July 2024 newsletter
Message from the Registrar
Kia ora koutou
The end of June signalled the end of the financial year, which is an excellent time to reflect on our work so far.
At the beginning of June, we commenced a campaign to increase consumer awareness of the Immigration Advisers Authority and to encourage consumers to use a Licensed Immigration Adviser. This campaign is targeting our offshore consumers in India, Vietnam, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and Rarotonga (Cook Islands). We have different adverts for different countries across google, social media and news agency sites.
In this newsletter we have a progress update for you on the proposed amendments to the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act, which are included in the Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill (No 3).
Please also take a look at the vacancy we currently have for a Senior Technical Advisor in our team.
We hope you enjoy this edition of the newsletter.
Keep our standards high.
Duncan Connor
Registrar of Immigration Advisers
Amendments to the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007
The Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill (No 3), which will make changes to the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 had its first reading this week.
The proposed amendments to the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 seek to:
- improve clarity
- support efficient operational practice, and
- remove unnecessary administrative burdens.
Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill 49-1 (2024), Government Bill (external link) — New Zealand Legislation
More information on Regulatory Systems Amendment Bills(external link) — Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
For more background information, see:
Amendments to the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 in Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No.3) (Aide memoire)(external link) — Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment(external link)
The consultation process is now open and can be found here:
Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill(external link) — New Zealand Parliament
Submissions are open until 4 September 2024.
Job Vacancy – Senior Technical Advisor
An exciting opportunity to come and work with us! We are looking for a Senior Technical Advisor with expert knowledge and experience of the Immigration Adviser’s industry and immigration law to join our team.
You can read more about the role and apply online through the Seek website here: Senior Technical Advisor(external link) — Seek
Taking parental leave and your licence
The Authority understands that advisers are unsure about their options when the topic of parental leave comes up. Understandably, the costs associated with holding a licence when a change in circumstances is on the horizon can cause some uncertainty. Some suggestions put forward to the Authority from industry to help advisers, has included issuing licences for a shorter period, to align with an advisers leave plans.
The Registrar is unable to grant a licence for a period less than 12 months, this is because the period a licence can be issued is set out in the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007.
If you are planning to take up to 12 months out of being licenced, you will not need to complete any extra requirements before applying to reinstate your licence. You are not required to complete CPD activities during the period you are unlicensed.
There are a couple of ways you can initiate a break from licensing:
• Decide not to renew your licence when you receive your annual renewal notice letter. You can notify the Registrar in writing of your plan not to renew.
• Voluntarily surrender your licence at any time, by notifying the Registrar of your request in writing. You can find information on the voluntary surrender process on the Authority’s’ website.
If your break from licensing is for more than 12 months, you will be required to complete the approved refresher training course before you apply for reinstatement of your licence. You can find more information about the reapply process in our Licensing Toolkit.
Advisers considering either surrendering their licence or allowing their licence to expire should be mindful of their obligations to their current clients (Clause 28 Code of Conduct). Once your licence has been recorded as surrendered or expired on the public registrar, you will no longer be licensed to provide immigration advice.
IAA Complaint Form
The Immigration Adviser’s Authority has recently reviewed the complaints process for people needing to make a complaint. We have created a new complaint form for making a complaint about a licenced adviser. Anyone can use this form to make a complaint.
To make a complaint about unlicensed advisers, a complaint can be submitted using our new simple email template.
The content on the complaints webpages has also been updated. The purpose of this work has been to make the complaints process easier for clients to engage with. You can see the new content and forms here: Make a complaint