Pitched as putting New Zealand workers first while keeping a clear route for employers who genuinely cannot find critical skills, NZ First would rebuild the main temporary work visa around proven shortages.

📋 NZ First: Scrapping the Accredited Working Visa Model, October 2026 →

What it does

• Scraps the Accredited Employer Work Visa and replaces it with a shortage-led Skilled Work Visa.
• Ties entry to a named occupation, region and demonstrated need, rather than to an employer gaining accreditation.
• Ends routine retail access, applies a New Zealand worker safeguard, restores a wage floor and requires employers seeking migrants for routine roles to show they have made a serious effort to employ or train New Zealanders.
• Strengthens employer accreditation, targets enforcement where risk is highest and publishes transparency data.
• Was announced by Winston Peters at a public meeting in Dunedin on 11 October 2026. NZ First pointed to about 171,000 unemployed people and an underutilisation rate of 13.8%.

The debate

• Peters said New Zealand was "a country with an immigration system, not an international labour-hire agency with a flag".
• Migrant Workers Association president Anu Kaloti said not tying migrants to a single employer was a good first step against exploitation and echoed what advocates had long proposed, but questioned NZ First's motivation given recent remarks by Peters and deputy leader Shane Jones about Indian and Chinese migrants, RNZ reported.
• Immigration adviser Arunima Dhingra said dismantling the visa framework would be "like putting an axe through the heart of the immigration system", arguing businesses needed certainty and the current visa already had many of the safeguards NZ First wanted.