What Counts as Immigration Advice, and What Doesn't
The line is tailoring. Publishing information that is publicly available is not immigration advice. Applying that information to one person's circumstances is. In the Immigration Advisers Authority's own words, providing information becomes immigration advice "when you tailor it to the particular circumstances of an individual."
Quick Facts
| The statute | Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, section 7 |
| The definition | Using, or purporting to use, knowledge of or experience in immigration to advise, direct, assist or represent another person on a New Zealand immigration matter |
| Paid or unpaid | Covered "whether or not for gain or reward" — being free is no defence |
| The exclusion | Information that is publicly available, or prepared or made available by the Department |
| The IAA's test | Information becomes advice when you tailor it to the particular circumstances of an individual or give guidance or assistance to that individual |
| Advising without a licence | Up to NZ$100,000 and/or 7 years' imprisonment |
| Falsely claiming to be licensed | Up to NZ$10,000 and/or 2 years' imprisonment |
| Employing an unlicensed adviser | Up to NZ$10,000 and/or 2 years' imprisonment |
| Sourcing note | Automated access to the legislation site was blocked during research. The wording here is quoted via the IAA's and INZ's restatements, which agree with each other. Confirm against the primary statute before relying on the exact words |
| Checked | August 2026 |
The statutory definition
Section 7 of the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 defines immigration advice as "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."
Three phrases in that sentence do most of the work.
"Or purporting to use." You do not need actual expertise. Presenting yourself as having immigration knowledge and acting on it is enough.
"Advise, direct, assist, or represent." Four verbs, and "assist" is much broader than "advise". Helping someone decide what to write is assisting.
"Whether or not for gain or reward." Free advice is regulated identically to paid advice. This is the single most commonly missed feature of the New Zealand regime, and it is why the "I did not charge them" defence does not work.
The exclusion this site relies on
The definition excludes providing information that is publicly available, or that is prepared or made available by the Department.
INZ describes the exclusion in its own words: you are not giving regulated advice when you "provide information that is publicly available, or is from the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment — for example, generic information from this website."
That is the basis on which a publication like this one can exist. We publish what the published rules say, with sources and dates. We do not apply them to anyone.
The line, in the IAA's exact words
The regulator states the test directly:
"Providing information becomes giving immigration advice when you tailor it to the particular circumstances of an individual or give guidance or assistance to the individual."
Everything else on this page is an illustration of that sentence. The trigger is not the medium, not the payment, and not the job title. It is tailoring.
| Not immigration advice | Immigration advice |
|---|---|
| "The AEWV requires a job with an accredited employer" | "Your job offer would meet the AEWV requirement" |
| "Residence applications are declined for these published reasons" | "Yours was probably declined because of X" |
| "Here are the visa categories and what each requires" | "You should apply for the Green List pathway" |
| "The Tribunal's fee for a residence appeal is NZ$964" | "You should appeal, and here is what to put in it" |
| "These are the character requirements" | "Your conviction will probably be waived" |
| "Here is how to find a licensed adviser" | "Send me your documents and I will look at them" |
The left column is the same information in every row. The right column is that information pointed at a person.
What needs no licence at all
INZ publishes a list of activities that fall outside the definition. You do not need a licence if you only:
- provide generic information — INZ's example is "generic information from this website"
- submit an application on behalf of someone else, using only information the applicant provided
- tell someone to get advice from a person who can legally provide it — for example, giving them a list of licensed advisers
- work as an employee of a licensed immigration adviser or a lawyer doing clerical work — filing documents, data entry
- provide translation or interpreting services
- help migrants settle into New Zealand community life — finding a school, finding a home
Each of these has an edge, and the edge is always the same one.
"Using only information provided by the applicant" is the critical qualifier on the second item. Typing what someone dictates is clerical. Deciding what should go in a box, or how a gap should be explained, is advice.
Clerical work stops being clerical the moment the person starts answering the client's questions about the rules.
Translation is translation. A translator who explains what INZ is likely to make of a document has moved.
Settlement help is about life in New Zealand — housing, schools, community. It is not about visa conditions.
