Renew your licence
This policy sets out how to apply to renew a full, limited or provisional New Zealand immigration adviser licence, including one granted under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997 (TTMRA).
Maintaining a current licence
As a licensed immigration adviser, it is your responsibility to make sure that your immigration adviser licence is valid. The Registrar of Immigration Advisers (the Registrar) has no discretion to accept a renewal application received after the expiry of your current licence.
You must submit your renewal application on or before the date your current licence expires to ensure you can continue to provide immigration advice services. Your licence expiry date appears on your licence, and your register listing.
Should your licence expire:
- You must stop giving immigration advice.
- The Registrar will record the expiry of the licence on the public register of immigration advisers.
- Immigration New Zealand will no longer accept your immigration applications.
- You will need to apply for a licence through the reapply application process.
Renewal application process
The Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA) will email a renewal reminder up to 2 months before your licence is due to expire.
Once you have received your renewal reminder, you will be able to renew your licence using the IAA online portal.
If you are unable to lodge an online application, please contact the IAA to assist you.
Note
If you have submitted a complete renewal application, but the IAA has not assessed it before the date on which your licence would otherwise expire, your licence continues in force until the assessment is complete.
Documentation for licence renewals
To renew your licence, you will need:
- if applicable, a digital passport-quality photograph – you must update your photograph every third renewal
- if applicable, any documents relevant to your fitness for licensing
- if you have been selected for inspection, the documents set out in the inspection notice
- 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.
If you are renewing a provisional licence, you must also ensure that your supervision arrangement is current at the time you apply for renewal. You may not submit a renewal application for a provisional licence if you do not have an approved supervision agreement in place.
Being selected for inspection alongside your renewal application
The IAA follows a fast-track renewal process that provides a streamlined renewal for most advisers. All advisers are eligible to go through a fast-track renewal process if they hold a full, limited or provisional licence unless the IAA has required the adviser to be inspected.
The IAA will notify you whether you have been selected for inspection, up to 2 months before your licence is due to expire.
If you are selected for inspection, you will be issued an inspection notice pursuant to Section 57 of the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007. The inspection notice will set out additional documents you will be required to provide as part of the inspection. If you are unable to provide complete documentation, please provide further information in your application cover letter.
Personal information
You will be asked to confirm or update:
- 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.
Contact details
You will be asked to confirm or update:
- 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
- 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 show 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 documentation required.
If you have had a complaint made against you, and the Tribunal has not made a decision on the complaint before your renewal application, you must declare the complaint in the fitness section. We will then carry out a fitness assessment before a decision is made on your application.
Our Licensing Toolkit contains additional information about fitness requirements and checking.
Photograph
You must update your photograph every third renewal. You have the option of updating your photograph at every renewal. The photograph must meet 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 obscure 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.
Supervision arrangement details (provisional licence holders only)
If you are a provisional licence holder, you must ensure that your supervision arrangement is current at the time you apply to renew your licence. You will be asked to confirm that your existing supervision arrangement is still in place when completing the renewal application.
At any time, a provisional licence holder must:
- inform the Registrar of Immigration Advisers when any notice is given that the supervision agreement is to be terminated
- not give immigration advice for any period of time in which they do not have in place a supervision agreement approved by the Registrar of Immigration Advisers
- provide any new supervision agreement to the Registrar of Immigration Advisers for approval.
Provisional licence holders can provide a new supervision arrangement at any time by submitting a change of supervisor request in the IAA online portal.
Change supervision arrangement
If you are a provisional licence holder and do not have an approved supervision agreement in place at the time you are due to renew your licence, you may not submit a renewal application.
- If you do not have a supervision arrangement in place by the time your licence is due to expire, your licence will expire as normal.
- If your licence expires, you can reapply for registration once you have a new supervision arrangement in place.
Supervision arrangements where the supervisor is no longer eligible
In some cases, a supervisor may no longer meet the requirements for a supervision arrangement. For example, the supervisor’s licence may have recently expired.
If this occurs and the supervision arrangement is recorded in the IAA online portal, the IAA online portal will send a notification to the corresponding provisional licence holders to advise them of this development. Those provisional licence holders will be advised to submit a change of supervisor request and submit a new supervision agreement for approval.
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.
If the application for a licence was made under the TTMRA, the IAA may refuse the application per section 22 of the TTMRA if any of the statements, documentation or information in the application is materially false or misleading.
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 fee and levy are the same whether you have been selected for inspection or not.
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 login to 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
The assessment of your application depends on whether you were selected for inspection.
Fast-track assessment
In most cases, your application will be approved instantaneously.
If you have answered ‘yes’ to any of the questions under the fitness for licensing section of your application, these will be assessed in full. If there are any concerns about whether you are meeting any of the competency standards, or indications that there are issues of non-compliance with the Code, the Registrar may also investigate those issues in full.
Inspections assessment
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 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 has finished assessing your application, they will make a recommendation to the Registrar. The Registrar will decide whether your application meets licensing requirements and whether your licence should be renewed.
Grant of licence
If your application is approved, the IAA will inform you and will request 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 be able to download an updated 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
Fully complete fast-track renewal applications may be approved instantaneously. If not, we aim to process them within 5 working days.
We aim to process fully complete inspection stream renewal applications within 25 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 be in contact in writing to seek your response.