Employers, recruiters, educators & travel sellers
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Further information for employers and recruiters
- Some New Zealand based employers recruit migrants overseas using overseas based agents, others recruit migrants directly from other countries for work in New Zealand, and there are also overseas companies and organisations that help foreign nationals to come and work in New Zealand.
- Employment and recruitment advice can be provided without needing a licence. In many cases, overseas recruiters or their agents are carrying out clerical work or accessing publicly available information from the Immigration New Zealand website or Operational Manual to help migrants choose their immigration options. For example:
- The process for obtaining visas and permits for foreign fishing crew is set out at WJ of the Operational Manual. The processes involved in this publicly available policy are not ‘immigration advice’, i.e. providing Immigration New Zealand with applications for visas and permits for overseas crew does not come under the Act’s definition of ‘immigration advice’.
- Immigration New Zealand have completed a series of fact sheets that cover all the main skilled migrant policies [external link], and these can be passed by employers onto migrant candidates to enable them to make an informed decision about which policy option to take. Passing these fact sheets on does not constitute giving 'immigration advice' and employers should feel free to refer potential employees to them.
- These fact sheets will be added to and further developed over time and we welcome any feedback. We will also be staying in touch with further updates and information via the quarterly Immigration New Zealand employer newsletter. Also have a look at Immigration New Zealand's FAQ section on their website [external link].
- Some offshore employers and recruiters or their agents may be giving immigration advice to migrants in the course of recruiting migrants for work in New Zealand. They must be licensed, unless they are exempt.
The Authority, with Immigration New Zealand input, has developed a guideline [pdf, 2 pages, 193kB] to help employers and recruiters understand their options.
Contact us if you want to discuss pathways to licensing in New Zealand.
Immigration New Zealand has a section on their website for employers.
Further information for educators and education agents
The Authority, in collaboration with Education New Zealand and Immigration New Zealand, has developed a guideline [pdf, 3 pages, 190kB] specific to the education sector, which explains what is and is not immigration advice, and the difference between 'education advice' and 'immigration advice'.
Example Scenario: An education agent based in New Zealand is providing immigration advice about student visas, in addition to education advice, to foreign students based in India. The agent is providing this advice via her website and email.
The agent must have a licence to provide the immigration advice. The mode of delivery of the advice (“whether directly or indirectly”) – i.e. whether the advice is delivered face to face or by electronic means – does not affect this.
To be exempt from licensing, the agent would have had to be ‘offshore’ and providing advice on student visas and permits only. The location of the applicant is not relevant to the exemption.
The Act clearly exempts offshore advisers in relation to student applications only. This exemption does not cover advice given on any other application types submitted with a student application, such as guardian, visitor or work applications.
Offshore education agents who are providing New Zealand immigration advice not covered by this exemption need to be licensed, or should:
- be careful to provide people with publicly available information or information made available by the Department of Labour – e.g. information from the Immigration New Zealand website;
- be aware that they can relay, paraphrase or translate this information without a licence;
- let the person choose their immigration options from this information;
- be aware that people can direct someone to complete their immigration form, application, request, or claim on their behalf, without the agent needing a licence;
- be aware that they can carry out clerical work without needing a licence.
Many people helping migrants in the New Zealand education sector refer to publicly available information or carry out clerical work.
Contact us if you want to discuss pathways to licensing in New Zealand.
This information page was updated on 26 April 2010. If you wish to view the previous information page, please email the Authority at info@iaa.govt.nz.
Immigration New Zealand has a section on their website for educators
People with exemptions from licensing
People who can provide immigration advice without a licence are listed here
What if I’m a travel seller making immigration applications on behalf of travellers?
When making applications on behalf of travellers, the Authority considers that travel sellers are generally undertaking work which comes within two of the exclusions from the definition of immigration advice, namely 'clerical work' and 'providing information that is publicly available'. If this is the case, travel sellers would not need to be licensed as immigration advisers.
The following examples apply in particular to travel sellers making applications to Immigration New Zealand:
- if carrying out pre-screening, i.e., asking questions in order to determine eligibility, that in itself is probably not going to amount to providing immigration advice;
- helping travellers complete immigration forms by (e.g.) referring them to the Immigration New Zealand publication Requirements for Lodging an ADS application, which is publicly available on their website and which gives specific instructions in Chinese and English on completing an immigration application, would not require a licence, provided:
- the travellers complete the forms themselves having chosen their options; or
- agents complete the forms on the travellers’ behalf and under the travellers’ direction.
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