Right to work in New Zealand

Employers must make sure that their employees can legally work in that job in New Zealand.

A person can't be employed if they can’t legally work in New Zealand in that job. It is the responsibility of the employer to make sure that an employee can work for them legally.

People entitled to work in New Zealand are those who:

  • are New Zealand or Australian citizens (including people born in the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau), or
  • have a New Zealand residence visa, or
  • have a New Zealand work visa or a condition on their New Zealand temporary visa showing they are allowed to work here.

For more information, visit the Immigration New Zealand website. The website has lots of useful information including VisaView, which lets you easily check information about whether an employee can work in New Zealand.

If you are a registered employer and have the person’s consent, you can check information, such as a passport number and surname against Immigration New Zealand’s records and usually quickly get back a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer, the expiry date of the visa and any specific work conditions.

Some visas allow only certain types of work, or work for specified employer. You can also check the person’s New Zealand passport using VisaView.

Immigration New Zealand (external link)

VisaView — Immigration New Zealand (external link)

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