Fishing Crew Work Visa

At a Glance

Item	Details
Visa name	Fishing Crew Work Visa
Purpose	Fishing-vessel crew work
Stay	Up to 12 months
Cost	From NZD $1,355
Processing	80% within 10 weeks
Eligibility timing	Apply before travel
Work rights	Vessel and listed employer only
Study	Up to 3 months
Medicare	Not stated in the source
Travel facility	Usually multiple entry
Citizenship	Not stated in the source
Family sponsorship	Cannot include family
Visa record	Conditions recorded in eVisa
Job offer	Required
Experience	At least 12 months
Employer sponsorship	Accommodation, living, return costs

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Purpose

This visa allows you to work as crew on a fishing vessel in New Zealand waters.

You may work only on the New Zealand or foreign-chartered fishing vessel and for the employer named in your visa.

Stay, Cost and Processing

• Maximum stay: Up to 12 months.
• Cost: From NZD $1,355.
• Processing: 80% of applications within 10 weeks.
• Country-specific payment and submission information is shown after entering passport nationality details.

Eligibility

You must:

• Have a job offer for work on a fishing vessel in New Zealand waters.
• Be qualified through training or experience for the offered role.
• Have at least 12 months' similar work experience.
• Be in good health and of good character.
• Genuinely intend to comply with visa conditions.
• Have an employer permitted to recruit foreign workers.
• Have employer agreement to cover accommodation, living expenses and return travel home.

Your employer must either:

• Hold a current Immigration New Zealand Approval in Principle (AIP); or
• Recruit six or fewer crew members for one vessel in a calendar year.

Immigration New Zealand will not normally grant the visa if the employer is on Employment New Zealand’s stand-down list for non-compliance.

Employment Agreement and Pay

Provide a written employment agreement in English. It must:

• Pay at least NZD $29.50 per hour.
• Pay for all hours worked.
• Guarantee at least 42 hours weekly on average while working in New Zealand waters.
• Explain how workplace disagreements are handled.
• State deductions, including food, visa fees or airfares.
• Comply with New Zealand employment law if the employer is New Zealand-based.
• Follow standard crew-employment principles if the employer is foreign-based.

Your employer must also give you an employment-agreement copy in your own language.

Your employer cannot pay you less than a New Zealander doing the same work.

Required Evidence

Identity

Provide:

• Two acceptable head-and-shoulders photographs.
• Your passport or certificate of identity.

Your passport must remain valid for at least three months after your planned departure from New Zealand.

You may submit an original passport or certified copy. Immigration New Zealand may later request the original.

Additional Identity Documents

Chinese citizens applying from China must also provide:

• Hukou household registration book.
• Chinese identity card.
• INZ 1027 supplementary form for paper applications.

Hong Kong or Macao applicants applying locally must also provide:

• Copy of identity card.
• INZ 1220 supplementary form for paper applications.

Work Experience

Provide evidence of at least 12 months’ similar experience, such as:

• Seaman’s log.
• Letters from previous employers.

Employer Evidence

Provide either:

• An AIP letter from your employer; or
• Employer-completed Supplementary Form for Foreign Crew of a Fishing Vessel (INZ 1213).

Sponsorship

Your New Zealand employer, or its New Zealand agent, must complete a Sponsorship Form for Temporary Entry (INZ 1025).

The employer must agree to pay for your:

• Accommodation.
• Living expenses.
• Return journey home.

Health Requirements

You must be in good health. Immigration New Zealand may require a chest X-ray, medical examination, or both.

Normally:

• A chest X-ray is not needed for stays under six months.
• A medical certificate is not needed for stays under 12 months.

Applicants from China, Hong Kong or Macao applying locally must provide a chest X-ray completed within the last three months if they:

• Spent six consecutive months in China since their last X-ray; and
• Will stay in New Zealand for more than six months.

Character Requirements

You must be of good character. A criminal conviction or security risk may prevent visa approval.

Provide police certificates if:

• Your total New Zealand stay will reach 24 months or more across all visits; or
• Immigration New Zealand requests them.

Police certificates must:

• Be less than six months old when submitted.
• Cover countries where you are a citizen.
• Cover countries where you lived over five years since age 17.
• Include English translations if not in English.

Applicants aged 16 or younger do not need police certificates.

Previously submitted police certificates need not be resubmitted if they are less than 24 months old.

Rights and Conditions

Work

You can work only:

• In New Zealand waters.
• On the fishing vessel named in your visa.
• For the employer named in your visa.

You cannot:

• Work on land.
• Work for another employer.

Study

You may study for up to three months.

Family

You cannot include your partner or dependent children in this visa application.

Travel

Most visa holders receive multiple-entry travel conditions. If granted multiple entry, you may travel in and out of New Zealand until the visa expires.

If granted single entry, the visa expires when you leave New Zealand. If no multiple-entry travel conditions are recorded, leaving New Zealand ends the visa.

Check your visa label or visa letter for travel conditions.

Visa Expiry

You must leave New Zealand before your visa expires. Your expiry date is shown in your visa label or visa letter.

Arrival Requirements

All travellers must complete the New Zealand Traveller Declaration, covering customs, immigration and biosecurity information.

You can submit it:

• By air: From 24 hours before travel begins.
• By sea: From 24 hours before the vessel leaves its last overseas port.

A paper form is available if you cannot complete the declaration online.

You may be refused entry permission if you:

• No longer meet character requirements.
• Have changed circumstances since visa grant.
• Refuse a photo, fingerprint or iris scan.

Important Warnings

• Job-offer scams are common in India and South Asia. Confirm that the offer is genuine.
• Your visa conditions are recorded in your eVisa.
• You must comply with all visa conditions while in New Zealand.