Apply for an initial licence
This policy sets out the requirements to apply for a New Zealand immigration adviser licence for the first time.
To become a licensed immigration adviser, you must meet the requirements set out in the Immigration Adviser Competency Standards 2016 or the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997.
Competency standards
The competency standards require initial licence applicants to:
- hold an approved qualification or entry course
- have knowledge of New Zealand’s immigration advisers licensing scheme
- have knowledge of New Zealand immigration law and immigration instructions
- be able to prepare, lodge and administer immigration applications
- be able to communicate professionally in English
- to be able to conduct business professionally, ethically and responsibly.
These standards have been developed by the Registrar in accordance with section 36 of the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007.
Initial provisional licence
An applicant for an initial licence must either:
- have completed an approved qualification or approved entry course within the 12 months prior to the application being lodged,
OR - have previously completed an approved qualification or approved entry course and have completed an approved refresher course within the 12 months prior to the application being lodged.
You must also have entered into a supervision arrangement with a supervisor who holds a full licence.
If your initial application is successful, you will be granted a provisional licence. While you have a current provisional licence, you must be supervised by a fully licensed immigration adviser for 2 years before you can upgrade to a full licence.
Australian registered migration agents
A different policy applies if you are an Australian registered migration agent and want to provide New Zealand immigration advice. This is because you need to follow the application process set out in the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997 (TTMRA).
Approved qualifications, entry courses and refresher courses
A number of qualifications and courses are available for those looking to gain a New Zealand immigration adviser licence. Refresher courses are also available for applicants who have previously held licences.
Initial licence application process
To obtain a licence, you need to lodge an online application using the IAA online portal.
If you are unable to submit an online application, please contact the Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA) to assist you.
Documentation for licence application
Before you apply, you need to have completed and have been awarded results for an approved qualification or entry course.
To make an initial application, you will need:
- a digital passport quality photograph
- a certified copy of your personal identification
- a police certificate / criminal history record for each country you have lived in for 12 months or more, during the last 10 years – the record must include all names by which you are / have been known
- a completed Form 101A: Supervision Arrangement Application, signed by all parties
- an acceptable supervision agreement, signed by all parties
- if applicable, any documents relevant to your fitness for licensing
- a credit or debit card to pay your application fee. Alternatively, if you have not-for-profit status, a letter from the Immigration Advisers Authority confirming this.
All documents must be in PDF, PNG or JPG format with a maximum file size of 10 MB. Digital photographs must be in PNG or JPG format.
You can find more detailed information about supervision and supervision arrangements in our Supervision Toolkit.
Note
Before you submit an application, you need to get someone to certify your personal identification and witness any statutory declarations. Our Licensing Toolkit contains additional information about certifying your documents.
Personal information
You will be asked to provide:
- your date of birth
- your full legal name, which will appear on the public register of licensed immigration advisers (the register)
- if applicable, your preferred name, which will appear on the register in brackets
- if applicable, any other names you may be known by or have previously been known by; this includes:
- previous legal names
- maiden names
- other names and aliases, regardless of whether those are legal names or not.
Contact details
You will be asked to provide:
- Business details, including:
- the name of your business or employer
- your business address, which is the main location where you will conduct your business
- your current relationship with the business or employer; for example, if you are a director or an employee
- at least one of your business phone number, direct dial phone number, or mobile phone number, where you can be contacted on
- your email address
- your business website
- your physical address for the service of documents, if it is different from your business address
- your postal address, if it is different from the physical location of your business address.
Note
You must provide the above details for all your immigration advice businesses. For example, if you are a Director of one business and a contractor for another business, you must provide the above details for both businesses.
Only your primary business will appear on the register.
Under section 77(2)(a) of the Act, the purpose of the register is to enable members of the public to know how to contact a licensed immigration adviser and to facilitate the compliance, audit and other supporting and administrative functions of the Registrar. The register must include a business and service address for you.
You may choose to have your postal address, business phone number, direct dial phone number, mobile number, email address or business website shown on the public register of immigration advisers.
Fitness for licensing
You will be required to answer questions relating to your fitness to hold an immigration adviser licence and upload any relevant documentation. Our Licensing Toolkit contains additional information about fitness requirements to be granted a licence.
Qualifications
In your application, you will be asked to indicate which of the approved qualifications or entry courses you have completed and when. ‘Completed’ means that you have passed all relevant courses and have received confirmation of your results from Te Pūkenga | Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology.
You will not be asked to upload a copy of your academic record as this will be verified with Te Pūkenga | Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology directly.
Photograph
You will be required to upload one passport quality photograph which meets the following criteria:
- Be taken within the last 6 months
- A face, head and shoulders shot
- Looking directly at the camera
- Not wearing a hat, sunglasses or any other accessories that obscures the face
- Passport-sized 3:4 – width to height ratio
- In full colour, on a plain light background.
This photograph will appear on the register of licensed immigration advisers. We may refuse photographs which are not of adequate quality or are not composed in a way that is suitable for that purpose.
Personal identification
You will be required to upload a certified copy of one of the following:
- Passport page (front and/or back) that shows your photograph and personal details
- New Zealand driver licence, both front and back.
The document you provide must not be expired.
If you do not have either of the above, use the template Statutory Declaration form to supply an alternative proof of identity as described on the form (such as an overseas driver licence). A person who is authorised to witness a statutory declaration must sign this document.
Statutory Declaration form [PDF, 26 KB]
Police certificate / Criminal history record
You will be required to upload criminal record histories or police clearance certificates, from each country that you have lived in for a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years. All records must be obtained and dated within the 6 months prior to submitting the application and must not be expired.
