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Licensed immigration advisers reference group meeting minutes

Date:	20 August2009
Place:	Immigration Advisers Authority, 52 Symonds St, Auckland
Attendees:	IAA - Barry Smedts (chair), Catherine Albiston (operational policy) Licensed immigration advisers - Richard Howard (representing Coral Wong, chair of NZAMI), Christiaan Arns, David Cooper, Todd Cozens, Karen Justice, Ann Nolan, Maricel Weischede, Iain MacLeod, Kishore Sadarangi (by telephone)
Apologies:	Michael Yoon
Minutes	Kelly Hill

 

1. Introductions

The chair welcomed the group and members of the group introduced themselves.  The chair thanked everyone for attending the second reference group meeting and ran through the agenda.

2. Update from the Registrar

The chair confirmed, as at Sunday 16 August 2009, the register shows:

• 228 full licence holders
• 20 limited licence holders
• 8 provisional licence holders
• 8 applications have been refused; 3 of which are appealing the decision.  The chair noted that the courts will give guidance and direction on the decisions made by the Registrar to date.  The Authority will share the learnings with the industry.

Catherine Albiston gave background information about how the Authority will be communicating with offshore advisers on how to apply for a licence through an online presentation.  The chair took the group through the look and feel of the presentation.

3. Discussion on clients’ account and managing client funds

Catherine Albiston discussed the Authority’s concerns around adviser understanding of the clients’ account requirements and managing client funds, and that it had been decided that clearer guidelines for advisers were needed.  The following topics were discussed: code of conduct requirements regarding client funds, the expectations regarding client accounts, when fees fall due, what kind of client records must be kept, refunds, and requirements for offshore advisers.

• Group comments:
  • The group sought clarification as to what was a ‘separate account’.
  • Some members expressed a concern that Immigration New Zealand (INZ) were not reliable in providing receipts. They suggested that as the advisers were being asked to improve their standards, so too should INZ by providing proper receipts that included reference to the adviser having paid the fee.
  • The group discussed the varied methods of record keeping and that the guidelines should recognise that not all advisers could afford sophisticated accounting systems.
  • The group agreed they were comfortable with having both bank statements and accounting (book keeping) records that identify client names and match to their bank and credit card statements.
  • The group agreed that there should not be two standards for onshore and offshore advisers. If a country does not allow an adviser to lawfully have a separate clients’ account, the adviser may operate by not billing in advance.
• IAA  actions:
  • Based on the group’s feedback, the Authority will note in the guidelines that a bank account with a separate suffix is acceptable; that some banks allow a bank account with a separate suffix to have a separate name; that advisers are not required to have trust accounts for each client; that a separate account is not required if an adviser does not ever receive payments in advance.
  • The draft guidelines will be sent to the group members for review and feedback.
  • The Authority will request INZ to communicate to their branches the importance of always sending receipts and including the adviser’s name on the receipt.
  • The Authority confirmed that sophisticated accounting systems were not a requirement and that during the assessment process a pragmatic approach is taken.

4. Discussion on code of conduct course

The chair discussed the content and structure of the upcoming code of conduct course and asked the group members for feedback on the proposed format and what they considered to be the priority areas for the course.

• Group comments:
  • One member thought that the proposed content was good, but was concerned that by having an external presenter taking the course the content may not reflect the Authority’s practices.  They suggested there should be a presence from the Authority at the course.
  • Some members suggested that the workshop groups should be sorted by levels of experience.
  • The group agreed that the course should cover areas where the Authority has further clarified the code of conduct requirements over time (such as clients’ accounts and written agreements).
  • One member stressed the importance of having actual examples of real life situations in the code workshops.
  • One member asked how offshore advisers could have online training.
  • One member requested that the Authority ensure that there is no double booking of times for the reference group on 19 November, the next INZ policy update and the code of conduct workshops

• IAA  actions:
  • The Authority would like to send sample exercises and course material to the reference group in September and ask for their feedback.
  • The Authority will consider how best to ensure that the trainers reflect actual practice at the Authority.
  • The Authority will look at sorting the workshops according to experience where there are multiple workshops in one city.
  • The chair recommended that offshore advisers try to attend the code of conduct course if possible.  The chair also recommended offshore advisers should make themselves familiar with the continuing professional development section on the Authority’s website.

5. Closing discussion

The chair asked for feedback from the group and asked for suggestions for the next meeting.

• Group suggestions for next meeting:
• The difficulties that face provisional licence applicants and supervisors and the concern that this may restrict growth of the industry.
• How to promote the industry; how to create a higher profile for licensed advisers.
• Encouraging INZ to improve their systems and the relationship between advisers and INZ.
• CPD requirements going forward.
• IAA actions:
• The Authority confirmed that over the next three months it will be looking at improving and promoting the provisional application route.
• The Authority noted the suggestions for discussion and noted that the entrance examination/ qualification may also be on the agenda. The agenda will be circulated prior to the meeting on 19 November 2009.

The chair thanked the group for attending the meeting.