Renewing your AEWV employer accreditation

When to apply

On timing, INZ’s renewal page says:

“We recommend you allow at least 5 weeks to apply to renew your employer accreditation.”

“Check our wait times page to find up-to-date information on how long we are taking to process applications.”

“We will send you an email 2 weeks before your employer accreditation expiry date to remind you that your accreditation is about to expire.”

Source: INZ, Renewing your AEWV employer accreditation. INZ’s wait times page: Employer accreditation, job check and AEWV wait times. Last checked 17 Oct 2026.

The free renewal dates tool shows the date 5 weeks before an expiry date you enter.

First accreditation, and reasons INZ gives for renewing

“Your first AEWV employer accreditation is valid for 12 months. You can renew it before the end of that 12-month period. If you do not renew your accreditation, it will expire.”

“You should renew your employer accreditation if you want to:

• employ new workers on an AEWV
• change accreditation type
• support an AEWV worker to apply for another AEWV (if the length of their current AEWV is less than the total amount of time they can stay in New Zealand, called their maximum continuous stay, they can apply for further AEWVs to be able to stay for that maximum time)
• support a migrant worker to apply for a different visa that requires you to be accredited, such as a Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa, Work to Residence Visa, Transport Work to Residence Visa, Care Workforce Work to Residence Visa or Straight to Residence Visa.”

“You do not need to renew your accreditation if you do not want to employ any new migrants on AEWVs or support an AEWV worker with further visa applications. For example, if you have not used your current accreditation or valid job tokens, and do not plan to hire migrants.”

Source: INZ, Renewing your AEWV employer accreditation. Last checked 17 Oct 2026.

How long a renewal lasts

“If you renew your accreditation, it will last for:

• 24 months, if you have standard or high-volume accreditation
• 12 months, if you have triangular employer accreditation.”

“If you renew any accreditation that expired more than 12 months ago, then your accreditation will only be valid for 12 months.”

On when a renewal starts, INZ says:

“If we approve your application, we renew your accreditation from the date we approve it.”

INZ’s example: “Your accreditation is due to expire on 30 August and you submit your renewal application on 1 June. We approve your application on 1 July, so your new accreditation begins on 1 July.”

Source: INZ, Renewing your AEWV employer accreditation. Last checked 17 Oct 2026.

If accreditation isn’t renewed

Under the heading “If you do not renew your employer accreditation”, INZ’s renewal page says:

“Your employer accreditation will expire automatically on the expiry date. If you have any job tokens available, they will expire when your accreditation expires.”

“After your accreditation expires, you can still access your employer dashboard in Immigration Online.”

“You can continue to employ any migrants already working for you (where their visa conditions only permit employment with an accredited employer) until their visas expire. If they want to continue to work for you on another AEWV, you must be accredited.”

“If you do not renew your accreditation, you cannot:

• apply for another job check to hire new workers
• support a worker to apply for another AEWV (if the length of their current AEWV is less than the total amount of time they can stay in New Zealand)
• support a migrant worker to apply for a Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa, Work to Residence Visa, Transport Work to Residence Visa, Care Workforce Work to Residence Visa or Straight to Residence Visa.”

Source: INZ, Renewing your AEWV employer accreditation. Last checked 17 Oct 2026.

INZ also explains how to tell it about a worker who leaves after accreditation has expired. That wording is in the 10 working days guide.

Interim accreditation

INZ’s renewal page describes a 3-month interim accreditation:

“If your employer accreditation expires while you are waiting for a decision on your application for another accreditation, you may qualify for an interim 3-month accreditation if:

• you applied to change or renew accreditation before your current accreditation expired
• your application is still in progress
• you applied for the right type of accreditation for your business, for example we will not give you interim accreditation if you applied for standard accreditation, but you have more than 5 jobs associated to your business.”

“If you want to renew your accreditation, you must submit your application before your accreditation expires in order to be eligible for interim accreditation. If you do not want to renew your accreditation, you do not need to do anything.”

