Applications open for Immigration Advice qualification
Media release
November 2011
Apply now for places on New Zealand’s first immigration advice qualification.
The complete qualification spans four online courses split into ten modules. These cover everything from professional practice to Residence Visas and Temporary Entry.
Flexible learning
The Graduate Certificate in New Zealand Immigration Advice Level 7 can either be taken:
- full-time for half a year or
- part-time over a maximum of five years, providing you are currently licensed as an immigration adviser.
The highly flexible form of online learning also offers the option of taking individual courses to suit Continuing Professional Development and those giving advice in an exempt capacity.
Pending NZQA approval, the specialist qualification will be accessible from anywhere in the world supported by tutors from the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic working in partnership with the University of Victoria in Melbourne and the University of Waikato.
Optional face-to-face tutorials may also be offered in Auckland and other locations depending on demand.
Applying
Entrants to the full-time course need to complete an application form and may be called for an informal chat with the Polytechnic before being offered a place, whereas part-time students can enrol directly by completing an enrolment form.
Applications are accepted right until the first semester starts on 13 February 2012.
- Semester 1 runs from 13 February to 22 June.
- Semester 2 runs from 16 July to 23 November.
Fees are approximately $520 per course for New Zealand citizens and permanent residents living in the country. The complete qualification involves four courses.
International applicants and New Zealand citizens living out of the country pay approximately $1,830 per course.
Demand
Three out of four advisers are interested in taking the new qualification.
Of those who completed our survey, 75 per cent plan to complete at least a part of the graduate certificate as part of their continuing professional development.
Most preferred to take the qualification part-time and showed a particular interest in:
- Module 7: Residence – Skilled and Business
- Module 9: Review and Appeal
Feedback was generally positive with potential applicants applauding the opportunity for:
- continuing professional development
- flexible online learning
- potential for face-to-face tutorials
- increasing options available to those wanting to enter the immigration advice industry.
Notes to editor
The Immigration Advisers Authority was set up to promote and protect the interests of people receiving New Zealand immigration advice.
We do this by:
- issuing licences to people who are fit and competent to give immigration advice
- maintaining competency standards and a code of conduct for immigration advisers
- investigating people giving immigration advice without a licence or exemption.
- receiving complaints from people who have received poor immigration advice
Under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 anyone giving immigration advice must have a licence unless they are exempt. Exempt people include lawyers with a current New Zealand practising certificate and Citizens Advice Bureaux staff among others.
The Authority is independent of Immigration New Zealand and cannot give immigration advice or influence a visa application.
