WHY CHOOSE AN IMMIGRATION LAWYER AND NOT A LICENSED IMMIGRATION ADVISER?

On 4 May 2010 all individuals providing immigration advice in New Zealand and internationally must be licensed by the Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA). The issue however which is not well known to migrants investigating as to whether or not to engage a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand law firm to assist them with their application is the professional ability, competency, and value for money provided by licensed immigration advisers.

In short, there is a reason why the New Zealand Government was required to regulate people and businesses providing immigration assistance. Lawyers are exempt from the licensing regulations as due to the professional ability, service standards, and fair fees charged by lawyers for instructions the Government deemed that it was not necessary to include lawyers within the IAA licensing regime.

Even if an individual holds a licence to be a licensed immigration adviser in New Zealand, this absolutely does not guarantee that you will be provided the most appropriate and best advice in terms of your migration options, it also currently does not mean that you will be charged a reasonable fee for the services rendered by such a licensed immigration adviser. Our firm acts for many clients who had used a licensed immigration adviser first before transferring to our firm with overall dissatisfaction in relation to the professional ability of the adviser, processing their applications in a timely manner, and/or becoming out of their depth when complicated or unforeseen issues have arisen during the processing of an application (such as employment issues, business related issues, or health/character issues).

The simple question is really why would you risk your entire migration and future lifestyle by hiring a licensed immigration adviser when you have the ability to easily hire specialist immigration lawyers in New Zealand to complete the process from start to finish in a professional, efficient manner, and for a reasonable fee?

By engaging a firm of New Zealand lawyers you will be able to receive leading immigration advice, assistance with all your legal needs in New Zealand (not just immigration) and assurance that you are being represented by a firm of New Zealand lawyers who are exempt from the necessity to be pulled within the licensing requirements under the IAA. As lawyers we are able to take statutory declarations and submit certified copies of documentation to INZ (not originals) due to our trusted, professional status in New Zealand. This is not a service that licensed immigration advisers can provide.