Most people I talk to could fill in their own Australian or New Zealand visa application. The forms are public. The rules are written down. Many people do it themselves, and most of them are fine.
Some people absolutely should not do it themselves. The trick is knowing which group you are in before you start, not after a refusal lands.
This post is the short version of how I think about it, and what “licensed” actually means in Australia and New Zealand.
The “do it yourself” cases
You probably don’t need an adviser if:
- Your case is a single, simple visa, a visitor visa, a working holiday subclass that you clearly qualify for, an extension that follows the obvious rules.
- You’re confident in English (or in the language of the form).
- You have time, patience, and a tolerance for officialese.
- You haven’t had a refusal before, anywhere.
- Your situation matches the standard scenario the visa was designed for.
If that’s you, the official websites are written exactly for you. Start with immigration.govt.nz for New Zealand and immi.homeaffairs.gov.au for Australia. Both are good. Use them.
The cases where it’s worth getting help
I’d consider an adviser when your situation has any of the following:
- You’re not sure which visa fits, and the wrong choice has consequences.
- You’re planning for the long run (work today, residence later).
- Your case involves a partner, dependent, or parent.
- You have limited time and a refusal would cost you something concrete (a job offer, a course start date, a lease).
- English is not your first language and the forms ask you to explain, not just tick a box.
- You’ve had a previous refusal or visa cancellation, anywhere in the world.
- Your work or qualifications don’t fit neatly into one assessing body’s checklist.
The thread running through all of these is the same: once a refusal is recorded, it doesn’t go away. Future applications have to declare it. New Zealand and Australia share information with each other and with several other countries. The cost of a refusal isn’t just the application fee.
What “licensed” actually means
This is the part most articles skip, so here’s the short version.
Australia. Anyone giving immigration advice for a fee in Australia must be a Registered Migration Agent, a MARA registration, regulated by the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority. Lawyers can also give immigration advice in their own right. You can search the MARA register before you commit to anyone. Look for current registration, no conditions, and a real address.
New Zealand. A separate system: anyone giving immigration advice for a fee about New Zealand visas must be licensed by the Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA). Lawyers and a handful of exempt categories (like an MP, or a citizenship advice service) don’t need a licence. You can check the IAA public register the same way.
If someone is offering you visa advice for either country without showing you their registration, that is the only red flag you need.
The signals of a good consultation
When you do speak to an adviser, me or anyone else, the conversation should feel like this:
- They ask first, recommend second.
- They explain why a visa fits, not just that it does.
- They give you a written brief, with realistic timelines, before any money changes hands.
- They tell you what the visa won’t do, not just what it will.
- They’ll say “I don’t think this is the right pathway for you” if it isn’t, and recommend an alternative, even if that means losing the work.
If the conversation feels like a sales pitch, walk away. If you hear the word guarantee, walk faster. No adviser decides your visa, the authority does. Anyone implying otherwise is, at best, careless.
What I would actually do
If I were on your side of the table, here’s the rough order:
- Read the official page first. Even thirty minutes on immi.homeaffairs.gov.au or immigration.govt.nz saves you a lot of conversation later.
- Write down what you actually want. Not the visa, the life. Work? Stay long term? Bring the family? The answer changes which visa makes sense.
- If you’re still unsure, book one consultation. A good adviser will, in an hour, tell you whether to keep going alone or whether the case is worth handing over.
- If you’ve had a refusal, get advice before you reapply. Always. The refusal letter has clues most people miss.
