From today people providing New Zealand immigration advice offshore must be licensed, unless they are specifically exempted from licensing by the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act.
Mandatory licensing for onshore advisers was introduced on 4 May 2009, meaning all people giving immigration advice about New Zealand must now be licensed, unless they are specifically exempted by the Act.
A year ago when mandatory licensing was introduced onshore, there were 170 licensed immigration advisers. On 3 May this year, there are 414 licensed advisers, including 132 based offshore.
For more information about the Immigration Advisers Authority, go to www.iaa.govt.nz. You can also read the media release from the Minister of Immigration. The Immigration Advisers Authority will also be issuing a media release today – see www.iaa.govt.nz.
Forms updated
Four of our most used forms have been updated to reflect the changes above. They are the Residence Visa/Permit Application (INZ 1000), Student Visa/Permit Application (INZ 1012), Work Visa/Pemri Application (INZ 1015), and Visitor's Visa/Permit Application (INZ 1017). (Printed) hard copies are not yet available, but you can download them in PDF format from our forms pages.