Who Is Exempt from Immigration Adviser Licensing in New Zealand
Eight categories may give New Zealand immigration advice without a licence: lawyers, community law centre staff, Citizens Advice Bureau staff, offshore advisers on student visa applications only, MPs and public servants where it is part of their job, foreign diplomats and consular staff, and people advising informally without a fee.
Quick Facts
| The rule being excepted | Anyone giving advice on New Zealand immigration matters must be licensed or exempt |
| Governing law | Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 |
| Biggest misunderstanding | The offshore exemption covers student visa applications only |
| Lawyers | Current practising certificate required. Employees of lawyers and incorporated law firms are covered too |
| Community Law Centres | Staff and volunteers, where a lawyer sits on the employing body or supervises the work |
| Citizens Advice Bureau | New Zealand CAB employees and volunteers |
| MPs and public servants | Only where providing immigration advice is part of their employment agreement |
| Diplomats and consular staff | Under the Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities Act 1968 and the Consular Privileges and Immunities Act 1971 |
| Informal advice | Exempt if not provided systematically and not for a fee |
| Getting it wrong | Up to NZ$100,000 and/or 7 years' imprisonment |
| Checked | August 2026 |
Why exemptions exist at all
The licensing rule is deliberately broad. Immigration New Zealand puts it this way: "Anyone who gives advice on New Zealand immigration matters must be licensed or exempt from licensing." The statutory definition covers advice given "whether or not for gain or reward", so being unpaid is not a defence.
A rule that broad would otherwise catch a lawyer, a Citizens Advice Bureau volunteer and a diplomat helping a national with paperwork. The exemptions are the carve-outs that keep those people lawful. They are not loopholes, and they are narrower than most of the material written about them suggests.
The complete list
| Exempt category | Scope, exactly |
|---|---|
| Lawyers | Lawyers holding a current practising certificate as a barrister, and barristers and solicitors of the High Court of New Zealand. Also employees of lawyers and of incorporated law firms |
| New Zealand Community Law Centre employees and volunteers | Exempt as long as one or more lawyers sit on the employing body or supervise its work |
| Citizens Advice Bureau employees and volunteers | A New Zealand Citizens Advice Bureau |
| Offshore advice on student visa applications | Anyone giving immigration advice about student visa applications from outside New Zealand |
| Members of Parliament and their staff | New Zealand MPs and their staff, exempt only if providing immigration advice is part of their employment agreement |
| New Zealand public servants | Exempt only if providing immigration advice is part of their employment agreement |
| Foreign diplomats and consular staff | Diplomats under the Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities Act 1968; consular staff under the Consular Privileges and Immunities Act 1971 |
| Informal advice | Advice given in an informal or family context, and not provided systematically or for a fee |
The offshore exemption is the one that catches people
If you read one section of this page, read this one.
The offshore exemption applies only to student visa applications.
INZ's wording is that "anyone who gives immigration advice about student visa applications outside of New Zealand is exempt." That is the whole of it. It is not a general rule that offshore advisers are exempt, and it does not extend to any other visa type.
So:
| The adviser | The application | Licence required? |
|---|---|---|
| Agent in Delhi | New Zealand student visa | No — exempt |
| Agent in Delhi | New Zealand work visa | Yes |
| Agent in Manila | New Zealand visitor visa | Yes |
| Agent in Johannesburg | New Zealand residence application | Yes |
| Agent in Shanghai | New Zealand partner visa | Yes |
A great deal of material online — including guidance written for education and migration agents — still describes this exemption as broader than it is. It is not.
Two consequences follow, and they fall on different people. The overseas agent commits an offence carrying up to NZ$100,000 and/or seven years' imprisonment. And you lose the application: INZ "will refuse to accept or will decline" an application naming an adviser who is not on the register. The register is at app.mbieregisters.govt.nz, reached from www.iaa.govt.nz — see how to check an immigration adviser's licence.
Lawyers: the exemption most people meet
A New Zealand lawyer with a current practising certificate may give immigration advice without an IAA licence, and will not appear on the IAA register.
The exemption reaches further than the individual lawyer. It covers employees of lawyers and of incorporated law firms, which is why a paralegal in an immigration law practice can lawfully do work that the same person could not do at a non-legal consultancy.
Verification runs through the New Zealand Law Society rather than the IAA. The full comparison is in immigration adviser or immigration lawyer.
Community Law Centres and Citizens Advice Bureau
These two are the free options in the system, and they are genuinely exempt rather than operating in a grey area.
Community Law Centres. Employees and volunteers are exempt, on a condition: there must be one or more lawyers on the employing body, or supervising its work. The exemption is built on lawyer oversight, which is why it exists at all.
