AEWV for Kenyans: working in New Zealand on an Accredited Employer Work Visa

What the AEWV is

For most workers recruited from abroad, New Zealand relies on a single main work visa, the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). It is a temporary visa and is open to you only after you have a job.

The sequence is fixed. An accredited employer makes the offer and emails you a link to the online application; until then there is nothing for you to submit. The job must involve at least 30 hours a week and pay the market rate for that work, never below a legal minimum such as New Zealand's minimum wage.

Certain kinds of work fall outside the AEWV: self-employment, crewing a foreign fishing vessel, and horticulture or viticulture crop work (planting, maintaining, harvesting or packing).

The three checks behind every AEWV

Every AEWV passes through three checks, always in the same order.

1. Employer check. Immigration New Zealand accredits the business.
2. Job check. The employer shows INZ that pay and conditions satisfy the rules and, where it applies, that the job was offered to New Zealanders first. A job check, once approved, stays valid for 6 months.
3. Worker check. That is your turn. The employer gives you a personal link, the "job token", and through it you apply with evidence of your skills, English, health and character.

Proving your skills

Beyond the job offer (from an accredited employer with an approved job check), your skills must be demonstrated in one of three ways:

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

Qualifications gained overseas below bachelor's level, a KNEC or NITA certificate among them, count only after an NZQA International Qualification Assessment (IQA). Certain workers escape the skills requirement altogether: Green List roles, jobs needing occupational registration (electrical or plumbing work, say), and jobs that pay NZD 67.12 per hour or above (as of October 2026, official page).

To browse what is open now, go to sponsored jobs in New Zealand.

English: when the job asks for it

Your own background does not decide this; the skill level of the job does. Jobs at skill level 1 or 2 (on ANZSCO or the NOL) require no English evidence, whereas jobs at skill level 3, 4 or 5 do, with the minimums below (as of October 2026, official page):

You have to sit the test in person, and the result must be under 2 years old on the date you lodge.

Health and police checks

Medicals. If you will stay for more than 6 months and you are a citizen of, or have lately lived in, a country where TB is not rare, you will need a tuberculosis (TB) chest X-ray. INZ needs any medical or X-ray result to be under 3 months old when it arrives.

Police certificates. Applicants aged 17 or over who will spend 24 months or more in New Zealand in total must supply a certificate from every country of citizenship and from any country where they lived for over 5 years after their 17th birthday. No certificate may be older than 6 months, and for Kenyan citizens the document is a Certificate of Good Conduct from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

How the application unfolds

1. Pick a vacancy from an accredited employer and apply.
2. Attend the interview, usually by video from Kenya, and accept the offer if you are happy with it.
3. Wait while the employer secures its approvals: accreditation, followed by a job check for your role.
4. Receive the job token, your link into the application.
5. Upload your documents: passport, qualifications or work history, English results where the job requires them, police certificates, medicals and any certified translations.
6. Submit online and pay the application fee.
7. Await the decision. After the grant, give notice, buy your flight and begin the job.

Processing, cost, stay limits and job changes

• Processing. 80% of AEWV applications get a decision within 5.5 weeks (as of October 2026, official page). The count begins when you lodge, so allow extra for the employer to complete accreditation and the job check and for you to collect your papers.
• Cost. The fee begins at NZD 1,540 (as of October 2026, official page) and varies with your country; the official page calculates the figure for you.
• Maximum stay. A total of 5 years is allowed in most roles, but 3 years is the normal cap at ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5, unless for instance the role is on the Green List or pays NZD 52.50 per hour or above (AEWV time limits). After hitting the limit you must wait out 12 months outside New Zealand before a further AEWV can be granted.
• Conditions. One approved employer, one approved job and no second job. Study is permitted for up to 3 months in any 12 months.
• Changing jobs. Moving to a new employer, role or location calls for a variation of conditions or a Job Change; each requires an accredited employer and a new job check. The end date of the visa does not move with a Job Change (changing visa conditions).

Bringing your family

Your family members are not covered by your AEWV. Each of them applies separately, and which visa they can get depends on your hourly pay and your job (as of October 2026, official page):

• Earning NZD 52.50 per hour or above: your partner may apply for a work visa backed by you, and dependent children for visas in their own name.
• Earning NZD 28.00 per hour or above in a role at ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3: your partner can apply for a Partner of a Worker Work Visa.
• Earning less than NZD 28.00 per hour: a visitor visa is your partner's only option.
• For children (a child visitor visa or a dependent child student visa) you need an annual income of NZD 58,240 or more; two partners who each hold an AEWV can pool their incomes.

There are exceptions, Green List roles included. Compare the official page with your own situation.