Warning
If you are still waiting for your criminal record history or police clearance certificate, please do not submit an application. If you submit an application to the IAA without the required documentation, we will not lodge your application for assessment. You will be notified that your application has been refused as incomplete.
Names
When requesting a criminal record history or police clearance certificate you must include all names by which you are known or have been known, as listed in the Personal Information section of the application form. For example, if your legal name is “Thomas Smith”, and you have listed your preferred name as “Tom Smith”, then both “Thomas Smith” and “Tom Smith” need to be included in the criminal records history or police clearance certificate.
Statutory Declaration
If it is not possible to obtain a criminal record history or police clearance certificate under all names listed in the application form, from each country, you must upload a statutory declaration confirming that:
- you are known by those names
- you are known by other names, which cannot be included in your criminal record history or police clearance certificate for the relevant country
- you have no convictions in the relevant country or countries under those names.
If you cannot acquire a criminal record history or police clearance certificate at all because they are not available or are difficult to obtain, you will likewise need to upload a statutory declaration. Your statutory declaration should also include any information relating to your attempts to obtain your criminal record or criminal history.
All statutory declarations must be in English, or in both your own language and English.
How to obtain a New Zealand Criminal Record History
A New Zealand Criminal Record History can be obtained on application to the Ministry of Justice.
Get your own criminal record(external link) – Ministry of Justice
How to obtain an Overseas Criminal Record History or Police Clearance Certificates
Any overseas criminal record history or police clearance certificate must be issued by the national authority of the country concerned. If you are unsure how to request a Criminal Record History from overseas, please refer to Immigration New Zealand’s website.
How to get a police certificate(external link) – Immigration New Zealand
A fee may be payable for obtaining a Criminal Record History or Police Clearance Certificate from any country other than New Zealand.
If the issuing authority of a country from which a criminal record history or police clearance certificate is required will only deliver the certificate directly to the IAA, we recommend you allow 3 months for the Criminal Record History or Police Clearance Certificate to be delivered. An application for a licence can only be submitted once the Criminal Record History / Police Clearance Certificate has been received.
Please notify the IAA via email that a Criminal Record History or Police clearance certificate will be delivered to us. The IAA will provide the criminal record history or police clearance certificate via return email, once it has been received. This must be uploaded with any application for a licence.
Email the Immigration Advisers Authority
Supervision arrangement documents
You are required to have your proposed supervisor(s) and supervision arrangements approved by the Registrar. To enable this, you will be asked to:
- provide the name or licence number of the full licence holder who will act as your supervisor, and any full licence holders who will act as your backup supervisor(s)
- upload a completed Form 101A: Supervision Arrangement Application, completed and signed by all parties
- upload a copy of an acceptable supervision agreement, signed by all parties.
Form 101A – Supervision arrangement application [PDF, 258 KB]
Note
Further information about developing a supervision agreement and establishing an acceptable supervision arrangement is available in our Supervision Toolkit.
Declaration
You will be required to complete a declaration as part of the application process in the online portal. Please ensure you read the declaration carefully before ticking the declaration checkbox.
Warning
The giving of false information in the application form is an offence under section 66 of the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 with penalties of imprisonment of up to two years and/or a fine of up to $10,000 and will result in the application for a licence being refused.
Furthermore, under Section 27(1)(b) of the Act, the Registrar must cancel a licence if he or she is satisfied that the licence was granted on the basis of any false or fraudulent representation or declaration, made either orally or in writing.
Application costs
You will pay an application fee and a levy unless you have been approved for not-for-profit status.
The IAA only accepts payments in New Zealand dollars. Payments can be made online using Visa or Mastercard.
The amount you pay depends on whether you are ordinarily resident in New Zealand. A person is ordinarily resident in New Zealand if they have spent more than 183 days in New Zealand in the immediately preceding 12 months and is not unlawfully in New Zealand.
| Costs | Ordinarily resident in NZ (including GST) |
Not ordinarily resident in NZ |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | $909.78 | $791.11 |
| Levy | $1,129.55 | $982.22 |
| Total | $2,039.33 | $1,773.33 |
You will pay the application fee when you submit your application for a licence.
After your application is approved in principle, you will need to log into the IAA online portal to pay the levy.
If you do not pay the levy within 20 working days, the Registrar may refuse your application under section 19(1) of the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007. This refusal will be noted on the register.
All invoices will be emailed to you.
Not-for-profit status
You may be entitled to a fee waiver if you intend to act as an immigration adviser on a not-for-profit basis, or are an employee or volunteer working for an organisation that operates on a not-for-profit basis. You can find more details about this in our Licensing Toolkit.
Assessment of your application
An assessor will review your application to ensure that:
- you are not prohibited from licensing
- all mandatory documents have been provided
- you are fit to hold a licence
- you meet the Immigration Advisers Competency Standards.
The assessor(s) will contact you if they require further information or documents. They may also interview you to obtain further information or clarification during the assessment process.
Once the assessor(s) has finished reviewing your application, they will make a recommendation to the Registrar. The Registrar will decide whether your application meets licensing requirements and whether you should be granted a limited or full licence.
Grant of licence
If your application is approved, the IAA will inform you and will request that you pay the immigration adviser’s levy.
Once you have paid the levy, your licence will be granted. The register will be updated with your details. You will also be able to download a digital licence from the Immigration Advisers Authority online portal.
All licences are valid for 12 months from the date they are granted by the Registrar.
Refusal of licence
If your application is refused, you will be informed in writing. The refusal and your name and details will be listed on the register.
You have the right to appeal the refusal of a licence to the District Court of New Zealand.
Processing times
We aim to process fully complete initial licence applications within 15 working days.
If your application is taking longer, we are working hard to process it as soon as possible. If there are any concerns, we will contact you to seek your response.