Why AEWV Applications Get Declined in New Zealand
Most Accredited Employer Work Visa declines trace back to a small set of causes: the job's skill level was coded wrong, the work experience evidence was thin, the pay did not match the advertisement, a required document was missing, or health or character requirements were not met. None of the fees are refunded when an application is declined.
Quick Facts
| Cost of a declined application | The full NZ$1,540 — nothing is refunded once an application is processed |
| Internal review route | Reconsideration, at NZ$220. The only internal route for a temporary visa |
| Tribunal appeal? | No. Temporary visa declines have no right of appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal |
| Reconsideration processing | 80% within 5 weeks (as published 20 August 2026) |
| Reconsideration attempts | One. INZ will not consider a decision a second time |
| Health cost threshold | INZ may decline where likely health service costs exceed NZ$81,000 over five years, or over the course of the condition |
| Missing upfront police certificate | Application may be declined without further contact |
| Paying for a job offer | An automatic decline ground |
Fees as at August 2026 and unchanged since 1 October 2024. Confirm before paying.
The most common causes, in order
1. Skill level miscoding
This is the decline nobody sees coming, because it happens to applications where every document is genuine.
Applying at skill level 1–3 for a job INZ assesses as level 4–5 may result in a decline and a re-application. The skill level drives the advertising period, the English requirement, the maximum continuous stay and — after 24 August 2026 — whether the occupation feeds a residence pathway at all. When INZ disagrees with the classification the employer used, the foundation of the application moves.
The risk rose when New Zealand started running two occupation classifications at once. ANZSCO is the legacy system; the National Occupation List (NOL) applies to AEWV and Job Check applications submitted on or after 3 November 2025. On 9 March 2026, 47 occupations were recognised at NOL skill levels 1–3, and three — pet groomer, nanny and kennel hand — moved down from level 3 to level 4.
The point of failure is usually the job description rather than the job title. INZ assesses the actual tasks and responsibilities. A title that sounds senior does not lift a role whose described duties sit lower. See AEWV skill levels explained and ANZSCO vs the National Occupation List.
2. Work experience or qualification evidence that does not carry
The requirement is two years or more of relevant experience, or a qualification at NZQCF Level 4 or higher — reduced from three years to two on 10 March 2025.
Where applications come apart:
- The experience must be in the same field or industry as the offered job. The exception is a bachelor's degree or higher, which may be in any field.
- The two years need not be consecutive or full-time, but must total two years full-time equivalent, with evidence of hours worked. Reference letters that describe duties without hours are a recurring weakness.
- Overseas employers who no longer exist, or who will not confirm dates, leave gaps that the applicant has to fill some other way.
Some applicants are exempt from proving minimum skills — for example where occupational registration itself required the experience or qualification, or where the same evidence was accepted on a previous application. AEWV work experience and qualification requirements sets out the detail.
3. Pay that does not match the advertisement
The pay offered must match what was advertised. This is stated in INZ's own advertising rules, and it is checked.
The advertisement itself has to state the job description with key tasks and responsibilities, the minimum and maximum rate of pay (or estimated actual earnings), the type of work and minimum guaranteed hours, and the minimum skills, experience or qualifications required. When the employment agreement then offers less than the advertised range, the application has a visible inconsistency at its centre.
Related pay failures:
- The job must guarantee at least 30 hours a week. A roster that usually reaches 30 hours is not a guarantee of 30 hours.
- Piece rates, commission and bonuses must be paid in addition to the guaranteed hourly rate, not counted toward it.
- Pay must meet the market rate for the occupation, with the adult minimum wage as the floor. Since 10 March 2025 the immigration median wage has not been the AEWV pay test — but market rate is still a test, and an offer well below what New Zealanders in that role are paid does not pass it.
4. Money paid for the job offer
INZ declines applications where you, or an agent acting for you, offered or promised money to the employer in exchange for the job offer. Employers are separately prohibited from passing recruitment costs on to workers.
This is one of the few grounds that is close to automatic. It is also the mechanism behind a large share of the fake job offers aimed at migrants — see how do I know if a New Zealand job offer is real and immigration scams to avoid.
5. A missing upfront police certificate
Since 2026, applications lacking a required upfront police certificate may be declined without further contact. There is no request for further information first. The application simply fails.
The general rules: a police certificate is required where you plan to stay in New Zealand for 24 months or longer, and it must be less than six months old when you submit the application. You may not need one if you provided it in a previous application. See the upfront police certificate rule.
6. Health
INZ may decline where a medical assessor considers likely health service costs exceed NZ$81,000, assessed over a five-year period or over the predicted course of the condition. That threshold rose from NZ$41,000 on 4 September 2022 and has been stable since.
AEWV applicants from high-TB-incidence countries staying more than six months require a chest x-ray. A medical waiver process exists for some situations — see medical waivers for NZ visa applications and acceptable standard of health.
