Immigration New Zealand will be bringing in an accreditation system for partners of Work Visa holders from December 2022. When a migrant applies for an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV), their partner will either need to come to New Zealand on a Visitor Visa or they will need to apply for an AEWV in their own right. As professionals in the immigration space, we can see many issues which may arise from these changes.
Firstly, families who are immigrating to a new country will often use the traditional open Work Visa for one partner to help children adapt, organise accommodation and other settlement arrangements, and then eventually move into a part-time work once the family have adjusted. Having to secure an AEWV to work will likely mean having to work full-time hours and secure a pay rate of over median wage. It is very possible that this will make the settlement process much harder for families moving to New Zealand.
Secondly, businesses rely on both partnership open Work Visas and Working Holiday Visas to hire employees without being bound to median wage or full-time hours. This change is creating even further barriers for businesses who are already struggling with industry wide staffing shortages.
Further to this, there have been concerns over the rise of domestic violence within migrant families if partners are to come to New Zealand on Visitor Visas. A Visitor Visa holder does not have work rights and this makes it much easier for a partner to become isolated and cut off from society.
It is important more than ever to work with a team of experts to make your immigration dreams a reality. The new immigration system is marketed as a simple three step process, however when put into practice it is complex and the immigration policy is constantly changing. At Trinity we can work with you to create a strategy for your family to migrate to New Zealand. With a team of highly skilled recruitment consultants along with expert immigration professionals we can work to find employment opportunities, assist employers to meet their requirements and complete various visa applications.
Our Immigration Manager Carmi’s experience:
"As a partner of a worker on a Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa, I was able to come to NZ with an open Work Visa. Being on a partner visa with open work rights meant that I was free to explore opportunities and to take my time in finding a job that suited me. It afforded me the flexibility to work around my family especially since my son was only two years old back then and needed extra attention. I didn’t look for a job until I felt that he was fully settled, which was around two months after arriving in New Zealand. In hindsight, I realise that I was lucky that I wasn’t pressured to immediately find a job and that I was able to adjust to life in New Zealand on my own time."
