Working with a licensed immigration adviser

Why you use a licensed immigration adviser

Anyone providing New Zealand immigration advice in or outside New Zealand must be licensed by the Immigration Advisers Authority, unless exempt.

Who can give advice?

Licensed immigration advisers have specialist expertise, have met Competency Standards and follow a professional Code of Conduct.

The Code of Conduct requires licensed immigration advisers to:

• be honest, professional and respectful
• enter into a written agreement with you that sets out clearly what services they will provide you and what they will cost
• provide you with ongoing timely updates
• charge fees that are fair and reasonable.

Licensed immigration advisers can help you:

• explore your visa options and choose the right visa
• prepare your visa application
• settle in New Zealand
• assess whether you can appeal a declined visa
• assess your options if you are in New Zealand unlawfully.

Types of immigration adviser licence

There are three types of immigration adviser licence.

Full

Can provide you with advice on all immigration matters.

Provisional

Can provide you with advice on a immigration matters but must be supervised by a full licence holder.

Limited

Can only provide you with advice about specific immigration matters. The types of immigration matters they can provide you with advice on recorded on their licence.

Check your immigration advice has a current licence

Companies cannot be licensed, only individuals can.

Immigration adviser licences are valid for one year. To check if an adviser has a current license, you can:

• search for your adviser’s name in the online register of licensed immigration advisers to find their public profile
• ask to see your adviser’s digital licence certificate – confirm the authenticity of the certificate by scanning the QR code which will take you to the adviser's public profile on the online register.

Online register of licensed immigration advisers(external link)

We only issue digital licence certificates.

Digital licence certificate

Non-current licence

There are several reasons why an immigration adviser’s licence may not be current. The licence status may be expired, surrendered, refused, suspended or cancelled. 

Find out what these terms mean

Trade mark

Some licensed immigration advisers may choose to display the below trade mark on their website. If they do, their name and licence number must be displayed next to the trade mark. 

How a licensed immigration adviser must behave

Your licensed immigration adviser must follow a set of ethical and professional standards when dealing with you. The full standards are set out in the Licensed Immigration Advisers Code of Conduct.

The Code of Conduct ensures that your licensed immigration adviser will:

• show you evidence that they are licensed
• be honest, professional, diligent and respectful
• conduct themselves with due care and in a timely manner
• provide you with objective advice
• declare any conflicts of interest, including any commission they will receive, and seek your approval to continue to act for you
• provide you with a written agreement for you to sign before any work is started which sets out the services to be provided and the fees
• charge fees that are fair and reasonable
• provide you with invoices with full descriptions of what the fees relate to
• let you know when your application has been lodged and provide you with on-going timely updates
• keep your personal documents safe and return them to you in a secure manner.

Problems with your licensed immigration adviser

Discuss any problems with your licensed immigration adviser first. Explain your concerns clearly, and suggest how your adviser can resolve them. Your adviser must follow their internal complaints procedure to help fix the problem.

Make a complaint to the Immigration Advisers Authority if you cannot resolve the problem with your adviser or it is not appropriate to deal with your adviser directly.