AEWV Pay and Wage Requirements in New Zealand
An Accredited Employer Work Visa job must be paid the market rate for the occupation and at least the adult minimum wage of NZ$23.50 an hour. The median wage stopped being the pay threshold on 10 March 2025. Pay must be guaranteed, must be for at least 30 hours a week, and must match what was advertised.
Quick Facts
| Pay test | Market rate for the occupation, assessed at the Job Check stage |
| INZ's definition | "A range of pay that a New Zealander or resident would be paid within to do the job, or equivalent work" |
| Absolute floor | NZ$23.50 an hour — the adult minimum wage from 1 April 2025 |
| Median wage as a pay rule | Removed 10 March 2025 |
| Minimum hours | 30 hours a week, guaranteed |
| Guaranteed pay | Required. Piece rates, commission, tips and bonuses count only on top of the hourly rate |
| Must match advertising | Yes. The pay offered must match the advertised rate |
| Who evidences it | The employer, during the Job Check |
| Advertising exemption rate | Jobs paying NZ$70.00 an hour or more do not need to be advertised |
| If thresholds rise later | Existing visa holders do not have to meet a higher threshold set after their visa was granted |
The two tests that now apply
Since 10 March 2025 there are two pay tests, and a job has to satisfy both.
Test one — the market rate. INZ defines it as "a range of pay that a New Zealander or resident would be paid within to do the job, or equivalent work". This is the substantive test and it is occupation-specific.
Test two — the minimum wage. The adult minimum wage is NZ$23.50 an hour from 1 April 2025. It is a floor beneath everything, and it comes from employment law rather than immigration law. Every worker in New Zealand is entitled to it regardless of visa status.
There is no third test. In particular, there is no fixed hourly figure that all jobs must reach. If you have read that there is, see why the median wage no longer sets AEWV pay.
What market rate means when INZ assesses it
The definition is deliberately broad, and understanding why makes the requirement much easier to work with.
It is a range. INZ does not publish a table of market rates by occupation, because no such single number exists in the real labour market. A qualified diesel mechanic in a large Auckland fleet workshop and one in a small rural garage are paid differently, and both rates can be genuine.
It is set by the New Zealand market, not by your home market. The comparison is what a New Zealander or resident would be paid to do that job here. What the same role pays in Manila, Mumbai or Manchester is irrelevant to the test.
It covers equivalent work. Where an occupation is unusual and direct comparators are thin, the definition extends to what would be paid for equivalent work.
It is tested before you apply. Market rate is assessed at the Job Check — the employer's second step, which costs NZ$735. By the time you lodge your own application, the rate has already been approved for that role. See what is a Job Check and market rate pay for the AEWV.
Because the employer carries the evidential burden, a pay dispute is usually resolved at the Job Check stage rather than the visa stage. That is a design feature: it stops workers finding out at the last moment that their offer was never compliant.
The rules about how you are paid, not just how much
Three rules about the structure of pay catch out more applicants than the rate itself.
Pay has to be guaranteed
The employment agreement must guarantee the rate and the hours. Piece rates, commission, tips, service charges and bonuses count only in addition to a guaranteed hourly rate, never as a substitute for one. An offer of "$X per bin picked" or "commission only" cannot support this visa, however much a good week might earn.
Hours have to be guaranteed too
The job must guarantee at least 30 hours a week. "Up to 40 hours" and "as required" are not guarantees. This is the same 30-hour figure that defines full-time work for the visa, and it must appear in the employment agreement rather than in a verbal understanding.
Pay has to match the advertisement
Where advertising was required, the job advertisement must state the minimum and maximum rate of pay — or the estimated actual earnings — along with the type of work, the minimum guaranteed hours, and the minimum skills, experience or qualifications. The pay offered must match what was advertised.
An offer that pays less than the advertised range is a compliance problem for the employer and a risk to the application. If your offer letter and the advertisement disagree, that gap is worth resolving before anyone pays a fee. See advertising a job before a Job Check.
