Cost of an adviser

Licensed immigration advisers work to a code of conduct. According to the code, all licensed immigration advisers must:

• set fees that are fair and reasonable in the circumstances.
• before commencing work incurring costs, set out the fees and disbursements (including Immigration New Zealand fees and charges) to be charged, including the hourly rate and the estimate of the time it will take to perform the services, or the fixed cost for the services.
• set out payment terms and conditions.
• ensure that fees, disbursements and payment terms and conditions are provided to clients in writing prior to the signing of any written agreement.
• each time a fee is payable, provide clients with an invoice containing a full description of the services that the invoice relates to.

Why do fees vary?

A licensed adviser, when determining a reasonable fee for services to be provided, will consider some or all of the following factors:

• The adviser’s experience and ability
• The degree of complexity of the application
• The urgency of the application, including any time limitations imposed by the client
• The length of time involved in processing the application
• The reasonable costs of running the adviser’s business
• Whether the application is lodged in New Zealand or offshore
• The location of the adviser lodging the application
• The number of people included in the application
• Whether disbursements such as third party costs, couriers, translations, copying etc. are included
• The level of personal service provided
• Current market place fee levels for similar services.

Fees charged June 2011 to May 2012

While fees are not set by the Authority, licensed advisers are required to disclose the average fees they charged in the last year for each application type when they apply to renew their annual licence. The fees listed below give an indication of what you might be charged. As explained above there are a wide range of factors that affect what is charged.

What is the difference between the median and the average fee?

The median is the middle number of the average fee provided by advisers.

The average is calculated by dividing the total fees by the number of advisers.

This means that if, for example, the median is lower than the average, there are some very high fees at the top end of the range which has resulted in the average being inflated.