New Zealand’s Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV): a guide for Bangladeshi workers

The AEWV in brief

New Zealand has one main door for overseas workers hired from abroad: the Accredited Employer Work Visa, or AEWV. It is a temporary visa, and it only opens once a job is in place.

The order matters. An accredited employer offers you work, then sends you a link to the online form. Before that, there is nothing to apply for. Two conditions apply to the job itself: it must offer 30 hours or more each week, and its pay must match the market rate for that work, never dropping under a legal minimum (the New Zealand minimum wage, for example).

Some work sits outside the AEWV: being self-employed, crewing a foreign fishing vessel, and crop work in horticulture or viticulture (planting, maintaining, harvesting or packing).

Three gates: employer, job, worker

Think of the AEWV as three gates. You pass through them in this order.

1. Gate one, the employer. The business must hold accreditation from Immigration New Zealand.
2. Gate two, the job. The employer proves to INZ that pay and conditions follow the rules and, when the rules ask for it, that New Zealanders saw the job advertised first. An approved job check stays valid for 6 months.
3. Gate three, you. The employer gives you a personal link called a "job token". Through it you apply, with proof of your skills, English, health and character.

Skills and experience: who qualifies

Besides the job offer (from an accredited employer, with its job check approved), you show your skills in one of three ways:

• a work history of 2 years or more in relevant work;
• a qualification at level 4 or above on New Zealand's Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF); or
• a bachelor's degree, or a higher degree, in any field.

A qualification from overseas that sits below bachelor's level, a BTEB trade certificate for instance, is only counted after NZQA has done an International Qualification Assessment (IQA). Some workers skip the skills test altogether, among them those in Green List roles, in jobs that need occupational registration (such as electrical or plumbing work) and in jobs paying NZD 67.12 an hour or more (as of October 2026, official page).

Ready to look? Here are the sponsored jobs in New Zealand.

English: when you need a test

Whether you sit a test is set by the job's skill level, not by you. Jobs at skill level 1 or 2 (on ANZSCO, or NOL) need no English evidence. Jobs at skill level 3, 4 or 5 do, at these minimums (as of October 2026, official page):

Two more conditions: you take the test in person, and the result is less than 2 years old when your application goes in.

Medicals and police certificates

Medicals. A chest X-ray for tuberculosis (TB) is part of the application if your stay will be longer than 6 months and you hold citizenship of, or have lately spent time in, a country that does not have a low TB rate. Any medical or X-ray result has to reach INZ while it is less than 3 months old.

Police certificates. These apply to anyone aged 17 or more who will spend a total of 24 months or longer in New Zealand. You need one from each country of citizenship, and one from any country where you have lived more than 5 years since you turned 17. None may be older than 6 months. For Bangladesh, that is a Police Clearance Certificate from Bangladesh Police.

The AEWV steps in order

1. Find and apply for a role with an accredited employer.
2. Talk to the employer in an interview and, if it goes well, accept an offer.
3. Wait while the employer gets its approvals: accreditation, and a job check for your position.
4. Open your job token, the personal link that starts your application.
5. Upload your evidence: passport, qualifications or work history, an English result (when the job needs one), police certificates, medicals and any certified translations.
6. Submit online and pay the application fee.
7. Get your decision. If you are leaving from Bangladesh, finish BMET emigration clearance, then fly out and start the job.

Decision time, cost, time limits and job changes

• Decision time. 80% of AEWV applications get a decision inside 5.5 weeks (as of October 2026, official page). That clock starts only when you apply, so add the time your employer spends on accreditation and the job check, and your own time collecting papers.
• Cost. The fee starts at NZD 1,540 (as of October 2026, official page) and varies by country; the official page calculates yours.
• Time limit. Most roles allow 5 years in total. Roles at ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5 usually allow 3 years, except in cases such as a Green List role or pay of NZD 52.50 an hour or more (AEWV time limits). Someone who reaches the limit has to be out of New Zealand for 12 months before a new AEWV can be granted.
• Visa conditions. One approved employer, one approved job, and no second job. Study is allowed for 3 months at most in any 12 months.
• Switching jobs. A different employer, role or location means a variation of conditions or a Job Change, and that needs an accredited employer and a new job check. The visa's end date stays the same after a Job Change (changing visa conditions).

Bringing a partner and children

Family members are never part of your AEWV. Each one makes a separate visa application, and the kind of visa open to them follows your hourly pay and your job (as of October 2026, official page):

• You earn NZD 52.50 an hour or more. Your partner can apply for a work visa with your support, and your dependent children for their own visas.
• You earn NZD 28.00 an hour or more, in a role at ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3. Your partner can apply for a Partner of a Worker Work Visa.
• You earn under NZD 28.00 an hour. A visitor visa is the only option for your partner.
• For children's visas (a child visitor visa, or a dependent child student visa), your yearly income needs to be NZD 58,240 or more. A couple who both hold an AEWV may add their incomes together.

