Immigration Law Summit 2024
In the world of Immigration Law, there's never a dull moment. But our Annual Conference has you covered. Explore the latest on New Zealand's work visa system, partner visas, character waivers for supporting partners, navigating Family Court matters, the Active Investor Plus Category updates, deportation processes, and the latest Court developments. Gain valuable insights on the immigration system's experience over the past 12 months, highlighting recent trends and future outlooks. 243NZA11
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD hours
Session 1
The Latest Updates Impacting Visa Applications
Chair: Katy Armstrong, Principal, Into NZ
9.00am to 9.05am Opening Comments by the Chair
9.05am to 9.50am A Practical Exploration of Recent Employer Accreditation, Job Check, and Accredited Employer Work Visa Issues
- Common employer accreditation pitfalls and compliance considerations
- Practical job check tips
- Accredited Employer Work Visa insights
Presented by Lauren Qiu, Principal, Stay Legal
9.50am to 10.35am Navigating Health Instructions and Medical Waivers, And Skilled Migrant Category/Residence Options
- Practical tips when clients have health issues
- Helpful information for medical waivers
- Exploring Skilled Migrant Category/Residence policy updates and hooks
Presented by Shi Sheng Cai (Shoosh), Senior Associate, Copeland Ashcroft
10.35am to 10.50am Morning Tea
10.50am to 11.35am Partner Visas: Factors to be Considered and Character Waivers for Supporting Partners
- Partnership applications: How it works and the various factors to be considered
- Character waivers for NZ supporting partners
- Recent cases of interest
Presented by Dilki Rajapakse, Barrister
11.35am to 12.20pm Family Law and Immigration
- Navigating the Family Visa immigration category
- Managing Family Court matters that are relevant to immigration matters
- How the Family Court information can be used at the Tribunal
Presented by Pooja Sundar, Partner, D&S Law
11.35am to 12.20pm Update on the Active Investor Plus Category and Possible Changes
- Investor category: practical tips for pre-AIP applications, post-AIP application and uplift of conditions
- Entrepreneur category update and its future
Presented by Bradley So, Senior Associate, Queen City Law and and Harris Gu, Solicitor, Queen City Law
1.05pm to 1.15pm Final Q&A and Closing Comments by the Chair
Learning Objectives:
- Explore the new Accredited Employer Work Visa and its pitfalls and issues
- Examine and gain practical guidance on the updates in the Skilled Migrant Category/Residence policy
- Dive into partnership visa applications, factors for consideration, character waivers for supporting partners, and recent noteworthy cases
- Improve the knowledge of the Active Investor Plus Category and potential changes
Session 2
Complex Migration Law Matters
Chair: Marcus Beveridge, Managing Director, Queen City Law
2.00pm to 3.00pm Lessons from the Courts 2024
A review of key take-aways from Court judgments during the last year. This will cover appeals and reviews from Immigration & Protection Tribunal decisions, and other applications taken to the High Court and beyond. These outcomes can inform practitioners’ own approaches to advocacy in visa applications and their own IPT appeals, and provide food for thought about how to challenge the exercise of administrative power in the immigration context.
Presented by Simon Laurent, Principal, Laurent Law
3.00pm to 4.00pm You Lost Your Humanitarian Appeal: Now What?
- The ‘what, when, and how’ of deportation orders
- Powers of arrest and continued detention under the Immigration Act 2009
- The tricky cases: refugees and stateless persons
- How arrest warrants and continuing detention of unlawful migrants are dealt with
Presented by Simon Graham, Partner, Young Hunter Lawyers, and Austin Lange, Senior Solicitor, Young Hunter Lawyers
4.00pm to 4.15pm Afternoon Tea
4.15pm to 5.15pm New Zealand Immigration Policy and the Year Ahead: Recent Trends and Future Outlook
Receive insights into the experience of the immigration system in the last 12 months, including:
- The challenges faced
- Policy changes and the context around those changes
- Priorities for the next 6-12 months
Presented by Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Learning Objectives:
- Explore the difficulties of deportations due to criminal convictions
- Examine the latest from the Court
- Receive valuable insights from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on the experience of the immigration system in the last 12 months, including recent trends and future outlook
Presenters
Katy Armstrong
Katy Armstrong is a fully licensed New Zealand immigration adviser. Originally a Barrister in London followed by a stint as human rights lawyer in Guatemala, Katy made New Zealand her home from 1998. Katy has strong practical as well as legal advocacy skills. She is a frequent speaker on New Zealand immigration issues and acts as Consultant to the New Zealand Association of Migration & Investment ("NZAMI") on training for immigration practitioners. Katy is also a contributing author of the 2014 New Zealand Immigration & Refugee law textbook. In 2014, Katy was part of a working group whose advocacy led to the re-opening of over 450 partnership cases decided by the New Delhi Branch of Immigration New Zealand.
Lauren Qui
Lauren Qiu is the Principal Immigration Lawyer of Stay Legal. She is an experienced specialist immigration lawyer who provides honest advice and practical solutions. She has presented at national and regional seminars on immigration law. Lauren is currently an immigration law guest lecturer teaching aspiring immigration advisers. Lauren is practical, effective, and dedicated. Lauren has assisted employers with practical advice, high-net-worth individuals with tailored solutions, skilled migrants and their families to gain residency, and unlawful migrants regain their lawful status. She has successfully requested character waivers, medical waivers, ministerial special directions, and appealed decisions. Lauren is currently a Member of the Auckland District Law Society's Immigration & Refugee Law Committee, a Member of the Tauranga Migrant Settlement Network (an Immigration New Zealand led Welcoming Communities initiative), and a Volunteer Immigration Solicitor at the Citizens Advice Bureau (Tauranga).
