Hospitality New Zealand says it welcomes the announced changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa, coming into effect in stages across 2025.
Changes of particular note for hospitality include: removing the median wage requirement, increasing visa duration for ANZSCO Level 4 or 5 AEWV holders to three years, amending the MSD engagement requirement and providing greater work rights for those on interim visas.
Hospitality NZ Chief Executive, Steve Armitage, says he is pleased the voice of the sector has been heard.
“We have long advocated for the removal of the median wage requirements, as it was an arbitrary benchmark equating pay rates with skills that are needed.
“Increasing visa duration and amending the MSD engagement requirements – and removing the 21-day advertising obligations – also ease the potential for processing delays, particularly over busy trading periods such as summer.”
Armitage says for the migrant workforce, increasing visa duration and providing greater work rights for those on an interim visa, provides certainty for their length of stay and enables them to maintain employment while waiting for visa decisions.
“This has been a key source of frustration and stress as visa delays have been worked through,” he says.
“Last week’s Hospitality Summit touched on many of these issues that have been a bone of contention for a long time, and we are pleased to see this work is underway.
“We also note that a new Job Check process will be in place, and we hope to see the new process reflect the industry’s feedback.
“While we continue to focus on attracting domestic talent into hospitality, easing the ability to access our valuable migrant workforce is a great win for the industry.”
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