Exceptions exist, for Green List roles among others. Read the official page with your own situation in mind.

Paths to residence

An AEWV does not lead to residence on its own, but it can be a first step (as of October 2026, official page).

• Green List roles. Tier 1 jobs go straight to the Straight to Residence Visa. Tier 2 jobs lead to the Work to Residence Visa once you have done 24 months of full-time work in the role in New Zealand (Green List pathway).
• The Skilled Migrant Category (SMC). A resident visa open to people aged 55 or younger, through one of three pathways: points, skilled work experience, or trades and technicians (SMC Resident Visa).

The government reviews residence settings from time to time. Check the live rules before you plan your future on them.

Your Bangladesh checklist

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) applies one set of general rules to everyone. This is what they mean in practice when you apply from Bangladesh, or from a job in the Gulf.

• Passport. Check that it will still be valid 3 months or more after your planned departure from New Zealand.
• Police certificates. Required if you are aged 17 or above and expect to spend 24 months or longer in New Zealand altogether. Bangladeshi citizens give a Police Clearance Certificate from Bangladesh Police; add one for any other country of citizenship, and for any country where you lived over 5 years after turning 17. Every certificate must be less than 6 months old when you lodge. Send the actual certificate, because a receipt for it is not enough. Steps for Bangladesh are in the INZ police certificate tool.
• Independent proof of your work. INZ does not take a CV as proof. Send papers such as employment certificates, payslips, tax records or reference letters, showing the job you did, when you did it and who can confirm it. Letters from Gulf employers work the same way.
• Diplomas and trade papers. A BTEB certificate, or another qualification below bachelor's level from outside New Zealand, needs an NZQA International Qualification Assessment (IQA) before it counts.
• Medical results. When a medical or chest X-ray is asked for, it must be less than 3 months old on arrival at INZ.
• Certified translations. Police and medical certificates in any language other than English must be translated and certified, even when they show nothing against you. INZ refuses translations made by you, a relative or your immigration adviser (INZ translation rules).

Get the timing right. Police certificates and medicals go out of date, so apply for them when the employer is close to sending your job token, not months earlier. The complete list is on the AEWV page.

Dalals, fake offers and avoidable errors

The same warning holds for New Zealand: if a dalal or anyone else wants money upfront to "secure" a job or a visa, walk away.

• Jobs are not for sale. In New Zealand an employer or agent is not allowed to take money from you for a job, or to make you cover their recruitment costs, whether they ask directly or through someone else.
• A bought offer means a declined visa. If INZ believes money was offered or promised to the employer for the job offer, by you or by your agent, the AEWV is declined.
• INZ collects one charge only. That is the application fee. A request to pay visa fees by bank deposit does not come from INZ.
• Advice must be licensed. Immigration advice may only come from an adviser holding an Immigration Advisers Authority licence, or from an exempt person (INZ on immigration advice). Applying without any adviser is allowed too.
• Where applications go wrong: a CV sent in place of real proof of work; police certificates older than 6 months; untranslated documents; and accepting a job where the employer lacks accreditation or the job check was never approved.

More from INZ: how to spot immigration scams.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get an AEWV without a job lined up?

No. The visa starts with an offer from an accredited employer whose job check is approved. That employer then sends you the job token, your link into the application.

How much experience is needed?

In most cases 2 years or more of relevant work, or a qualification at NZQCF level 4 or above. Some jobs need neither, for example Green List roles and jobs with very high pay.

Is IELTS or PTE required?

Only when the job sits at ANZSCO skill level 3, 4 or 5. You then need IELTS 4.0 overall, PTE Academic 29 or an equal score on another accepted test (as of October 2026), taken less than 2 years before you apply.

Which police certificate does New Zealand want from Bangladesh?

A Police Clearance Certificate from Bangladesh Police, when you are 17 or over and your total time in New Zealand will reach 24 months or more. It cannot be older than 6 months on the day you apply. The INZ police certificate tool lists what other countries issue.

How quickly is an AEWV decided?

As of October 2026, 80% of applications are decided by INZ within 5.5 weeks. For the current figure, see the AEWV page.

How long can I stay on an AEWV?

Most roles: 5 years in total. Most roles at ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5: 3 years. When you hit the limit, you need 12 months outside New Zealand before a new AEWV.

Will my partner be allowed to work?

It comes down to your job and pay. A Partner of a Worker Work Visa may be possible if you earn NZD 52.50 an hour or more, or NZD 28.00 an hour or more in a role at ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3.

Can anyone charge me for the job?

No. Job fees, and passing recruitment costs on to workers, are not allowed in New Zealand, and a paid-for offer gets the visa declined. Never pay a dalal.