Immigration Assistance for Corporate and Large Employers

Employers bear the legal responsibility to ensure their employees have the right to work in New Zealand, with strict penalties in place for non-compliance. Employers must validate and maintain records that confirm checks on work entitlements were performed.

Breaches of the Immigration Act 2009 entail:

– A maximum fine of NZD $10,000 for employing a foreign national not authorised to work.
– A maximum fine of NZD $50,000 for knowingly permitting or continuing to permit an unentitled foreign national to work.
– A maximum penalty for exploiting a foreign national, whom the employer knowingly allowed to work without entitlement, includes up to seven years of imprisonment, a fine of up to NZD $100,000, or both.

Employers must adhere to the following:

– Ignorance of a worker’s visa validity is not an excuse. Legally, it is the employer’s duty to confirm all staff have legal work status in New Zealand. Visa View can be used for these checks.
– Unless licensed or exempt (such as lawyers or the Citizens Advice Bureau), employers cannot provide immigration advice to candidates. Instead, direct them to the Immigration New Zealand website or its Contact Centre for information.
– Employers cannot hire migrants with temporary visas for commercial sexual services.
– Employers must not undercut migrants by paying them below, or providing conditions lesser than, New Zealand’s workplace minimums. Migrants should be afforded the same rights as New Zealand citizens and residents.

Working with an immigration specialist, like Immigration Chambers can help to ensure you avoid any non-compliance issues.

As an employer, unless you or someone on your team is a licensed immigration specialist, you cannot provide advice to your employees. You may be able to assess whether their visa is correct

based on your experience, however, if you’re looking to confirm this information or your potential employee asks you for information on finding the right visa for them, you must point them in the direction of the services of an immigration specialist who is licensed or publicly available immigration information.

As the employer, you must ensure that you’re hiring someone who has a valid visa and is legally able to work for you.

To check that their visa is valid, you can use the Immigration New Zealand VisaView tool which allows you to check visa status. You can also do a document check, which involves reviewing documents such as a foreign passport with a valid New Zealand work visa or any New Zealand visa that allows them to work, or a New Zealand residence class visa. Some visa holders may have an eVisa rather than a visa in their passport.

Immigration New Zealand strives to ensure that temporary migrant workers are hired only for legitimate shortages, while also aiming to facilitate employers’ access to the necessary skills and labour.

Achieving company accreditation involves submitting a thorough application to Immigration New Zealand, covering various topics. The evidence needed and the criteria to be met in each section will hinge on the kind of accreditation being pursued. Our seasoned consultants will assess the requisite level, evaluate the evidence supplied, and confirm that the INZ benchmarks are satisfied for the relevant category.

Employer accreditation is valid for 12 months initially once it is granted, and then you may apply for a renewal of your accreditation, which may be granted for an additional 12-24 months depending on the type of business that you have.