Shi Sheng Cai (Shoosh)
Shi Sheng Cai (Shoosh) is a Senior Associate at Copeland Ashcroft and regularly acts for employers to help with immigration matters. He has over 7 years of work experience in the immigration sector including experience in the areas of global mobility, corporate immigration, investor migration and expertise with complex New Zealand immigration matters. Shoosh is a member of the Law Association Immigration Committee and is an author for Thomson Reuters Human Rights Law resource. You will find Shoosh "a great guy to deal with". He enjoys working with government officers and is a critical thinker with an insightful legal mind.
Dilki Rajapakse
“Born and raised in Sri Lanka, Dilki Rajapakse, completed her LLB degree at the University of Colombo and was admitted to the Sri Lanka Bar in 1988. Dilki emigrated to NZ in 1989. She was employed as a manager for Workbridge, an employment agency which specialised in assisting people with disabilities to join the workforce. In 2001 Dilki joint Valant Hooker & Partners as a solicitor. In 2008, Dilki ventured out and started her own successful practice in South Auckland specialising in Family Law and Immigration Law.”
Pooja Sundar
Pooja is an enthusiastic and friendly lawyer who enjoys getting to know her clients and advocating them. Pooja holds a Master of Law (Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Auckland. She is a legal aid registered lawyer, with experience in advising in all aspects of immigration law, including visas, residence appeals, and refugee and protection claims. Pooja has significant experience in the Family Court. Pooja’s passion for legal representation is coupled with a deep interest in human rights legislature, international criminal law, and refugee case law. She has successfully been involved in many cases involving complex issues across domestic and international spheres. Pooja also advocates for victims of domestic violence in the immigration and family law fields.
Bradley So
Bradley So is a Senior Associate at Queen City Law and he manages the immigration team. He specialises in business migration and foreign investments. He has represented significant employers and ultra-high net worth individuals. His clients have invested in excess of $500 million in New Zealand and he has assisted multinationals with their immigration requirements.
Harris Gu
Prior to joining Queen City Law, Harris used to work for a former Minister of Immigration as a licensed immigration adviser for 7 years. Harris has extensive experience in dealing with all types of visa applications, as well as appeals to the Immigration & Protection Tribunal (IPT), Section 61 requests, Ministerial special directions & Ombudsman complaints. Harris obtained his LLB and BCom degrees from the University of Auckland and was admitted to the High Court of New Zealand in October 2021. Harris is pleased to have joined Queen City Law’s large award winning Immigration Law team. Harris speaks fluent Mandarin. Harris currently serves on the Auckland District Law Society (“ADLS”) Immigration & Refugee Law Committee.
Marcus Beveridge
Marcus Beveridge is the Managing Director of Queen City Law NZ Limited. His main areas of practice are construction and property law, commercial law, foreign investment, real estate services and immigration. Marcus has developed expertise in business-based immigration and has acted on literally 100's of successful business-based immigration applications over the best part of 3 decades. Many of these clients have subsequently become major clients of his firm. The total amount of business immigration funds invested in NZ in the last decade is close to NZ$10 Billion. Marcus is a regular commentator on immigration based issues on national Radio & TV and has presented and chaired many NZ Immigration Law conferences over the years. Marcus has also recently been on several Working Groups and Immigration Reference Groups liaising with senior INZ management about assorted immigration issues. His firm comprises one of NZ’s largest immigration law teams. Marcus was formerly Chairman of NZAMI and Convenor of the New Zealand Law Society Immigration Committee.
Simon Laurent
Since starting practice representing refugees in the mid-1990s, Simon Laurent has developed a strong reputation as a leader in the Immigration field. He has chaired and presented seminars for both lawyers and immigration advisers, and has been called upon to provide industry comment for the media. For several years Simon sat on the Council of the Auckland District Law Society. He was a founding member of the Society's Immigration and Refugee Committee and has been a past Convenor. From 2010 to 2012 he was Chairman of the New Zealand Association of Migration and Investment. Laurent Law accepts instructions to solve complex immigration situations, including referrals from other lawyers and advisers.
Simon Graham
Simon is a litigation partner at Young Hunter Lawyers. He is responsible for leading the firm’s immigration and human rights team. As part of his role, he regularly appears before specialist Tribunals, and the Courts. Simon specialises in providing advice and representation with respect to all aspects of immigration litigation. This includes deportation appeals, refugee and protected status appeals, residence appeals, judicial reviews and High Court appeals, and criminal matters (including immigration fraud) which have the potential to affect a person’s immigration status. He is a member of the New Zealand Immigration and Refugee Law Committee of the New Zealand Law Society.
Austin Lange
Austin is an Associate in Young Hunter’s litigation and disputes resolution team. He advises and presents on all areas of immigration litigation, with a focus on refugee, deportation, and criminal matters. Austin regularly appears for clients in the Tribunal, District Court, and High Court. Recently, he was invited to consult on a Supreme Court case relating to the immigration consequences of criminal convictions. Austin is also involved with Community Law Canterbury and the Citizens Advice Bureau’s Christchurch immigration clinic as a volunteer lawyer.
Venue
Rydges Auckland
59 Federal St
Auckland 1010
New Zealand
Valet Parking
Rydges Auckland offers Valet Parking for all guests. Daily charges are NZ$38.00. Guests can valet their car unlimited amounts of time for the one daily flat fee. The maximum height of the car park is 1.9m. Limited spaces are available.
Self Parking
Guests can self-park NZ$30.00 on a per exit basis per 24 hours. The reduced parking tickets require being validated from reception.