Job scams and exploitation at a glance
| Law | What it covers | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Wages Protection Act 1983, section 12A | An employer, or anyone engaged on their behalf, seeking or receiving a premium for employment | The money can be recovered as a debt through the Employment Relations Authority, on top of penalties |
| Immigration Act 2009, section 351A (since 28 November 2025) | A New Zealand-based employer, agent or recruiter knowingly seeking or receiving a premium for a migrant's employment or potential employment | Up to seven years' imprisonment, a $100,000 fine, or both |
| Immigration Act 2009, section 351 | Serious failures on minimum wage, holiday pay or wage protections, and stopping a worker leaving or getting help | Up to seven years' imprisonment where the employer knew the worker's status |
- Report to Employment New ZealandOnline or 0800 200 088
Report online at gethelp.employment.govt.nz or by phone, with interpreters available in more than 180 languages.
- Assessment letterIf the report is assessed as credible
A person who holds an employer-tied work visa receives a Report of Exploitation Assessment Letter.
- Protection visa applicationWithin 1 month of the letter
INZ says to apply for the Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa within 1 month of getting the letter.
- Work for another employerUp to 6 months
The visa is free and lets you work for any employer, so long as the work is legal, while you get clear of the exploitative employer.
- Report to Employment New Zealand
- Assessment letterIf the work visa is not tied to the employerThe protection visa is not available
- Protection visa application
- Work for another employer
Paying for a job is illegal on both sides of the law
“No employer or person engaged on behalf of the employer shall seek or receive any premium in respect of the employment of any person, whether the premium is sought or received from the person employed or proposed to be employed or from any other person.”
The money can be recovered as a debt through the Employment Relations Authority, on top of penalties, and a Labour Inspector can sue on your behalf. Immigration New Zealand's employer rules point the same way: an accredited employer must pay all recruitment costs, in and outside New Zealand, and cannot pass recruitment, training or equipment fees to the worker.
The immigration offence added in November 2025 goes further:
“Every employment-related person commits an offence against this Act who, whether in or outside New Zealand, knowingly seeks or receives any premium in respect of the employment or potential employment in New Zealand of a victim.”
An employment-related person is a New Zealand-based employer, their agent or anyone involved in recruitment (New Zealand-based means a New Zealand citizen or someone domiciled here); a victim includes a temporary visa holder or applicant and a person working unlawfully. The offence applies:
- Before or after work starts
- Whether or not the victim ever starts work
- Whether the premium was demanded in New Zealand or overseas
- Maximum prison term
- 7 years
- Maximum fine
- $100,000
- Offence in force from
- 28 Nov 2025
Migrant exploitation and how to report it
Exploitation offences under section 351 cover employers who seriously fail on minimum wage, holiday pay or wage protections while employing temporary workers or unlawful employees, and employers who try to stop a worker leaving, contacting help, learning their rights or disclosing their situation. The statute's own examples include taking or keeping a worker's passport. Penalties run to seven years' imprisonment where the employer knew the worker's status.
Report exploitation to Employment New Zealand, online at gethelp.employment.govt.nz or by phone on 0800 200 088, with interpreters available in more than 180 languages. If the report is assessed as credible and you hold an employer-tied work visa, you receive a Report of Exploitation Assessment Letter, which supports an application for the Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa:
- It is free
- It runs up to six months, or until your current visa expires, whichever is first
- It lets you work for any employer, so long as the work is legal
- INZ says to apply within 1 month of getting the assessment letter
INZ says it will ignore visa-condition breaches and false or withheld information that happened as a result of the exploitation.
A second protection visa is no longer available, and redundancy, liquidation or a lawful termination do not count as exploitation.
Fake and non-genuine job offers
Accredited Employer Work Visa jobs must pass a job check: the employment must be genuine, guarantee at least 30 hours a week, and sit on a compliant employment agreement. INZ verifies and can decline where information is false or misleading. Classic warning signs:
- Being asked to pay for the offer
- Being asked to repay part of your wages after starting
- A job with no real duties
- An employer who cannot be found at the advertised premises
An application built on a fabricated job can expose the applicant under the false information rules, even where the scheme was the recruiter's.
Where the person who sold the job was a licensed immigration adviser, the Immigration Advisers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal's published decisions (all of which appear in this directory's decisions section) show these schemes recur, and a complaint is free to make. Immigration advisers whose businesses also operate recruitment agencies carry a neutral fact pill on their profiles here, so the dual role is visible before you engage.
When the employer's failure hits your visa
If your employer loses accreditation, workers already in New Zealand can keep working for that employer on their existing visa, but the employer cannot support new visas. From November 2025 INZ can pause or decline simplified job-change applications involving employers whose accreditation was revoked within the past year or where there is credible evidence of poor employment practices.
Employers must tell INZ within 10 working days when an AEWV holder leaves a month or more before their visa expires.
There is no grace period after dismissal or redundancy for AEWV holders: an ended job puts you out of step with your visa conditions, so move promptly. The options are:
- A Job Change to a new accredited employer with an approved job check
- A different visa application
- A visitor visa to buy time lawfully
If the job ended through exploitation, the protection visa route is faster and free.
Whatever happened, your employment rights survive: Employment New Zealand states plainly that minimum employment rights apply to everyone and cannot be taken away, even from someone working unlawfully. Unpaid wages go to free mediation and then the Employment Relations Authority.
Check your understanding
These questions check what this guide says. They say nothing about your own case.
For educational and illustrative purposes only. This is not immigration advice, and no warranty is given as to its appropriateness or accuracy. If in doubt, talk to an immigration adviser or an immigration lawyer about your specific circumstances.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Wages Protection Act 1983, s 12A (no premium for employment)
- Immigration Act 2009, s 351 (exploitation of unlawful employees and temporary workers)
- Immigration Act 2009, s 351A (premium offence)
- Employment NZ: migrant exploitation (report at gethelp.employment.govt.nz or 0800 200 088)
- INZ: Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa
- INZ: changes to the MEPV (31 October 2024)
- INZ operational manual WA3.15 (acceptable employment, genuine job test)
- INZ: your employer's commitments on an AEWV
- INZ: update to the AEWV Job Change process (17 November 2025)
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