Pay rates that trigger different rules
Several dollar figures appear in the instructions. None of them is a general pay threshold; each one changes which rules apply.
| Rate | What it does |
|---|---|
| NZ$23.50 an hour | The adult minimum wage from 1 April 2025. An absolute floor |
| NZ$29.66 an hour | The February 2023 median wage. Some sector agreements and wage exemptions permit roles paid below this rate — INZ's guidance carries the heading "If your job is paid less than $29.66 an hour" |
| NZ$67.12 an hour | Twice the 2024 median wage. Pay at or above this exempts an applicant from proving the minimum skill requirement |
| NZ$70.00 an hour | Jobs paying at or above this rate are exempt from the advertising requirement before a Job Check |
The presence of these frozen figures is why the topic feels contradictory. They are historic median-wage multiples that were written into specific rules and left there. They are switches, not thresholds. See AEWV work experience and qualification requirements.
The median wage has not disappeared — it moved
The immigration median wage is NZ$35.00 an hour from 9 March 2026, calculated from Stats NZ June 2025 quarter data. It indexes residence and family thresholds. It does not set what an employer-assisted work visa job must pay.
Where it still governs outcomes that matter to a worker on this visa:
- Supporting a partner's work visa. The pay you must earn to support a partner depends on your job's skill level, and those thresholds are median-wage multiples. See income thresholds to support a partner visa.
- Supporting a dependent child. The child income threshold is set at 80% of the median wage on a 40-hour week and re-indexes when the median wage does. Confirm the current amount with INZ before relying on it — see bringing family on a work visa.
- Green List pay rates, which control whether a Green List role qualifies for its residence pathway.
- Skilled Migrant Category thresholds, if residence is the longer-term plan. See SMC wage thresholds explained.
So a worker can meet the pay rules for the work visa comfortably and still fall short of the pay rate needed to bring a partner, or to qualify for a residence category later. Those are separate tests with separate numbers.
Three threshold types, in INZ's own framing
INZ's wage rates page groups every wage rule in the system into three types. Knowing which type applies to a given rule is most of the battle:
| Threshold type | What it is | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Median wage rate | The indexed figure, re-set roughly annually | Residence categories, Green List, partner and child support |
| Market rate | The range a New Zealander would be paid for the job | The AEWV and related employer-assisted visas |
| Other | The minimum wage, or occupation-specific rates such as pay equity settlement rates | Everywhere as a floor, and in specific sectors |
Some occupations sit in that third bucket in a way that overrides the general test. Care and support roles covered by pay equity settlements, and teaching roles tied to a published pay scale, are assessed against those rates. From 9 March 2026, for example, teachers must sit on Step 5 of the relevant pay scale rather than Step 4.
If wage thresholds rise after you are granted a visa
INZ publishes a plain grandfathering rule: "If you already have a visa and the wage threshold for your visa increases, you do not need to meet the new wage threshold rate."
Two limits on that comfort:
- It protects the visa you already hold. A new application — a renewal, a job change, a different visa — is assessed against the rules in force when that application is decided.
- It does not override your employment agreement. Your pay is what your agreement says, and any increase is an employment matter between you and your employer.
Pay problems that put an application at risk
These are structural problems, not opinions about whether a wage is fair:
- Pay below the advertised range. The mismatch is visible to INZ because the advertisement is part of the Job Check record.
- Hours not guaranteed. A contract that promises "up to" a number of hours does not meet the 30-hour guarantee.
- Earnings built from commission or piece rates. Only the guaranteed hourly component counts.
- Deductions that pull the effective rate below the minimum wage. Charging a worker for recruitment, accommodation or equipment in a way that takes pay below the legal floor is an employment breach, and accredited employers are expressly prohibited from passing recruitment costs to workers.
- Any payment to the employer for the job offer. INZ will decline the application if money was offered or promised in exchange for a job offer. See migrant exploitation and the protection work visa.
If any of these describe your situation, that is a matter for a licensed adviser, a New Zealand lawyer, or Employment New Zealand — not for a website. See New Zealand employment rights for migrant workers.