Citizens Advice Bureau. Employees and volunteers of a New Zealand Citizens Advice Bureau are exempt. Note the word New Zealand — an equivalent organisation in another country is not covered by this exemption.
Neither is a substitute for representation on a complex matter. For a straightforward question about what the rules say, both are real, lawful and free.
MPs, public servants and the employment-agreement condition
New Zealand MPs, their staff, and New Zealand public servants are exempt — but only where providing immigration advice is part of their employment agreement.
That condition does real work. An MP's electorate office staffer whose role includes immigration casework is exempt. A public servant in an unrelated agency who helps a friend with a residence application in their own time is not covered by this exemption, and would have to rely on the informal-advice exemption instead, which has its own limits.
Diplomats and consular staff
Foreign diplomats are exempt under the Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities Act 1968, and consular staff under the Consular Privileges and Immunities Act 1971. This is a narrow, formal category tied to accredited status. If you are dealing with your own country's embassy or consulate in New Zealand, this is the exemption they are relying on.
Informal and family advice
Advice given in an informal or family context is exempt, provided it is not provided systematically and not for a fee.
This is what keeps ordinary conversations lawful. A cousin who moved to Christchurch three years ago telling you what her experience was like is not committing an offence.
Both conditions matter, and the first is the one that erodes. Advice stops being informal when it becomes systematic — a WhatsApp group where one person routinely handles other people's applications, a community figure who has become the person everyone is sent to, a social media account answering individual case questions. Charging money removes the exemption immediately, but so does volume and regularity, even for free. Remember that the Act applies "whether or not for gain or reward".
Things that are not immigration advice at all
Separately from the exemptions, some activities fall outside the definition of immigration advice entirely, so no licence and no exemption is needed. You do not need a licence if you only:
- provide generic, publicly available information — INZ's own example is "generic information from this website"
- submit an application on someone's behalf using only the information they gave you
- tell someone to get advice from a person who can legally give it, for example by pointing them to the IAA register
- do clerical work as an employee of a licensed adviser or a lawyer — filing, data entry
- provide translation or interpreting
- help a migrant settle into community life — finding a school, finding a house
The distinction between this list and the exemptions is worth understanding: these activities were never regulated in the first place. See what counts as immigration advice.
A related situation applies to employers and education providers. Available guidance indicates they may complete an application on someone's behalf only where it is part of their job, they record only information the applicant gave them, and they provide no immigration advice. That guidance came from a search summary rather than a fetched primary page, so treat it as indicative and confirm it on immigration.govt.nz before relying on it.
What happens if a category does not apply
If someone is neither licensed nor within one of the eight categories above, giving New Zealand immigration advice is a criminal offence:
| Offence | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|
| Providing immigration advice 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 |
That last row is aimed squarely at employers, recruiters and education agents, and it is why an offshore education agency advising on work visas creates exposure for the New Zealand business that engaged it. Detail is in the penalties for giving unlicensed immigration advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can give immigration advice in New Zealand without a licence?
Lawyers with a current practising certificate and their employees; Community Law Centre staff and volunteers under lawyer supervision; New Zealand Citizens Advice Bureau staff and volunteers; people advising on student visa applications from outside New Zealand; MPs, their staff and public servants where it is part of their employment agreement; foreign diplomats and consular staff; and people giving informal or family advice that is not systematic and not for a fee.
Are offshore immigration agents exempt from New Zealand licensing?
Only for student visa applications. An agent outside New Zealand advising on a work, visitor or residence application is not exempt and must hold a New Zealand licence.
Do I need a licence to help a friend with a New Zealand visa application?
Not if the help is informal, not systematic and not paid, or if you are only entering information they gave you without interpreting the rules for them. The exemption erodes once it becomes regular or organised, and it ends immediately if money changes hands.
Are New Zealand lawyers exempt from immigration adviser licensing?
Yes — lawyers with current practising certificates as a barrister, and barristers and solicitors of the High Court of New Zealand, along with employees of lawyers and of incorporated law firms. They do not appear on the IAA register.
Can a Citizens Advice Bureau volunteer give immigration advice?
Yes. Employees and volunteers of a New Zealand Citizens Advice Bureau are exempt from the licensing requirement.
Can my employer help me with my visa application?
Available guidance indicates an employer may complete an application on your behalf only where it is part of their job, they record only the information you gave them, and they give no immigration advice. That guidance was not confirmed from a primary page in our research — check immigration.govt.nz before relying on it. Note that employing an unlicensed adviser is itself an offence.
Is giving free immigration advice legal in New Zealand?
Not by itself. The statutory definition applies "whether or not for gain or reward", so charging nothing does not make unlicensed advice lawful. 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.
