Kia ora,

Cyclone Gabrielle and other recent weather events have devastated many communities and businesses in the North Island.

We know many of you have suffered the consequences personally and our hearts go out to you and your whānau.

To assist with recovery the Government has announced the launch of the Recovery Visa (a Specific Purpose Work Visa). This short-term visa will allow employers to sponsor migrants to come to New Zealand to work on the emergency response.

The full picture of labour demand is still emerging but we need specialists from overseas such as engineers, technicians and insurance assessors to support our New Zealand experts on the ground.

This visa is intended for people coming to New Zealand for a short period for:

• Providing emergency response
• Immediate clean-up
• Assessing risk or loss 
• Infrastructure, building and housing stabilisation and/or repair (including planning functions)
• Work that directly supports the recovery (e.g. producing relevant material for road rebuild, transport drivers etc).

Migrant workers who are going to assist with the recovery efforts can apply through the Specific Purpose Work visa.

The visa will last up to six months.

Employers will need to confirm that the role supports the North Island response to the extreme weather events.

The $700 fee will be refunded for successful applicants.

How to apply 

• Step 1 - Employer finds migrant worker/s that meet the requirements to assist with the recovery
• Step 2 - Employer downloads and completes the Recovery Visa – Employer Supplementary form and provides this to the migrant worker
• Step 3 – Migrant worker completes a Specific Purpose Work visa application, uploads/attaches the Recovery Visa – Employer Supplementary Form and specifies length of stay in New Zealand as 6 months or less
• Step 4 - Immigration New Zealand (INZ) processes application and provides applicant with a decision

We aim to process applications for the Recovery Visa within a week and many will be decided even quicker.

Detailed information about the visa and how to apply is on the INZ website.

Employers wanting to recruit migrant workers for longer term roles are encouraged to use the existing Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). Changes are being considered to this visa to support faster processing for identified roles that will support the recovery and rebuild. These roles will be exempt from the labour market test.

Details on other visa pathways can be found on the INZ website.

Migrants already in New Zealand who need to change their role and location will be able to do so for up to two months without breaching their visa conditions.

They must stay with the same employer.

Migrants wanting to move to another employer will still need to apply for a Job Change or Variation of Conditions.

Employers are reminded that their initial accreditation periods for the AEWV will be automatically extended by 12 months if they apply before 4 July 2023.

You will still need to check that you hold the correct accreditation type. If you don’t then you should select the correct accreditation type when you apply for renewal.

Full details are on our website.

Ngā mihi,
Immigration New Zealand