Being on the stand-down list - what does it mean?
A total of 56 firms are currently unable to support visa applications for a certain period after landing on Immigration New Zealand's stand-down list.
The list, which is publicly available on INZ's website, may include employers who have received an infringement notice or are [convicted] for breaching immigration law.
Infringement notices are handed to employers who are found to have:
"Convictions for more serious Immigration Act offences will result in further penalties," the INZ said on its website.
Michael Carley, a spokesperson for INZ, told Radio New Zealand that the introduction of infringement penalties gave them a new avenue for "swift and high-impact action" for non-compliance with immigration rules.
"We can now tackle non-compliance with greater efficiency and speed, making sure that employers follow the regulations and safeguard migrants from exploitation," Carley told the news outlet.
Being on the INZ stand-down list prohibits employers from supporting visa applications for a set period of time, ranging from six to 12 months depending on the number of infringement notices.
"If you are subject to a stand-down, your existing migrant employees will be able to continue their employment for the duration of their visas," INZ said.
"However, you will not be able to support any further visas for these employees or any new migrant employees. You will also be unable to get an immigration employer status such as Employer Accreditation."
Other stand-down periods may also be dependent on the fines given in court, according to INZ.
Source: Immigration New Zealand
Meanwhile, immigration breaches may also lead to loss of accreditation status for Accredited Employers, in addition to being included in the stand-down list.
To regain this status, INZ said employers need to show that they have addressed the non-compliance issues and have taken steps to make sure that they don't happen again.
"A business with compliance failures cannot be closed and opened again under a new name to avoid those failures. We still take the compliance issues of the previous business or key people into account," INZ said.
There are also permanent bans handed down for "serious immigration offences" in New Zealand. They include:
