Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Limited Visa

You can move to New Zealand as a farm worker with the Recognised Seasonal Employer limited visa. The benefits of farm work are vast. You not only get to experience the beautiful New Zealand landscape, but you also have a chance of career growth, some benefit packages and earn some money and learn horticulture and viticulture skills.

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The RSE visa is to assist employer who cannot find New Zealand workers to plant, maintain, harvest and pack crops. There are currently two types of these visa: supplementary seasonal work visa and the secon is this RSE limited visa.

With the RSE visa you can:

• Work for a Recognised Seasonal Employer in our horticulture and viticulture industries.
• Only work planting, maintaining, harvesting and packing crops.
• Your maximum stay varies depending on date of arrival in New Zealand but usually RSE visa holders from most countries are allowed to stay in New Zealand for a maximum time of 7 months in any 11-month period

Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme allows for a set number of overseas workers to work for Recognised Seasonal Employers in New Zealand in the horticulture and viticulture industries in jobs like planting, maintaining, harvesting, and packing.

One aim of the RSE scheme to encourage economic development in the Pacific, and therefore preferential access is given to workers who are citizens of eligible Pacific countries.

Your employer has responsibility to meet

• They must provide you with employment agreement that meets the requirements of this visa for instance the minimum pay
• They  must pay half of your return airfare from your home country to NZ
• They most product accommodation, airport pickup and drop-off and other pastoral care
• They must comply with relevant immigration and employment laws

Can you use recruitment agents?

You can use recruitment agents. Check out this video to for a list of recruitment agents in New Zealand

Who can obtain an RSE limited visa?

Anyone who:

• has an offer of employment to plant, maintain, harvest or pack crops, from an employer who has RSE status, and holds an Agreement to Recruit (ATR) workers from offshore
• is 18 years or older
• meets Immigration New Zealand (INZ) health and character requirements
• is a bona fide applicant, and
• holds a return ticket to their home country.

How to apply

If you have been offered employment by an RSE, you are required to submit an application. You’ll need to provide

• Your passport
• a passport-sized photograph of yourself.
• The application fee and immigration levy (the application fee may be provided separately by the employer if they have agreed to this in advance)
• A copy of your signed employment agreement, or agreements for each employer if you will be working for more than one employer.
• A completed X-ray Certificate for Temporary Entry (INZ 1096), if required (see RSE health requirements below). •
• A completed RSE Scheme Supplementary Medical Certificate (INZ 1143), if required (see RSE health requirements below).
• Evidence you have been approved for acceptable medical insurance.

If successful,

• The limited visa, and approval letter, will include an expiry date and your employment conditions, such as what your job is, the name of the business/es that you can work for, and the location in New Zealand that you can work.
• you must travel to New Zealand within the time period that is on the limited visa label that is in your passport. If you are from Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu or Vanuatu, you will be invited to attend a pre-departure settlement seminar.

Things to note

• You must leave New Zealand before your visa expires — you cannot appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal to stay in New Zealand.
• You may not apply for a different kind of visa while you are in New Zealand. You can apply for a further limited visa, but it must be for the same express purpose.
• You may not request a special direction or a visa under section 61 of the Immigration Act 2009 while you are in New Zealand.
• You will need to pay tax so learn about IRD number how to get one as well as how to calculate tax on my channel.
• your stay in New Zealand is restricted to fulfilling the express purpose for which the visa was granted.
• You cannot include your partner or dependent children in your visa application.