7. Character
All applicants must meet good character requirements. Undisclosed convictions are worse than disclosed ones, because false or misleading information is itself a ground for refusal and for later deportation liability — separate from whatever was concealed.
8. English, for skill level 3 to 5 roles
English evidence is required where the job is at ANZSCO or NOL skill level 3, 4 or 5. Skill level 3 came into scope on 1 June 2026, at IELTS General 4.0 or equivalent. Skill level 1 and 2 roles need no English evidence.
Two exemptions apply: applicants who already provided English evidence on a previous AEWV application, and skill level 3 applicants whose current visa expires on or before 1 December 2026. See English language requirements for work visas.
What happens to your money
INZ does not refund the application fee or the levies when an application is declined. Its refund page is explicit: no refund where an application has been processed, even if it was declined. Refunds exist for narrow situations — you paid a fee you did not need to pay, you paid the wrong fee, the application was not accepted and was returned to you.
So a decline costs the full NZ$1,540 (NZ$480 fee + NZ$1,060 immigration levy), plus whatever the employer spent on accreditation and the Job Check.
What options exist after a decline
There are exactly two structural routes in New Zealand, and which one applies depends on the visa type — not on how strongly you disagree.
| Visa type | Route |
|---|---|
| Temporary visa (including the AEWV) | Reconsideration by INZ — internal |
| Residence class visa | Appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal — external |
A temporary visa decline has no right of appeal to a tribunal. Many people assume otherwise and lose time looking for one.
Reconsideration, in outline
Reconsideration is available only if all of the following apply: the application was made while you were in New Zealand, you are still in New Zealand when you make the request, you hold a valid visa (including an interim visa), and INZ receives the request within the deadline that runs from when you received the decision.
- Fee: NZ$220. Processing: 80% within five weeks.
- A different immigration officer reviews the decision. They either grant the visa, if the first decision was incorrect, or maintain the decline.
- Grounds: your circumstances have genuinely changed since the decision, or you believe the original decision was wrong.
- You get one. INZ will not consider a decision a second time.
- Requesting reconsideration does not extend your current visa, though deportation proceedings will not begin while it is pending.
The deadline is short and it runs from receipt of the decision, not from the date on the letter. Confirm the exact date from your decline letter and from INZ before you do anything else — a missed deadline closes the route permanently, and no page on the internet can tell you your date.
Full detail in reconsideration of a declined temporary visa.
A fresh application
If reconsideration is unavailable or unsuccessful, the remaining route is a new application, if you are eligible. That means a new fee, and it means fixing whatever caused the decline. A second application that repeats the first one is a second NZ$1,540.
Getting advice
Deciding which route to take is an assessment of your circumstances. Under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, that assessment may only be made by a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer. This page describes what the options are; it does not and cannot tell you which to use. See how to find a licensed immigration adviser.
How to read your decline letter
The letter states the grounds. Read it against the specific requirement it cites, because the fix depends entirely on which requirement failed:
- A skill level finding is about how the job was classified, and is usually addressed by the employer at the Job Check stage rather than by the worker.
- An evidence finding is about documents, and is usually addressable.
- A health or character finding may involve a waiver process.
- A finding that money changed hands for the job offer is the most serious of all, because it goes to the integrity of the application.
If you received a PPI letter — a "potentially prejudicial information" letter — before the decision, INZ gave you a chance to respond to its concerns. What you said in that response is part of the file. See PPI letters from Immigration New Zealand.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the chances of an AEWV being rejected?
INZ does not publish an AEWV approval or decline rate broken down in a form that supports a single percentage, and any figure quoted without a source should be treated with suspicion. What is published is the list of grounds on which applications fail — which is more useful, because those are the things an application can be built to address.
Can I appeal an AEWV decline?
Not to a tribunal. Temporary visa declines have no right of appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal. The internal route is reconsideration, at NZ$220, available once, and only if you applied from within New Zealand, are still in New Zealand, and hold a valid visa.
How much does reconsideration cost?
NZ$220, and 80% of requests are decided within five weeks. A different immigration officer reviews the original decision.
Do I get my visa fee back if I am declined?
No. INZ does not refund the fee or the levies once an application has been processed, even if the outcome was a decline.
Can I apply again immediately after a decline?
A fresh application is available if you are eligible, at the full fee. Whether reapplying immediately is sensible depends on whether the cause of the decline has been fixed, and whether you meet the requirements now — an assessment only a licensed adviser may make for you.
Why was my application declined when my employer is accredited?
Accreditation covers the employer. The Job Check covers the job. The visa application covers you. All three have to succeed independently, and most declines happen at the third stage — skill level, experience evidence, pay matching, documents, health or character.
Does a decline affect future applications?
A decline itself is a fact on your record. What weighs more heavily is any finding of false or misleading information, which is a ground for refusal in its own right and can support deportation liability later. Answering accurately, including about past refusals, matters more than the refusal did.
