Misrepresentation
Advisers
Clause 29:
A licensed immigration adviser must not misrepresent or promote in a false, fraudulent or deceptive manner:
- themselves, including their qualifications or their licence status or type
- their business
- their employees
- the client
- immigration opportunities or risks, or
- New Zealand’s immigration requirements.
Examples of misrepresentation that have been the subject of complaints to the Immigration Advisers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal include:
- advertising that a visa is 100% guaranteed – an adviser cannot make this claim as they are not the decision-maker
- knowingly providing misleading or false information to Immigration New Zealand
- being dishonest about qualifications held by the adviser.
Here are some decisions from the Immigration Advisers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal that refer to misrepresentation:
Fifita v Tangilanu
Decision: [2014] NZIACDT 108 (3 October 2014) (PDF, 128KB)(external link)
Penalty Decision: [2015] NZIACDT 15 (6 March 2015) (PDF, 156KB)(external link)
Yasin & Nawaz v Hammadieh
Decision: [2014] NZIACDT 71 (23 June 2014) (PDF, 157KB)(external link)
Penalty Decision: [2015] NZIACDT 4 (04 January 2015) (PDF, 176KB)(external link)
HNL v SEC
Decision: [2013] NZIACDT 11 (19 March 2013) (PDF, 146 KB)(external link)
Penalty Decision: [2013] NZIACDT 36 (11 June 2013) (PDF, 10.8 KB)(external link)
What has changed compared to the 2010 Code?
2010 Code – required that advisers did not, in a false, fraudulent or deceptive manner, misrepresent or promote:
- himself or herself
- his or her business
- his or her clients’ immigration opportunities
- New Zealand’s immigration requirements
2014 Code – requires that advisers must not misrepresent or promote in a false, fraudulent or deceptive manner:
- themselves, including their qualifications or their licence status or type
- their business
- their employees
- the client
- immigration opportunities or risks, or
- New Zealand’s immigration requirements.