditation or Job Check is declined.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can become an accredited employer in New Zealand?
Any New Zealand employer that meets one of four financial viability tests and does not fall into a disqualifying situation — on either stand-down list, permanently banned from hiring migrants, bankrupt, or under a No Asset Procedure. There is no minimum company size and, for standard and high volume accreditation, no minimum trading history.
What is the INZ financial viability test?
A four-part test where the employer must satisfy any one part: no loss before depreciation and tax in the last two years; positive cash flow in each of the last six months; sufficient capital or external investment; or a credible two-year business plan.
What is the employer stand-down list?
A list of employers barred from supporting migrant visa applications for a period following non-compliance. There are two separate lists — an employer stand-down list and an immigration stand-down list — and appearing on either one disqualifies a business from accreditation.
Can a new business get employer accreditation?
Yes. The fourth viability test — a credible two-year business plan — exists for businesses without trading history. Triangular employment accreditation is the exception, because it separately requires at least 12 months of history placing staff in New Zealand.
Does an accredited employer have to pay the median wage?
No. The median-wage pay threshold was removed from the Accredited Employer Work Visa on 10 March 2025. The test is the market rate for the occupation, with the adult minimum wage as the floor. The immigration median wage still governs residence categories and several other thresholds.
How long does employer accreditation take to process?
As published on 20 August 2026, 4 days on average, with 80% decided within 1.5 weeks. INZ updates that page weekly without dating it, so check the live figure. There is no paid fast-track at any price.
Does the employer need to advertise before applying for accreditation?
No. Advertising belongs to the Job Check, which is a separate application at NZ$735. Advertising before the employer is accredited also risks the 90-day window between the advertisement closing and the Job Check being lodged.
General information only. This page describes what published Immigration New Zealand rules require. It does not assess whether any particular business or person meets them, and it is not immigration advice. Under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, only a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer with a current practising certificate may give New Zealand immigration advice. Figures as published 20 August 2026.