“If you qualify for interim accreditation, we will email you to let you know we will give you interim accreditation when your accreditation expires.”

Source: INZ, Renewing your AEWV employer accreditation. The same page lists the type of interim accreditation INZ gives in each case, and what an interim accreditation can be used for. Last checked 17 Oct 2026.

Fees

INZ’s page on paying for employer accreditation opens with this line:

“Find out what it costs to apply for employer accreditation to employ migrants on an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) and get a job check or renew your accreditation.”

Under “Fees for AEWV employer accreditation applications”, it says:

“How much you need to pay depends on the type of employer accreditation you need.

• Standard accreditation — for businesses hiring up to 5 migrants — is NZD $775.
• High-volume accreditation — for businesses hiring 6 or more migrants — is NZD $1,280.
• Triangular employer accreditation is NZD $4,060.

The fee for upgrading from standard to high-volume accreditation is NZD $505.”

“You must pay your AEWV employer accreditation or job check fees online at the end of your application.”

Source: INZ, Paying for AEWV employer accreditation and job checks. The same page lists the job check fee and the fee to ask INZ to reconsider a declined application. Last checked 17 Oct 2026.

Accredited employer requirements

INZ’s page “Meeting your AEWV accredited employer requirements” says:

“To be approved and maintain your accreditation, you must:

• meet the commitments you made during your application to be an accredited employer
• comply with New Zealand employment laws and standards, and with the Immigration Act 2009
• tell us of any changes to your organisation or if an AEWV worker stops working for you.”

“You and key people in your business must not have:

• employed a migrant who did not have the right visa or visa conditions to work in that job
• provided false or misleading information to us
• been involved in other businesses with immigration breaches
• been banned from acting as a director
• been subject to a stand-down period for breaching minimum employment standards or committing immigration offences
• been permanently banned from sponsoring work visas for committing serious immigration offences.”

“We may complete inspections, either desk-based or through site visits, to confirm you are meeting your requirements as an AEWV employer.”

Source: INZ, Meeting your AEWV accredited employer requirements. Last checked 17 Oct 2026.

INZ’s guide to post-accreditation checks lists examples of evidence under five headings. They’re quoted in the post-accreditation checks guide.

Evidence for a renewal

On evidence, INZ’s renewal page says:

“We can process your application faster if you supply all the required evidence and supporting documents.”

Required evidence

“Upload the documents listed in the 'Evidence to provide' section on Immigration Online to show how you met the accreditation requirements and the commitments you made during your initial application.”

Optional and further evidence

“To help us process your application faster, you can upload supporting documents in the 'Optional evidence' or 'Further evidence' sections to show:

• evidence of being a viable and genuinely operating business
• compliance with business standards, and
• settlement support given to AEWV workers.”

“Supporting documents can include, but are not limited to:

• latest available evidence showing your business is viable and genuinely operating — check our examples of evidence
• GST or PAYE records showing your business' Inland Revenue number
• evidence showing that you provided settlement support information within 1 month of the AEWV worker starting to work for you
• the latest organisation chart (do not include employee names), showing your business structure and positions to help us understand the nature of your business operation.”

“If you do not provide this information and we need to request it, your application will take longer to process.”

Source: INZ, Renewing your AEWV employer accreditation. INZ’s examples: Financial evidence for your AEWV employer accreditation application. Last checked 17 Oct 2026.

The renewal page also lists examples of evidence of settlement support. They’re quoted in the settlement information guide.

If INZ asks for more information

“If we ask you for further information, we send you a link to upload up to 5 additional documents. If you have more than 5 documents to upload, follow the instructions in our Enhanced Immigration Online User Guide under section '4.4 Correspondence'.”

“Files cannot be larger than 10 MB.”

Source: INZ, Renewing your AEWV employer accreditation. Last checked 17 Oct 2026.

More guides

• Post-accreditation checks
• The 10-working-day timeframes
• Settlement information
• All guides