Where this bites in real life
The regime catches a lot of people who do not think of themselves as immigration advisers.
| Situation | Where it sits |
|---|---|
| An employer helping a migrant employee with a form | Available guidance indicates this is permitted only where it is part of their job, they record only the information the applicant gave them, and they provide no immigration advice. That guidance came from a search summary rather than a fetched page — confirm on immigration.govt.nz. Note that employing an unlicensed adviser is itself an offence |
| An education agent overseas | Exempt for student visa applications only. Work, visitor and residence advice requires a New Zealand licence |
| A recruiter explaining visa options to a candidate | Explaining what published categories require is information. Telling a candidate which one to apply for is advice |
| A community leader who "helps everyone with their papers" | The informal-advice exemption requires that the advice is not systematic and not for a fee. Volume and regularity erode it, even unpaid |
| A friend or family member | Exempt where the context is informal or family and the advice is not systematic and not for a fee |
| A social media account answering individual case questions | Answering a named person's specific circumstances is tailoring, regardless of the platform or whether money changed hands |
| A website publishing the rules | Publicly available information is expressly excluded |
The pattern is consistent: publishing to everyone is fine, and answering one person is not.
Why the "I did not charge" defence fails
It comes up often enough to deserve its own section, because the intuition behind it is reasonable and wrong.
The statutory definition expressly covers advice given "whether or not for gain or reward". Parliament wrote that phrase in deliberately. The harm the Act targets is bad advice, and bad free advice damages an applicant exactly as much as bad paid advice — arguably more, because nobody scrutinises what they did not pay for.
There is one narrow allowance: advice given in an informal or family context, provided it is not provided systematically or for a fee. Note that both conditions must hold. Free but systematic is not exempt.
How this site stays on the right side of the line
We think it is fair to show our own working, since we are asking readers to judge other sources by theirs.
What we do: publish what the rules require, with the primary source and the date we checked it. Publish fee components rather than only totals. Say plainly when a figure could not be verified. Describe what options exist after a decline.
What we do not do: assess whether anyone meets a requirement. Recommend a visa. Predict an outcome or estimate anyone's chances. Rank a person's options. Comment on an individual application. Operate a chatbot, quiz or calculator that evaluates a reader's circumstances, or run comments and case-question forms.
That last one is a deliberate architectural choice, not an oversight. A tool that takes a person's details and returns guidance is tailoring information to a particular individual, which is the exact conduct the IAA describes. So the site has none.
Where a question turns on your own facts, the answer is a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer — see how to find a licensed immigration adviser.
A note on the sourcing
The statutory wording quoted above is taken from the IAA's and INZ's own restatements of section 7, which agree with each other word for word. Automated access to legislation.govt.nz was blocked during our research, so we could not fetch the section directly.
We are telling you that because it is the kind of caveat most sites omit. The substance is not in doubt — both the regulator and the department state it identically — but if you need the exact statutory words for a formal purpose, read them on legislation.govt.nz rather than here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is immigration advice under New Zealand law?
Section 7 of the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 defines it as using, or purporting to use, knowledge of or experience in immigration to advise, direct, assist or represent another person on a New Zealand immigration matter, whether directly or indirectly and whether or not for gain or reward.
Can I give immigration advice in New Zealand for free?
Not unless you are licensed or exempt. The definition applies "whether or not for gain or reward". The only free-advice carve-out is the informal or family context exemption, which requires that the advice is not systematic and not for a fee.
Is publishing general immigration information legal without a licence?
Yes. The definition expressly excludes information that is publicly available, or prepared or made available by the Department. That exclusion is what allows an information website to exist. It ends the moment the content is tailored to an individual.
What is the difference between information and advice?
Tailoring. The IAA's test is that providing information becomes immigration advice when you tailor it to the particular circumstances of an individual, or give guidance or assistance to that individual. The same sentence can be information to an audience and advice to a person.
Can I fill in a visa application for someone else?
Yes, if you use only the information they provided and give no immigration advice. Deciding what should go in a field, or how a gap in their history should be explained, crosses into advice.
Can an employer help a migrant worker with a visa application?
Available guidance indicates yes, but only where it is part of their job, they record only what the applicant gave them, and they provide no immigration advice. That guidance was not confirmed from a primary page in our research, so verify it on immigration.govt.nz. Employing an unlicensed adviser is itself an offence carrying up to NZ$10,000 and/or two years.
What happens if I give immigration advice without a licence?
It is a criminal offence carrying up to NZ$100,000 and/or seven years' imprisonment. Separately, INZ will refuse to accept or will decline an application that names an adviser who is not on the register, so the applicant is harmed too.
