Upcoming New Zealand Immigration Changes 2025

The changes will be implemented in 4 different stages over the course of 2025, beginning in January:

From January 2025:

• Accredited employers will no longer need to complete Employment New Zealand’s online modules or offer migrants paid time to do these. This also applies to Recognised Seasonal Employers.

The percentage of New Zealanders that certain construction sector businesses must employ will reduce from 35 per cent to 15 per cent.

In March 2025:

• Wage thresholds for all AEWV roles will be removed. Employers still need to advertise and offer AEWV employees the market rate for their position and workplace location.
• Reducing the minimum experience requirement for lower skilled migrants to two years.
• Increasing the visa duration for new applicants in Level 4-5 roles from two to three years to align with the maximum continuous stay.
• Amending the labour market test to a declaration-based model. Employers will need to advertise with MSD and be able to demonstrate they considered New Zealanders who applied for any role in good faith.
• Inflation adjusting the income threshold for an AEWV holder to support a dependent child from NZ$43,322 to NZ$55,844.

From April 2025:

• Extending interim work rights to AEWV applicants who are applying from any work visa type or from a student visa that allows them to work during term time.

Mid-2025:

• A new Job Check process will be in place, to allow for greater streamlining for low-risk employers and improve processing timeframes.

In November 2025:

• Two new pathways for seasonal workers will be introduced, including a 3-year multi-entry visa for experience workers and a 7-month single entry visa for lesser-skilled workers. The existing temporary seasonal pathways will remain available until then.
• Overall, some very good changes, particularly expanding the interim work visa rights for AEWV applicants and the longer visa durations for lower-skilled workers.