Becoming a New Zealand resident

The AEWV itself confers no residence, yet it can open a path to it (as of October 2026, official page).

• Green List. Tier 1 roles qualify for the Straight to Residence Visa, while Tier 2 roles qualify for the Work to Residence Visa after 24 months of full-time work in the role in New Zealand (Green List pathway).
• Skilled Migrant Category (SMC). This resident visa is for applicants aged 55 or under, and it has three pathways: points, skilled work experience, or trades and technicians (SMC Resident Visa).

The government revises residence settings from time to time; check the current rules before you plan around them.

Papers to prepare in Kenya

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) holds every applicant to the same rules. Here is how they play out for someone applying from Kenya.

• Passport. At least 3 months of validity must remain after the date you expect to leave New Zealand.
• Police clearance. Needed from age 17 if you will be in New Zealand for 24 months or more in total. As a Kenyan citizen you provide a Certificate of Good Conduct from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI); supply another for each other citizenship you hold, and for every country you lived in for more than 5 years after your 17th birthday. A certificate must be under 6 months old when you lodge, and INZ expects the certificate itself, not the receipt. The INZ police certificate tool outlines the steps for each country.
• Evidence of experience. INZ does not take a CV as proof by itself. Send reference letters, payslips or tax records that show your duties, the dates and a person who can confirm them.
• Qualifications. A below-bachelor's qualification earned outside New Zealand, a KNEC or NITA award for example, must first receive an NZQA International Qualification Assessment (IQA).
• Medicals. A medical or chest X-ray that INZ requests has to be under 3 months old on the day INZ receives it.
• Translations. Rarely needed for documents issued in English. Documents in any other language, police and medical certificates included, need a certified translation, and INZ refuses ones that you, a relative or your immigration adviser prepared (INZ translation rules).

Mind the expiry dates. Police certificates and medicals lapse, so request them when the employer is about to send the job token and not long before. The AEWV page carries the full list.

Scams and mistakes to avoid

New Zealand sees the same fraud and gives the same advice: as soon as someone demands money in advance to "secure" a job or visa, stop talking to them.

• No one can sell you a job. Employers and agents in New Zealand are barred from charging you for a job or passing their recruitment costs on to you, whether directly or via another party.
• A purchased offer gets the visa refused. The AEWV is declined if INZ believes that you or your agent offered or promised the employer money for the job offer.
• INZ takes the application fee and nothing else. It does not request visa fees by bank transfer.
• Advice is regulated. Only a person licensed by the Immigration Advisers Authority, or exempt from licensing, may give immigration advice (INZ on immigration advice). You are free to apply yourself.
• Frequent causes of refusal: a CV offered in place of real evidence of work, police certificates over 6 months old, untranslated documents, and a job with an employer who is not accredited or whose job check was not approved.

INZ gives more detail here: how to spot immigration scams.

Frequently asked questions

Can I apply for an AEWV when I have no job?

No. An offer from an accredited employer with an approved job check comes first, and the employer then sends the job token, which is the link that opens the application.

What work experience do I need?

Usually 2 years or more in relevant work, or a qualification at NZQCF level 4 or higher. A handful of roles, such as Green List roles and very highly paid jobs, need neither.

Do I have to take IELTS or PTE?

Only if the job sits at ANZSCO skill level 3, 4 or 5. In that case you need IELTS 4.0 overall, PTE Academic 29 or an equivalent result on another accepted test (as of October 2026), taken less than 2 years before you apply.

Which police certificate does New Zealand ask for from Kenya?

A Certificate of Good Conduct from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), if you are 17 or older and will spend 24 months or more in New Zealand in total. It must be under 6 months old when you apply. The INZ police certificate tool deals with other countries too.

How long does an AEWV decision take?

As of October 2026, INZ decides 80% of applications in 5.5 weeks. The current figure is on the AEWV page.

How long may I remain?

Up to 5 years in total for most roles, and 3 years for most roles at ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5. At the limit, 12 months outside New Zealand must pass before you can have another AEWV.

Is my partner allowed to work?

That depends on your job and pay. Your partner may qualify for a Partner of a Worker Work Visa if you earn NZD 52.50 per hour or above, or NZD 28.00 per hour or above in a role at ANZSCO skill level 1 to 3.

Will my Kenyan nursing or trade registration be accepted?

Not automatically. Nurses register with the nursing regulator in New Zealand, and some trades, for example electrical and plumbing work, require occupational registration there. The advert tells you what the employer needs.

May an employer charge me for the job?

No. New Zealand prohibits job fees and passing recruitment costs on to workers, and a paid-for offer results in the visa being declined.