AEWV Maximum Continuous Stay: 3 Years or 5 Years
An Accredited Employer Work Visa allows a maximum continuous stay of up to five years for jobs at skill levels 1 to 3, and three years for jobs at skill levels 4 and 5. The limit follows the job's skill level, not the worker. When it runs out, INZ normally requires 12 months in a row outside New Zealand.
Quick Facts
| Maximum stay, skill levels 1–3 | Up to 5 years |
| Maximum stay, skill levels 4–5 | 3 years (extended from 2 years in the March 2025 package) |
| What sets it | The skill level of the job, under ANZSCO or the National Occupation List |
| Counted from | Time spent in New Zealand on the visa, across consecutive AEWVs |
| Interim visas | Since April 2025, time on an interim visa counts toward continuous stay and work experience |
| After the maximum | Normally 12 months in a row outside New Zealand before another AEWV |
| Visa fee | AEWV from NZ$1,540 (NZ$480 application fee + NZ$1,060 immigration levy) |
| Processing | 80% of AEWV applications decided within 8 weeks (as published 20 August 2026) |
| Leads to residence | Not automatically. Some AEWV jobs feed residence pathways |
Fees unchanged since 1 October 2024. Fees vary by fee band — where you apply from — so check the current amount for your situation before paying.
What "maximum continuous stay" means
It is a ceiling on time inside New Zealand on the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). It is not the length of one visa, and it is not a limit on how many AEWVs you can be granted.
A worker might hold a two-year AEWV, then a second one, then a third. Each grant is separate. What matters is the running total of time spent in the country on this visa type. Once that total reaches the maximum for the skill level of the job, no further AEWV can be granted until a period outside New Zealand has been served.
That gap is a stand-down period, and it is normally 12 months in a row. It is not three years, no matter how often that figure is repeated online — see the AEWV stand-down period explained for why the confusion happens.
The two limits, and where they come from
| Job skill level | Maximum continuous stay | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1, 2 or 3 | Up to 5 years | Includes most professional, technical and trades roles |
| 4 or 5 | 3 years | Raised from 2 years as part of the changes that took effect in March 2025 |
The three-year figure is newer than most guides acknowledge. Before the March 2025 package, new AEWVs for skill level 4 and 5 roles were capped at two years. The government extended that to three at the same time as it removed the median-wage pay rule, cut the migrant experience requirement from three years to two, and moved the labour market test to a declaration-based model. Our policy note on the March 2025 changes sets out the full package.
Why the skill level, not the salary, decides
Skill levels come from occupation classifications, not from pay. New Zealand currently runs two of them at once:
- ANZSCO — the older Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations.
- The National Occupation List (NOL) — New Zealand's own replacement, which applies to AEWV and Job Check applications submitted on or after 3 November 2025.
A job carries a skill level under whichever classification INZ applies to it, and that skill level determines the maximum stay. Two people on identical salaries in different occupations can have different ceilings. AEWV skill levels explained covers how a role is classified, and ANZSCO vs the National Occupation List covers why both still exist.
One consequence catches people out: skill levels move. On 9 March 2026 INZ recognised 47 additional occupations at NOL skill levels 1–3, and moved three roles — pet groomer, nanny and kennel hand — down from level 3 to level 4. A change like that alters which ceiling applies to new applications in those occupations.
Step 1: Identify the skill level of your job
Find the occupation as INZ classifies it, under ANZSCO or the NOL, and read the skill level from that. Your visa grant letter states the job you are approved for. If the occupation was reclassified after your visa was granted, the level that applied at the time of your application is the one that shaped that grant — but the level applying to a new application is the current one.
Step 2: Add up time already spent in New Zealand on the visa
Continuous stay counts time in New Zealand on the AEWV, including across consecutive grants. Since April 2025 it also counts time on an interim visa — the visa INZ normally gives you when your current visa expires while a new application is being assessed. Before that change, interim time sat in a grey area; now it counts both toward continuous stay and toward the work experience you can claim. Our guide to interim visas explains how they are granted.
Step 3: Work out the date the allowance ends, then work backwards
The date your maximum stay is reached is the only deadline that matters for planning. Everything you might do instead — a residence application, a move to another category — has to be lodged and decided before it. Residence processing runs in months: the Straight to Residence Visa is decided for 80% of applicants within 3 months, and the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa within 4 months (as published 20 August 2026). A plan that starts three weeks before the ceiling is not a plan.
What happens when the maximum stay runs out
Three things are true at once, and separating them prevents most of the panic on this topic:
- Your current visa does not end early. The maximum stay caps what can be granted next; it does not shorten what you already hold.
- No further AEWV can be granted until the stand-down is served — normally 12 months in a row outside New Zealand.
- Other categories are governed by their own rules. Whether any of them fit a particular person is an assessment of that person's circumstances, which only a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer may make.
INZ has announced that from 2027, AEWVs will become extendable by up to 12 months. The detailed settings had not been published at the time of writing. An announcement is not an instruction you can apply, so treat it as a reason to re-verify the rules closer to the time rather than as time you already have.
Reaching residence before the ceiling
For most people, the useful question is not "what happens at the end" but "what has to happen before it". The AEWV can lead to a resident visa depending on the job:
- Green List Tier 1 roles support a direct residence application.
- Green List Tier 2 roles require 24 months working in New Zealand in a Tier 2 role first.
- The Skilled Migrant Category requires 6 points and employment with an accredited employer.
- Care Workforce and Transport Sector work-to-residence visas each require 24 months of qualifying New Zealand work.
Each of those has its own age limit, pay threshold and evidence requirements. AEWV to residence pathways sets them out in full, including the classification trap where residence pathways still run on ANZSCO while your work visa runs on the National Occupation List.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can I stay in New Zealand on an AEWV?
Up to five years in total if your job is at skill level 1, 2 or 3, and three years if it is at skill level 4 or 5. The figure is a maximum across consecutive visas, not the length of a single grant.
Is the AEWV 3 years or 5 years?
Both, depending on the job. Five years is the ceiling for skill levels 1–3; three years is the ceiling for skill levels 4–5. Neither figure is a stand-down period, and neither is guaranteed — the length of any individual visa is set by INZ on the application.
What is the AEWV balance?
"Balance" is the informal term for the unused part of your maximum continuous stay. If your role is capped at five years and you have been here for two, three years remain. Time on an interim visa has counted toward that total since April 2025.
Does time outside New Zealand pause the clock?
Continuous stay counts time in New Zealand, so ordinary trips abroad while you hold the visa are not the same as serving a stand-down. What they do to your running total is a question about your own travel record. INZ holds that record; confirm it with them rather than estimating.
What happens after 5 years on an AEWV?
You reach the maximum continuous stay for skill levels 1–3, and no further AEWV can be granted until you have spent normally 12 months in a row outside New Zealand. People who intend to stay generally move to a residence pathway before that point.
Did the AEWV maximum stay change recently?
Yes. New AEWVs for skill level 4 and 5 roles were extended from two years to three in the March 2025 package. The five-year maximum for skill levels 1–3 was unchanged. INZ has also announced that AEWVs will become extendable by up to 12 months from 2027.
Do I need a new Job Check to stay longer?
A further AEWV is a fresh application, and it needs the employer's accreditation to be current and a valid Job Check covering the role. Renewing an AEWV explains what the employer has to have in place and what the worker has to re-prove.
