What is immigration advice?

Immigration advice is advice about New Zealand’s immigration laws and policy. It includes advice about:

• visas that you may be eligible for and which visa may be right for you
• preparing your visa application
• whether you can appeal a decision about your visa application
• your options if you are unlawfully staying in New Zealand.

Read:

• New Zealand Now(external link) - Immigration New Zealand’s website with information on how to access relevant immigration and settlement advice.
• Your Guide to Licensed Immigration Advisers(external link) - Immigration Adviser’s Authority (IAA)’s guide on using licensed immigration advisers and what they can do for you.

Getting immigration advice

There are various options for getting immigration advice. You can:

• Use a licensed immigration adviser to help you with your visa application.
• Use an exempt immigration adviser who can also give immigration advice. These include New Zealand lawyers who are experienced in immigration matters, and employees or volunteers at New Zealand Citizen’s Advice Bureau(external link) and Community Law Centres(external link).
• Submit your own application to Immigration New Zealand (INZ). They can help you with reliable information.

What to look out for when getting immigration advice

Before you get immigration advice, make sure you:

• Contact a few different advisers (exempt or licensed) to find out what services they offer and what their fees are.
• To find a licensed immigration adviser, search the IAA’s register of licensed immigration advisers(external link) to make sure they have a valid immigration licence.
• Check the licence expiry date and type of licence an adviser has to see whether they can deal with your immigration matter.
• Find out what qualifications and experience your adviser has.
• Avoid anyone who claims to have personal contacts at Immigration New Zealand, or asks you to sign a blank visa application.
• Watch out for immigration or visa scams. Read Other scams for information about employment and visa scams. Keep up to-date with scam alerts on our Facebook page(external link) and INZ’s website(external link).

For more information about using immigration advisers read the section for migrants on IAA’s website(external link).
 

Under the Consumer Guarantees Act, immigration advisers within New Zealand must ensure their advice:

• is given with a reasonable degree of care and skill
• meets the purpose you are seeking advice for
• is given in a timely way
• is a reasonable price if none is agreed beforehand.

If the advice leads to problems, you can get your adviser to fix them, or ask for your money back. If the problem can’t be fixed, you can ask for compensation.

Read our Faulty or unsatisfactory services page to find out more.

Immigration advisers also can’t make false or misleading statements or behave in a false or misleading way when they give you advice, under the Fair Trading Act.

Read our False and misleading advertising or trading page to find out more.

Who can give you immigration advice?

You have various options as to who can lawfully give you immigration advice. These include using:

• a licensed immigration adviser
• an exempt immigration adviser such as a lawyer experienced in immigration or employees/volunteers at New Zealand Citizen’s Advice Bureau(external link) and Community Law Centres(external link)
• advice from Immigration New Zealand (INZ)(external link).

All immigration advisers who give immigration advice about New Zealand must be registered by the Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA), unless they are exempt. This applies to advisers based overseas or in New Zealand.

This is to protect you from the risks of using an unlicensed adviser who may lie on your visa application, or give you poor advice so that your visa application may be declined.

What type of immigration adviser you choose depends on their costs, level of expertise and what services they can provide to suit your needs.

Using a licensed immigration adviser

When you use a licensed immigration adviser they are specialised in immigration issues and also have to meet competency standards(external link) and a code of conduct(external link) set by the Immigration Adviser’s Authority (IAA).

Before you hire a licensed immigration adviser, check:

• that they hold a valid licence. Check the online register of licensed immigration advisers(external link) and ask to see their wallet card(external link)
• what type of licence(external link) they hold, eg full, provisional or limited
• whether or not they can deal with your issue.

Under the IAA’s Code of Conduct(external link), your licensed immigration adviser must:

• be honest, professional, respectful and comply with New Zealand law
• help provide interpreters and translators if you need this
• provide you with ongoing timely updates
• charge fees that are fair and reasonable
• keep your personal information confidential and comply with the Privacy Act(external link)
• advise you whether you may be eligible for legal aid.

Using exempt immigration advisers

You can also use an exempt(external link) immigration adviser. These include:

• within New Zealand - lawyers, employees or volunteers at Community Law Centres or Citizen’s Advice Bureaux, government employees who give immigration advice as part of their jobs and current members of parliament and their staff
• outside New Zealand – education agents advising on student visas only, foreign diplomats and government employees who give immigration advice as part of their jobs.

The New Zealand Law Society can help you find a lawyer or organisation(external link).

Immigration New Zealand

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has information about New Zealand visas on their website(external link). You can:

• apply online(external link) for a visa
• find information about what to do in different situations if you already have a visa(external link), eg if your situation has changed and you need to change your visa
• contact INZ(external link) for advice using their contact centre, or one of their Visa Application Centres(external link) overseas, or their offices within New Zealand(external link).

Contact your immigration adviser first

If you are unhappy with the immigration advice you receive, you can make a complaint to your adviser, or to the Immigration New Zealand office that handled your visa application or immigration issue. They all will have a complaints process to deal with complaints.

Read Resolve a problem to find out more.

Contact the Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA)

Make a complaint(external link) to the IAA if:

• you have received immigration advice about New Zealand from anyone who is not licensed or exempt, or
• you are unhappy with advice given by your licensed immigration adviser and you cannot resolve the issue with them directly.

This will not affect your immigration status or visa application.

Contact the Lawyers Complaints Service

You can make a complaint to the New Zealand Law Society’s Lawyers Complaints service(external link) if you have been unable to resolve your immigration complaint i using your lawyer’s complaints process.

Contact Immigration New Zealand (INZ)

You can complain about the service provided by Immigration New Zealand using their Client Complaint Resolution Process(external link). You can do so if you have been unable to resolve the issue directly with the office that handled your visa application or any other immigration matter.

Next steps

If you are unable to resolve your issue directly with your immigration adviser, our Resolve It tool has information to help you take the next steps. These may include going to the Disputes Tribunal or District Court.

> Resolve it: Immigration advisers

> Resolve it: Professional Services, Lawyers and conveyancers

Need more help?

Contact us for more guidance.

Common situations

Timely advice

Sara has paid a licensed adviser $1300 as a first instalment for assistance with a residence visa application. Three months have gone by and every time she contacts the adviser, they say, “I’m a bit busy at the moment but will get to it shortly”. The licensed adviser is required to work in a timely manner. Sara can complain to the Immigration Advisers Authority.

Unlicensed adviser

Mata and her sister are both unlawfully in New Zealand. They have had several visa applications declined and even a request to the Minister of Immigration was declined. Mata knows that there is no good reason for them to stay in New Zealand and that they really should leave. Mata’s sister says she has found someone who can get them a visa for $5000. She comes home with blank visa forms and says all they need to do is sign them and pay the money in cash. Mata has heard that people helping out with visas need to be licensed and checks the register at iaa.govt.nz. She sees that this person used to be licensed but had their licence cancelled two years ago. She warns her sister that this is not a legitimate adviser and they decide to report the person to the Immigration Advisers Authority.

Phone scams

Thomasi is living in Auckland and received a phone call from a scammer who pretended he was working for Immigration New Zealand. The caller sounded official and knew certain personal details about Thomasi such as his full name and address. He asked for payment from Thomasi to avoid deportation. Thomasi managed to avoid paying any money as he was aware of the scam from friends who had already been tricked.