Around 500 employers — and potentially thousands of migrant workers — have been left without proper accreditation after issues with Immigration NZ computer systems meant some interim licences were not issued.
The ADEPT system was designed to handle the renewal of visas issued under the Accredited Employee Work Visa, which aimed to make it easier for employers to hire skilled migrants and combat exploitation by ensuring only accredited employers could hire migrants.
Initially, when the scheme began in 2022, employers were granted one year of accreditation.
This was extended a further year in mid 2023, with the first-round of renewals to take place from July 4 this year.
An interim three-month accreditation could be issued to an employer whose accreditation expired while waiting for the outcome of a renewal application.
However, an IT issue has prevented some of these interim accreditations being issued, leaving around 500 employers without the required license.
MBIE director of online service Katy MacLeod said INZ "sincerely apologise" to the around 500 employers affected by the IT issue.
"We want to reassure employers whose accreditation has expired that they can continue to employ migrants who currently work for them on a valid visa while they are waiting for their renewal accreditation to be processed.
"However, they can’t submit new applications for job checks or accredited employer work visas and any applications for job checks and accredited employer work visas they have in progress are unable to be approved."
'A solution is complex' — INZ
MacLeod said work to identify a solution began as soon as Immigration New Zealand was made aware of the issue.
"The IT solution is complex and we are working to resolve this as quickly as possible."
The technical issue also meant that job checks — paid verification that migrant workers were required and that no New Zealand citizen can take the job — were voided and unable to be used to employ migrant workers.
"We have repeatedly warned Immigration New Zealand of the need to adequately prepare for these renewal applications. They have clearly failed to do this," said New Zealand Association of Migration and Investment chairperson Arunima Dhingra.
"Not only has this policy failed to deliver on its much-vaunted objective of preventing migrant exploitation, but it has also mired employers in unnecessary bureaucratic compliance and is now taking away from them the right to employ migrant workers that they have paid fees to Immigration New Zealand for."
Affected employers needing assistance in cases where existing migrant workers employed might have visas expiring were asked to contact the Immigration New Zealand customer service centre on 0508 967 569.
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