Upgrade your licence
This policy sets out the requirements to upgrade to a limited or full immigration adviser licence.
Upgrade requirements
If you hold a provisional licence, you can upgrade to a limited or full licence.
- You can submit an upgrade application up to 3 weeks before the 24-month anniversary date of your provisional licence.
- If you have held a provisional licence for more than 24 months, you can submit an upgrade application at any time.
Limited licence holders can apply to upgrade to a full licence.
An applicant for a limited licence must:
- hold an approved qualification, and
- have held a provisional licence within the 12 months prior to the application being lodged, and
- have held a provisional licence for at least 24 months.
An applicant for a full licence must:
- hold an approved qualification, and
- have held a provisional licence within the 12 months prior to the application being lodged, and
- have held a provisional licence for at least 24 months
OR:
- hold an approved qualification, and
- hold a current limited licence.
Note
An upgrade application may only be submitted if you hold a current licence. If you do not hold a current licence and are otherwise eligible to upgrade, please reapply for a licence instead, indicating that you are applying for either a limited or full licence.
Approved qualifications and refresher courses
A number of qualifications and courses are available for those looking to upgrade to a limited or full licence. Refresher courses are also available for applicants who have previously held licences. More information on these is available elsewhere on our website.
Please note that some previously approved qualifications and entry courses are no longer available to study, but are still accepted as qualifications for those who have completed them.
Upgrade application process
Warning
If you intend to upgrade your licence on your licence anniversary date, you must submit an upgrade application instead of a renewal application. Please do not submit both.
To upgrade your licence, you need to lodge an online application using the Immigration Advisers online portal.
If you are unable to lodge an online application, please contact the Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA) to assist you.
Note
If you have submitted an upgrade 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.
If you hold a provisional licence, you must continue to comply with your approved supervision agreement until you receive notification that your upgrade application has been granted.
Documentation for upgrade applications
To submit your upgrade application, you will need:
- if you currently hold a provisional licence, the following supervision arrangement documents:
- Any supervision agreement(s) approved by the Registrar including all Professional Development Plans (PDP) signed off by your supervisor and past supervisors (if applicable).
- Minutes of supervision meetings for the past 3 months, signed by you and your supervisor.
- A list of client files for which your supervisor is providing direct supervision, signed by you and your supervisor.
- Your reflections on your supervision arrangements.
- Your supervisor’s reflections on your supervision arrangements.
- if you have previously taken client funds in advance,
- bank statements for your client account from the last 3 months; and
- the related client account ledger.
- if applicable, any documents relevant to your fitness for licensing.
- if applicable, a response to other matters relating to competency.
- 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.
Supervision minutes template – May 2021 [DOC, 35 KB]
Template: Client file list [DOCX, 25 KB]
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.
Note
Before you submit an application, you need to get an authorised person to certify your personal identification and witness any statutory declarations. Our Licensing Toolkit contains additional information about certifying your documents.
Being selected for inspection and submitting an upgrade application
You may be selected for inspection at your next renewal. If you choose to apply to upgrade your licence, rather than renew, you will still need to provide the information requested.
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.
Licence details
You will be required to confirm whether you:
- have held a provisional licence for at least 23 months
- are applying to upgrade to a limited or a full licence.
If you are applying for a limited licence, you must indicate which immigration matters or areas you wish to be able to provide immigration advice on. You may select up to three items.
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 relevant documentation.
If you have had a complaint made against you, and the Tribunal has not made a decision on the complaint before your upgrade 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 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.
Qualification
You will be required to provide evidence of completing an ‘approved qualification’ or an ‘approved refresher course’.
Acceptable evidence of completing an approved qualification or approved refresher course is a certified copy of the certificate and transcript. You must be awarded the qualification before you can submit your upgrade application. A transcript of results, without the award certificate, is insufficient.
Please refer to the current Competency Standard 1 'Qualifications and experience' which sets out the eligibility criteria for a limited or full licence.
Continuing professional development plan and record
You must complete at least 20 hours of acceptable professional development activities, including any mandatory activities, during each 12-month licensing period.
You can either keep your CPD plan and record in the Immigration Advisers online portal or via another method of your choosing. If you keep your CPD plan and record in the Immigration Advisers online portal, you do not need to upload it with your application.
Note
Further information about CPD requirements is available in the Immigration Advisers Authority’s CPD Toolkit.
Supervision arrangement documents
Before granting a limited or full licence, the Registrar must be satisfied that you meet each of the competencies to the extent necessary to provide immigration advice without supervision.
If you currently hold a provisional licence, you will need to provide a number of documents relating to your supervision arrangement. These are outlined in the documentation requirements above.
Reflections on your supervision arrangements
You and your supervisor(s) must provide reflections on your supervision arrangements to date.
You and your supervisor(s) must provide details of:
- how you and your supervisor have complied with the terms of your supervision agreement
- how your supervisor monitored your documentation and formal correspondence
- how often you met with your supervisor
- whether you have achieved your learning needs as set out in your professional development plan, including your competency to practise on a limited or full licence
- if your supervisor was away, what arrangements were in place to ensure direct supervision carried on during your supervisor's absence.
Note
If you have had more than one supervisor while holding a provisional licence, you must provide the related supervision arrangement documents for all of those supervisors. This includes reflections on your supervision arrangement. If you are not able to provide some of these documents, you must explain this in your cover letter.
Further information about supervision arrangement documents is available in the Supervision Toolkit.
Client funds documents
If you take client funds in advance, you must provide bank statements for your client account for the last 3 months and the related client account ledger.
Bank statements and the client account ledger must be in consecutive date order with no gaps for the 3-month period covered.
The client account ledger may take the form of an accounting system, an electronic ledger or a hard copy ledger.
A client account ledger should include:
- the date of the transaction
- the type of transaction – whether it is a deposit or a withdrawal
- the amount of the transaction
- the client name
- the purpose of the transaction – specifically, whether it relates to professional fees (including the stage of work), or a disbursement (including what the disbursement is)
- the related invoice number.
Other matters relating to competency
The IAA may require you to provide evidence of a change in practice where you have failed to demonstrate adherence to a particular aspect of the competency standards or the Code and where the failing is not significant enough to warrant a refusal of your application or a complaint. A requirement to make a change in business practice is recorded in your approval in principle letter.
For your current application, you will be required to confirm whether the IAA required you to make a change in business practice with your previous application.
If you were asked to provide evidence of a change in business practice, you will be required to provide the following:
- a cover letter explaining how you have changed your business practice
- evidence that shows how these changes have been implemented.
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 fee and levy are the same whether you have been selected for inspection or not.
The Authority only accepts payments in New Zealand dollars (NZD). 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 | $546.89 | $475.56 |
| Levy | $1,129.55 | $982.22 |
| Total | $1,676.44 | $1,457.78 |
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. The IAA will reduce the levy charged in proportion to the unexpired portion of the current licence to ensure that there is no double levy payment.
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.
Some advisers find that they wish to submit an upgrade application shortly after a renewal application. Please note that in this case, both application fees must be paid because they are separate applications. However, your levy payment for the second application may be calculated pro-rata.
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 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. A licence upgrade takes effect from either the date of expiry of the previous licence or the date on which the upgrade is granted, whichever occurs first.
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 upgrade applications within 25 working days.
If you submitted an upgrade application before the 24-month anniversary date of your provisional licence, the Registrar will not release a decision on your application until your 24-month anniversary date has passed.