Chapter 22 – Providing immigration advice becomes a licensed profession

1. Home
2. About Us
3. Our History
4. Chapter 22 – Providing immigration advice becomes a licensed profession

Richard travelled to the New Zealand Parliament in Wellington to represent the immigration advisory industry for the launch of the Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA) which was established to regulate the immigration advice profession.

The Government had been concerned for many years about unscrupulous immigration advisers and the IAA was set up “to promote and protect the interests of people receiving New Zealand immigration advice”. While the expectation was that there were around 1,000 people acting as advisers at the time, only 220 advisers actually proceeded to initially become licenced.

Now, 13 years later, there are just over 1200 licenced advisers, including 270 based overseas, and in order to become licenced, advisers must complete the Graduate Diploma in New Zealand Immigration Advice offered by Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology. There is no doubt the regulation of the industry has gone a long way to achieving a more defined, professional, knowledgeable and accountable industry for New Zealand immigration advisers.

The company’s winter edition of “The New Settler” recorded Richard’s visit to Parliament, and other news of the time!