Providing Immigration Advice

Many of you will be aware that on May 4th a new law will begin regulating the provision of Immigration Advice in New Zealand. This law says that unlicensed New Zealand residents - this obviously encompasses many ENZ members - may no longer provide immigration advice. The law does not yet affect people who are not resident, although in 12 months' time it will.

Members should ensure they comply with the new law. Moderators will not be able to moderate this issue because any single instance of offering "immigration advice" in an "informal context" does not seem to be outside the law.


What is "Immigration Advice"

According to the Government, Immigration advice is:

"Using, or purporting to use, knowledge of or experience in immigration to advise, direct, assist or represent another person in regard to an immigration matter relating to New Zealand, whether directly or indirectly and whether or not for gain or reward."
There are three key elements to the definition of immigration advice:

* the person is using or purporting to use knowledge of or experience in immigration;
* that knowledge or experience is used to advise, direct, assist or represent another person;
* the advice, direction, assistance or representation is provided in regard to an immigration matter relating to New Zealand.

Immigration advice is not:

“Providing information that is publicly available or that is prepared or made available by the Department of Labour;”

Example of Providing "Immigration Advice"
A person who advises another person to apply for residence in New Zealand under a particular category, describes the advantages of applying under that category over an alternative category and assists that person to tailor their application to meet the requirements of that category is using his or her knowledge of immigration to advise, direct and assist another person in regard to an immigration matter relating to New Zealand and is providing “immigration advice”.

Example of Not Providing "Immigration Advice"

A person who describes to another person the eligibility criteria for a particular immigration category or categories as it is represented on the Immigration New Zealand website or in a publication produced by the Department of Labour so that the person can decide for him or herself whether to apply under a particular category is not providing “immigration advice”.
More: http://www.iaa.govt.nz/policy-guideline.html


Are there any exemptions?

Certain people will be exempt from licensing, but can still provide advice. These include:

People who provide immigration advice in an informal or family context only, so long as the advice is not provided systematically or for a fee.

http://www.iaa.govt.nz/faqs.html#whatisadvice

Exclusions

Providing information that is publicly available or is prepared or made available by the Department of Labour

Providing information to another person that has been obtained from a publicly available source, or that has been prepared or made available by the Department of Labour, is not providing “immigration advice” under the Act. Information is publicly available if it is contained in a public register, in a publicly available publication such as a magazine, book, newspaper, or other publication that is or will be generally available to members of the public or is contained on a website accessible by the public.

The Immigration New Zealand website publishes comprehensive information about immigration requirements, including the Immigration New Zealand Operations Manual. Merely providing information obtained from the website or the Operations Manual does not amount to providing immigration advice.

Publicly available information does not need to be provided to another person “first-hand” or in “hard copy” form – “relaying” information that one has obtained from a publicly available source, will not amount to immigration advice if the information provided is not accompanied by guidance or assistance or direction tailored to the particular circumstances of the individual being advised.

A Message to ENZ from the Immigration Minister

I contacted the Minister of Immigration, Dr. Johnathan Coleman, to ask him if he thought the new law would have any impact on our forum members. He said:

Even if some people are providing immigration advice as defined above, they may be exempt from the requirement to be licensed. In particular, people who provide immigration advice in an informal or family context only, so long as the advice is not provided systematically or for a fee, are exempt. It is likely that many of your members will fall into this category as the context is informal, and no fees are charged. However, your members should be aware that this exemption applies only if they are not providing immigration advice (as defined above) systematically.

From a brief perusal it appears that generally your members do not meet the requirements to be licensed. In this regard I see no reason why your forum should not be able to continue to operate largely as it does. However, I would recommend that the website clearly alerts members to the requirements of the Act. You may also wish to obtain your own independent legal advice to provide greater guidance to your members.

For further information please refer to the Immigration Advisers Authority website at www.iaa.govt.nz.

Definition of Systematic

IanW99 contacted the Immigration Advisers Authority to ask for a clarification of what is meant by systematic. Here's what they said:

Providing advice "systematically" means it is not just a one-off assistance or occurrence. Under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, persons who provide immigration advice in an informal or family context only, so long as the advice is not provided systematically or for a fee, are exempt from the requirement to be licensed. However, if a person is going to multiply the same kind of service to all of his/her relatives and expand it to the whole family group or the whole online community, for instance, and this is going to be an ongoing action (not a simple one-off occurrence), then this exemption may no longer apply to this person who is providing immigration advice. And therefore he/she needs to apply for a licence as Immigration Adviser (this is irrespective of whether he/she charges a fee for the service or not). Otherwise without holding a licence, he/she is subject to the same dispute/complaints procedures and penalties as a unlicensed immigration advicer.