21st Annual Immigration Law Conference

CCH Learning are proud to bring you the two day 21st Annual Immigration Law Conference.

Date: Wednesday 13th -Thursday 14th August 2025, 8.00am - 5.30pm
Venue: Grand Millennium Hotel, Auckland  

As New Zealand’s leading Immigration Law conference, attendees will benefit from hearing from industry experts working in both practice and government. With two full day’s of programme, there is plenty of time for attendees to enjoy the unique networking opportunities the conference brings.

Attendees have the option to attend the conference both or individual days, either in-person or online via Zoom. Please select accordingly at registration.                          

Chair: Stewart Dalley, Partner, D&S Law

Day 1

Immigration challenges and opportunities in the construction industry
Panel discussion with industry representatives around immediate and future skills challenges in the construction industry and the opportunities for immigration settings and immigration professionals to support a thriving construction sector for Aotearoa New Zealand. 
Facilitated by Helen Davidson, the Chief Executive of the Association of Consulting and Engineering

Courts Update
Decisions of the superior Courts can cast a significant influence, sometimes indirectly, over the day-to-day practice of immigration professionals.  Simon Laurent will lead attendees through a selection of the salient cases.  A particular focus will be upon core principles uncovered or affirmed by judicial decision making, which can then be applied when developing solutions for one’s clients.
Simon Laurent, Simon Laurent Law

Thematic and systemic issues faced by employers with immigration settings and policies
New Zealand employers are facing an ongoing theme of difficulty in planning and managing their workforce and thereby their productivity, due to ever-changing government immigration policy and law.  These changes often appear to reverse or change direction with little to no warning.  This seems to have been particular the case over the last five years, and has impacted most industry sectors. Nicola will speak to some of those law and policy changes, and how employers have attempted to navigate them.    
Employers have also been contending with ongoing systematic issues, such as the transition to a new online visa application system and the inevitable IT hiccups that accompanied this, and also other changes to processing within INZ and its providers. Nicola  will also review some of these roadblocks, the impacts they have had, and how employers have and might continue to manage or mitigate these issues.
Nicola Tiffen, Duncan Cotterill

INZ Policy Update
An update on immigration policy developments and announcements over the last year.
MBIE

 Managing risk and constructing the ‘quality’ migrant in Aotearoa New Zealand
A look at fundamental shifts in migration policy since the 1980s to 2020s.
Professor Francis Collins, Director, NIDE, University of Auckland

The Active Investor Plus (AIP) visa programme
Learn about the progress and delivery of New Zealand’s new investor migrant programme, including investor motivations, market insights, and how the government works in partnership with the private sector to make the AIP programme a world leader.
Matt Hoskins, New Zealand Trade & Enterprise

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Concurrent Workshop 1 - Deportation 
This session will cover the following key areas:

• Infringements
• Compliance approach and priorities
• Investigations cases and themes
• Detention
• Voluntary departures

Steve Watson, General Manager Immigration Compliance and Investigations MBIE

Concurrent Workshop 2 - Active Investor Plus (AIP) - Visa Application 
Hear from two experienced practitioners on the nuts and bolts of the AIP visa and the programme and how investors deliver significant impact for New Zealand. This session will work through an actual visa application process, providing a practical hands on overview of the visa programme.
David Cooper, Malcolm Pacific and Matt Hoskins, New Zealand Trade & Enterprise

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Judicial Review in the Immigration/Refugee Context
A lively discussion on the processes and procedures related to judicial review in the immigration/refugee context, with useful insights and tips for practitioners and advisors.
Pooja Sundar and Jacob Parry, Mills Lane

Best practice for s61 applications
This session will cover both the legislation, the delegation that Senior Immigration Officers have when considering requests made under s61 from customers, how assessments are generally undertaken, common scenarios and issues, and best practice advice for applicants when submitting these requests and the evidence beneficial for clients.
Nathanael Mackay, and Emma McFarlane, MBIE

Employment Law
Employment and immigration often overlap. We often look at the immigration implications but this session will focus on employment law issues that can arise when dealing with immigration matters. This will include things to look out for when navigating employment matter where there are immigration issues involved and how to avoid problems for clients and employers.
Naoimh McAllister and Shi Cai, Copeland Ashcroft.

Day 2

Mayoral Address: Growing Auckland - what does a fast-growing city need?

• Demands on infrastructure
• Government support to local bodies
• Employment - filling vital jobs
• Housing
• Diversity of city - positive aspects

Mayor Wayne Brown

INZ Overview
Alison McDonald will give a broad overview of Immigration New Zealand’s current state of play regarding visa processing and other operational matters and discuss opportunities for improvement in the coming years including INZ’s recently approved 7-year programme requiring major organisational and technological transformation.
Allison McDonald, MBIE

Navigating Employer Compliance Issues
Unpacking the latest developments in employer compliance. This session will explore migrant exploitation allegations from an employer’s perspective, Worker Protection (Migrant and Other Employees) Act 2023 infringement notices and relevant case studies, as well as common pitfalls and trends that employers must navigate under the Accredited Employer Work Visa Scheme - including accreditation applications following infringement notices.
Lauren Qui, Stay Legal

Ombudsman Complaints Process
A review of the process for complaints to the Ombudsman's Office.
Chloe Longdin-Prisk, Assistant Ombudsman, Complaints Resolution

Mastering Partnership Applications
In this session, Katy will share her thoughts on taking a Partnership application from average to stellar - finding the evidential "sweet spot" (not too little, not too much).
Katy will also cover some facets, such as dealing with ineligible supporting partners and weighing temporary separation. The aim: to give you the confidence to take on some of the more challenging cases!
Katy Armstrong

The Immigration and Protection Tribunal: Update and trends
This presentation will look at current trends within the IPT’s caseload; touch on recently updated practice notes and how best to focus your submissions, including considerations of AI; and draw attention to some recent cases of notes across the Tribunal’s different jurisdictions.
Larissa Wakim

Minister’s Keynote Address  Hon. Erica Stanford, Minister of Immigration

The conference will conclude with afternoon tea and networking with the Minister.

Group Discount
A Group Discount of 15% is available when more than one attendee registers from the same firm. Please use promotional code IMM25-TEAM at checkout.

Accommodation at the Grand Millennium
If you require accommodation at the Grand Millennium, we are pleased to be offer delegates 15% off the best available flexible rate, per night (Room Only) click here for the Conference rate.  The discount rate is available for stays any days from 10th to 16th August 2025.