What to read in your employment agreement
The employment agreement is the document nearly every pay rule is tested against. Five things are worth locating in it before anyone pays a fee:
| What to find | What the rules require |
|---|---|
| The hourly rate | A guaranteed rate, at or above NZ$23.50 an hour, sitting inside the market range for the occupation |
| Guaranteed hours | At least 30 a week, stated as a guarantee rather than an estimate or a maximum |
| How variable pay is described | Commission, bonuses, tips and piece rates listed as additional to the hourly rate, not as part of it |
| Deductions | Nothing that reduces effective pay below the legal minimum, and no charge for recruitment |
| Location and job title | Matching the role approved at Job Check, because your visa conditions are built from them |
An employment agreement that says "rate to be confirmed", "hours as required" or "remuneration package" without a guaranteed hourly figure is not describing a compliant offer, whatever the total sounds like.
New Zealand employment law sits underneath all of this and applies regardless of visa status — minimum wage, holiday pay, rest breaks and written terms are entitlements, not negotiating points. See what your New Zealand visa conditions allow.
How pay shapes what comes after the visa
Pay does more than get you the visa. It sets the ceiling on several later decisions:
- Whether your partner can work. The partner-support thresholds are keyed to your job's skill level and your hourly rate, and they move when the median wage is re-indexed.
- Whether children can join you. The dependent-child income threshold is a percentage of the median wage. If both partners hold an AEWV, incomes can be combined to meet it.
- Whether a residence category is open to you. Skilled residence has its own pay thresholds, expressed as multiples of the median wage, and they are considerably higher than anything the work visa requires. See pathways to New Zealand residence.
- Whether the job needed advertising at all. Roles paying NZ$70.00 an hour or more are exempt from the advertising requirement, which shortens the employer's timeline.
A wage that is comfortably compliant for the work visa can still be below the level needed to support family or to qualify for residence later. Those are separate tests, decided at different stages, against different numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the AEWV wage requirement in NZ?
The job must pay the market rate for that occupation — the range a New Zealander or resident would be paid to do the same work — and at least the adult minimum wage of NZ$23.50 an hour. There is no single national hourly figure that every job must meet.
What is the AEWV market rate?
It is INZ's pay test for employer-assisted work visas: "a range of pay that a New Zealander or resident would be paid within to do the job, or equivalent work". It varies by occupation and region, is not published as a table, and is evidenced by the employer during the Job Check.
Is there a minimum salary for a New Zealand work visa?
The binding minimum is the adult minimum wage, NZ$23.50 an hour from 1 April 2025. Above that, the requirement is the market rate rather than a fixed salary. Certain other rates — such as pay equity settlement rates in care work — apply to specific occupations.
Does the median wage still apply to work visas?
Not as a pay threshold for the AEWV, which stopped on 10 March 2025. The median wage still sets Green List pay rates, partner support thresholds, dependent-child income thresholds and Skilled Migrant Category thresholds, so it can still affect a worker's family and residence plans.
Can my employer pay me less than the advertised rate?
The pay offered must match what was advertised. A lower offer is a compliance problem for the employer, and a mismatch between the advertisement and the employment agreement is visible to INZ because both sit in the application record.
Do bonuses and commission count towards my pay rate?
Only as extras. Piece rates, commission, tips and bonuses must be paid in addition to a guaranteed hourly rate. They cannot be used to lift a low guaranteed rate up to the required level.
What happens if the wage threshold goes up while I hold my visa?
Nothing to your existing visa. INZ's published rule is that a holder does not have to meet a higher wage threshold introduced after their visa was granted. A new application, including a renewal, is judged against the rules current at that time.
How many hours a week must an AEWV job be?
At least 30 guaranteed hours a week. That is the definition of full-time for this visa, and the guarantee has to be in the employment agreement rather than implied by a roster.
My pay is above the median wage — is that automatically enough?
Being above a median-wage figure does not by itself satisfy the test, because the test is the market range for that specific occupation. Specialised roles can have market ranges well above any general figure. The assessment is made on the role, by INZ, at Job Check stage.
This page is general information, not immigration advice. New Zealand regulates immigration advice under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, and we do not assess anyone's individual circumstances. For advice about your own case, use a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer, and check the licence on the Immigration Advisers Authority register.
