AEWV processing time: what the official guidance says

Immigration New Zealand does not publish a standard processing time for the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) on the pages that set out who can apply and how long you can stay. The official guidance instead tells you how long you can stay on an AEWV once granted, and what to do if your current visa expires while you are waiting for a decision on a new application. If you need a processing time, you must check the Immigration New Zealand website for the current published estimate, because the department does not guarantee a fixed number of days or weeks for AEWV decisions.

What the official pages do and do not tell you

The pages Immigration New Zealand publishes about the AEWV cover eligibility, the requirement to have a job offer from an accredited employer, and the length of the visa you can be granted. They do not state how many weeks or months a decision takes. The AEWV page says the visa lets you stay in New Zealand from 7 months to 5 years, depending on your job, skill level, how much you are paid and when you applied. That is a statement about the visa’s duration, not about processing speed.

If you are looking for a processing time, the correct step is to check the Immigration New Zealand website’s current processing times information for work visas. The site does not commit to a specific turnaround for AEWV applications in the official guidance quoted here, so any number you see elsewhere that claims to be the official AEWV processing time should be treated as unverified unless it appears on an official Immigration New Zealand page.

What happens if your current visa expires while you wait

The official guidance does address one timeline concern directly: what happens if your current temporary visa is going to expire while you are waiting for a decision on a new application. Immigration New Zealand states that it will normally issue an Interim Visa to let you stay in New Zealand lawfully. The conditions on that Interim Visa depend on the visa you previously had and the new visa you have applied for.

This matters for AEWV applicants who are already in New Zealand on another temporary visa. If you apply for an AEWV before your current visa expires, you are not automatically left without lawful status while the application is processed. The Interim Visa is the mechanism that covers the gap. Immigration New Zealand also advises that you should apply for another visa at least 1 month before your current visa’s expiry date.

There is a warning attached to this. You must have a current New Zealand visa to be in New Zealand lawfully. If your visa expires and you are still in New Zealand without a new visa or an Interim Visa, you will be here unlawfully and may be deported. That warning applies across temporary visa categories, including work visas.

How long you can stay on an AEWV once granted

While the official guidance does not give a processing time, it does give detailed rules about the maximum length of an AEWV and the total time you can stay in New Zealand on one or more AEWVs. This is the “maximum continuous stay”. The rules are worth understanding because they affect how long your visa can last, which is a different question from how long the decision takes.

The maximum visa length and total time you can stay on a regular AEWV is 5 years if any of the following applies to your job or pay:

Situation	Maximum visa length and total stay
Job is ANZSCO skill level 1, 2 or 3	5 years
Job is ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5 but recognised at skill level 3	5 years
Job is on the National Occupation List (NOL) at skill level 1, 2 or 3 and on the list of NOL occupations usable for an AEWV or Specific Purpose Work Visa	5 years
You are paid at least NZD $52.50 an hour	5 years
Job is on the Green List	5 years
Job is an approved Transport Work to Residence job and you are paid at least NZD $35.00 an hour	5 years
Job is a care workforce job eligible for the Care Workforce Work to Residence Visa and you are paid at least NZD $28.25 an hour	5 years
You applied for your AEWV on or before 6 April 2024 for a job covered by the transport sector agreement at that time	5 years

If none of those situations apply and your job is ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5, your maximum visa length and total time you can stay is 3 years.

There are two further 5-year situations for people who applied for an AEWV on or before 6 April 2024. The first is if you currently have an AEWV, applied between 21 June 2023 and 6 April 2024, and were paid at least NZD $29.66 an hour when you got your AEWV. The second is if you applied on or before 6 April 2024 and your offer of employment for a further AEWV is for one of these transport sector jobs: bus driver, truck driver, aircraft refueller, furniture removalist, tanker driver or tow truck driver.

Seasonal AEWV variants and time outside New Zealand

The AEWV family includes two seasonal variants with different maximum stay rules. The Global Workforce Seasonal Visa (GWSV) allows a total stay of 3 years, but you must leave New Zealand for 3 months in a row each year of the visa. The Peak Seasonal Visa (PSV) allows a total stay of 7 months, after which you must leave New Zealand for 4 months in a row before being granted another PSV.

For regular AEWVs, the general rule is that you must spend at least 12 months in a row outside New Zealand after reaching the total time you can stay. There is an exception if you are offered a higher skilled job that carries a 5-year total stay: you can stay on an AEWV for 5 years instead of 3, or return to New Zealand before completing the 12 months outside if you had already left because you reached the 3-year limit.

How the total time you can stay is counted

The clock for the total time you can stay starts when you get your first AEWV if you were already in New Zealand, or when you arrived in New Zealand on an AEWV if you got the visa while outside the country. Time spent on an Interim Visa while moving from one AEWV to another counts towards the total. Time on a Specific Purpose Work Visa may also count. Time on other temporary visas such as visitor or student visas, and on other work visas such as a Post-Study Work Visa, partnership-based visa or working holiday visa, does not count.

This distinction is important if you are planning a sequence of visas. The total time you can stay is not simply the length of your current visa; it accumulates across AEWVs and some related visas, and the rules determine when you must leave New Zealand before you can apply for another regular AEWV.

What to check on the official page

Because the official guidance does not give a processing time for the AEWV, you should verify the current published estimate directly on the Immigration New Zealand website. Look for the processing times page for work visas, which the department updates. Also check the AEWV page itself for any current information about how long applications are taking.

If you are already in New Zealand on a temporary visa and you intend to apply for an AEWV, the practical steps are to apply before your current visa expires, ideally at least 1 month before the expiry date, and to confirm whether you will receive an Interim Visa while the decision is pending. The official guidance is clear that you must not let your visa lapse without a new application or an Interim Visa, because staying unlawfully can lead to deportation.