Hiring Overseas Secondary School Teachers: 2 ways to bring them to NZ

As an education provider, you must be well aware that New Zealand faces an acute shortage of teaching staff. In secondary schools alone, we have a current shortfall of 227 teachers. Moreover, this number is likely to increase to 546 in 2025 and 679 in 2026 if the deficits are not addressed (source: RNZ). 

Considering this, it was an assuring decision on the Government’s part to give Secondary School Teachers a fast-track to residence under Straight to Residence. Primary and early childhood teaching roles were already on the 2-year Work to Residence pathway. 

If you are looking to hire secondary teachers from overseas, there are two ways this can be done: 

• Through an accredited employer work visa 
• Through a Straight to Residence pathway 

The first thing you need to do before you can support an international teacher to come to NZ on a visa that allows them to work for you, is obtain your Employer Accreditation from Immigration New Zealand. Without accreditation, your institution cannot support a candidate in obtaining a work visa or a residence application.  

Through an Accredited Employer Work Visa: 

Once accredited, your institution will need to undertake a Job Check for the role, which, when approved, will generate a token used to apply for a work visa. This work visa is called the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) and is granted for five years.  

You will also have to fulfill post-accreditation obligations as an accredited employer that relate to AEWV holders. Failure to do so can risk your accreditation status and hamper your ability to hire overseas teachers. 

Download our handy ebook here to better understand the AEWV scheme here. 

Through a Straight to Residence pathway: 

Secondary School Teachers, being on a Straight to Residence pathway, can come to NZ as residents once your institution receives its accreditation and the residence visa is approved. In this option, you do not need to go through the Job Check and AEWV stages. 

To meet the requirements under Straight to Residence, secondary school teachers must have:  

• Registration with the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, and  
• A provisional practising certificate.         

Summary:  

The 2 options to get work rights (either through residence or a work visa) only apply to secondary school teachers. ECE and primary teachers do not have the Straight to Residence option and must go through the AEWV pathway. When it comes to choosing to support an employee for residence or work visa, many factors are to be taken into consideration to choose correctly – costs, timeframe, how many family members they have that will migrate with them and their visa rights in NZ, whether the employer wants to support the employee for an option that restricts them to work for the employer or enable them to have unrestricted work rights – to name a few.  

The infographic provides a summary of the various visa options available for different types of teachers.

At Aims Global, we work with education providers like you to identify and employ qualified and experienced teaching professionals for your institution. Immigration settings can be complicated but with our personalised expertise, you overcome your staffing hurdles with ease.