March 2018 newsletter
Registrar update
Thank you to all of you who put yourselves forward for the 2018 Reference Group. We had a wide range of advisers interested this year and I am looking forward to hearing the views of a new group of advisers. The 2018 members are announced below.
We currently have a campaign underway to raise awareness of the licensing requirements in the construction sector. This includes advertising on LinkedIn, Facebook and Google Adwords, as well as placing articles in a range of construction sector publications.
All licensed immigration advisers have been recently emailed by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment with a consultation document on the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act review. I encourage you to have a look and put forward your views.
Most advisers have signed up to one of our mandatory webinars already which is great news. If you haven’t got one in your diary yet, you can register below. We had around 380 advisers at our Supervision webinar and you can now view this recording.
Nga mihi
Catherine Albiston
Registrar of Immigration Advisers
March 2018 snapshot of licensed immigration advisers
At 1 March 2018 there were 1051 licensed immigration advisers.
“TTMRA” refers to Registered Migration Agents licensed through the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement, “Grad” refers to those who have completed the required entry qualification and “Non-grad” refers to those who were licensed prior to the entry qualification requirements.
Announcing the 2018 Licensed Immigration Adviser reference group
The licensed advisers who will make up the 2018 reference group are:
Samaria Thompson, Peter Ryan, Chetan Rudra, Jaqueline Chong, Harris Gu, Pengbo Jiang, Zinny Cheng, June Ranson or NZAMI Board nominee (NZAMI), and Matt Fistonich (NZAIP).
We will also have a different offshore licensed adviser attending each meeting to bring an offshore perspective. These advisers include:
Yashpal Erda (Australia), Jonathan Adams (Singapore), Stephanie Feret (Philippines) and Roberta Tiatia (Samoa).
The purpose of the reference group is for the Authority to hear the views of licensed advisers on matters to do with the licensing regime so we can continue to improve our service.
We are looking forward to the discussions this year’s group brings.
IAA working with the education sector
In 2017, we ran two campaigns targeting international students wanting to stay in New Zealand to better inform them of the licensing requirements. We reached over 130,000 of our target audience on Facebook and also ran advertisements on We Chat and Sky Kiwi.
Over the last year, the IAA has also worked with agencies including Education New Zealand and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) to improve awareness of the immigration advisers licensing requirements in the education sector.
NZQA has developed a guide to assist education providers to manage education agents.
The IAA contributed to this to ensure the licensing requirements are clearly set out in this context.
Read NZQA’s guide to managing education agents(external link)
IAA in the media
In February, there was wide coverage around New Zealand of two IAA media releases relating to charges we have laid for unlawful immigration advice. You can read these here:
Education agent charged for unlicensed immigration advice
Unlicensed woman charged with asking for fee for immigration advice
Supervision toolkit update
We have recently updated the Supervision Toolkit to clarify that a provisional licence holder may choose to have more than one separate supervision arrangement.
This may occur, for example, where a provisional licence holder has two part-time jobs.
Each supervision arrangement will need to meet the requirements set out in the Supervision Toolkit and be approved by the Registrar.
The provisional licence holder will be required to have a primary supervisor, and this supervisor will be named on the register of licensed immigration advisers.
Each supervision agreement will need to acknowledge the existence of the other supervision agreement.
The Registrar will need to be satisfied that processes are in place to ensure the provisional licence holder is supervised at all times.
It is strongly recommended that all supervision agreements include an alternative full licence holder to act in the supervision role in the absence of the supervisor, so that you don’t have to seek approval for a new supervision agreement in the event your supervisor is unavailable.
Remember that you may not apply to upgrade your licence more than three weeks before you have held a provisional licence for 24 months.
Take a few minutes to read our updated Supervision Toolkit now
Have you got your mandatory CPD lined up?
The Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA) requires all New Zealand licensed advisers, including those who are Registered Migration Agents in Australia, to attend one webinar run by the IAA in 2018, by 31 December 2018.
This year, our webinars will focus on client engagement and initial assessments. Many complaints arise because client engagement processes have not been followed or because an adviser’s initial advice is not recorded in writing. Ensuring you have good engagement processes in place goes a long way to establishing a good client relationship and avoiding mismatched expectations.
The IAA’s webinars for 2018 are scheduled as follows:
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Supervision for provisional licence holders and supervisors
This webinar has already taken place.
You can view a recording of it by registering here(external link).
Please take a screenshot of your completed registration page for your CPD record before you click “submit”.
The IAA will be able to verify that you have viewed the recording once you register.
- Tuesday 15 May 3pm - 4pm NZST
Client engagement and initial assessments
Register here(external link)
- Wednesday 29 August 3pm - 4pm NZST
Client engagement and initial assessments
- Tuesday 30 October 4pm - 5pm NZST
Client engagement and initial assessments
Register here(external link)
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing a link to join the webinar.
If you are not able to attend one of these webinars at the scheduled time you will be able watch a video of the webinar after it is delivered.
All advisers need to understand their CPD obligations and we strongly encourage you to refresh your understanding by re-reading our CPD Toolkit.
Resources on employment rights
Here are links to resources on employment rights that may be of use to you and your clients.
The employment learning modules include six subjects targeted to employees and six to employers. The modules are free to use and provide learning that’s interactive and engaging.
The Employment New Zealand newsletter shares some of the latest updates, news in the media and answers top employment related questions each month.
Minimum employment rights and responsibilities (available in 14 languages) (external link)
Employment Learning Modules(external link)
Subscribe to receive the Employment New Zealand newsletter(external link)
Interested in taking on a student work placement in 2018?
Students completing the Graduate Diploma in New Zealand Immigration Advice have the option of taking a work placement course in the second half of their studies.
The purpose of the work placement course is to give students an opportunity to observe and reflect on the professional practice of, and discuss real situations with, a licensed adviser. It gives them an opportunity to see first-hand the daily challenges and professional practices of a licensed adviser.
Both advisers and students who have participated so far have given very positive feedback about the experience and encouraged others to give it a go.
Work placements can only take place where a student can attend the physical premises of the licensed adviser. They cannot be done virtually.
Work placements run for 13 weeks in both semesters one and two each academic year. Students are expected to spend a minimum of 80 hours for the duration of the placement. They are also required to spend an additional 8 hours each week writing up reflections and maintaining a log-book for assessment.
Students are not to be paid for their time on work placements, unless they are an existing employee of the company, and similarly they are not expected to pay to do the work placement. The placement itself cannot be considered to be a trial period for employment purposes; there would need to be a separate employment agreement for that.
When you agree to take on a student for a work placement, an agreement is signed between yourself, the student and Toi Ohomai so everyone is clear about their role.
There are specific obligations on students regarding confidentiality and intellectual property.
For all the information you need to know, check out Toi Ohomai’s Work Placement Handbook [PDF 234KB]
To talk to Toi Ohomai about hosting a student, contact Jeni Fountain
