Our engagement letter
Every Provisas client receives an engagement letter before any case work begins. This page describes what that letter contains, what we commit to, and what we ask of you in return. The engagement letter itself is a separate document tailored to your specific case — what you'll see below is the framework that sits behind it.
1. Parties
The engagement is between three parties:
- Provisas — Professional Visa Solutions Limited, an IAA-licensed immigration advisory firm. NZBN 9429053592996.
- You, the named client — the person being represented in the visa application. Where the engagement covers family members (e.g., a partner or dependent child included in your application), each named individual is part of the same engagement.
- Your assigned Licensed Immigration Adviser — one of Provisas's IAA-licensed team, named on your engagement letter. The assigned adviser is accountable to you and to the Immigration Advisers Authority of New Zealand.
Third-party fee payers
In some engagements, the person paying our fees is not the person being represented. Common examples:
- An employer paying for an employee's Accredited Employer Work Visa
- A parent paying for an adult child's student or work visa
- A partner or sponsor paying for the represented party's visa
- A New Zealand-based family member paying for an offshore relative's application
Where this applies, your engagement letter names both the represented party (you) and the fee-paying party. In these situations:
- Decisions about your case rest with you, the represented party — never the fee payer.
- Communications about case substance go to you. The fee payer receives only fee-related communications (invoices, payment confirmation) unless you give us written permission to share broader information.
- If a conflict arises between the fee payer's preferences and your interests, your interests take precedence. We'll raise the conflict openly with both parties.
- Confidentiality protections under the IAA Code Schedule apply to you as the represented party. The fee payer is not covered by adviser-client confidentiality.
If you'd prefer the fee payer to have broader visibility into your case (for instance, an employer who wants visibility into application progress), we capture that consent in writing as part of the engagement.
2. Our Licensed Immigration Advisers
The Provisas team holds the following Immigration Advisers Authority licences. You can verify any of these at the IAA register (iaa.ewr.govt.nz):
- Inder Singh — Principal Adviser & Founder — Licence 201301110
- Denise Renshaw — Licence 201800642
- Mayuresh Gawas — Licence 202400191
- Piyush Nagpal — Licence 202100352
- Rasheedat Louis — Licence 202200806
- Sukhpreet Kaur — Licence 202505328
Your engagement letter names the specific adviser primarily responsible for your case. We may bring in expertise from another named adviser above where a case requires it — for example, a Section 61 request that benefits from a second view, or specialist input on an investor application. You'll always know who's working on your case.
If your assigned adviser leaves Provisas during your engagement, we reassign you to another named adviser from the team above. You'll be notified in writing; your case continuity is preserved.
3. Scope
What Provisas commits to do as standard
- Assess your eligibility against current Immigration New Zealand (INZ) policy
- Prepare your visa application package — application form, supporting documents, case-specific evidence
- Lodge your application with INZ on your behalf
- Respond to INZ queries, including any Potentially Prejudicial Information (PPI) letters
- Advise on directly related visas where one decision affects another (e.g., partner visas alongside a primary applicant)
- Communicate INZ decisions to you and explain the implications
What is not in scope unless we explicitly add it
- Legal representation in non-immigration matters (employment disputes, tax, family court)
- Settlement services such as housing, school enrolment, or job placement
- Family member applications for individuals not specifically named in your engagement
- Judicial review of an INZ decision — this requires a separate engagement and (where appropriate) referral to legal counsel
4. Fees and who pays
Provisas quotes fees in one of three structures depending on the case:
- Fixed fee per visa category — for cases following a standard pathway with predictable scope. Most work visa, student visa, and partner visa engagements fall here.
- Time-based fees — for complex matters where scope can't be predicted upfront. Examples: Section 61 discretionary requests, PPI responses involving substantial new evidence, multi-stage residence applications.
- INZ fees passed through at cost — we don't mark up INZ government charges. You see exactly what INZ collects.
For fixed-fee engagements, the standard structure is a 50% deposit on signing and 50% on lodgement with INZ.
Your specific fees, deposit structure, and any payment milestones are disclosed in your consultation and confirmed in your engagement letter. No charges are added afterwards without your prior written agreement.
Who pays
Where you are paying for your own engagement, your engagement letter sets out the fee, deposit, and any payment milestones.
Where someone else is paying for your engagement (employer, sponsor, family member), the engagement letter names both you and the fee-paying party. The fee payer receives invoices and payment confirmations. Decisions about your case still rest with you — see Parties above.
5. Communication
Primary channel: email to your assigned adviser.
Time-sensitive matters: WhatsApp to the same adviser.
Scheduled consultations: phone, video, or in-person at our Manukau office (639 Great South Road) or our Papakura office (Unit 5/46-50 Broadway).
Response expectations:
We aim to respond within two business days for non-urgent matters. Where an INZ deadline falls within five working days, we aim to respond the same business day.
For major case updates (INZ decisions, PPI receipt, request for further information), you'll receive an email plus a WhatsApp notification on the same business day.
6. How we use AI in your case
This section is the heart of our AI use disclosure. Read it carefully. If anything here doesn't sit right with you, raise it with your adviser — you can opt out of any specific AI use while remaining engaged with Provisas.
Provisas uses AI to support — never replace — the work of your IAA-licensed adviser. Every output that reaches you or INZ has been reviewed, edited, and signed by a licensed human.
Specifically:
- Drafting. AI proposes drafts of correspondence, INZ submissions, and case notes. Your adviser reviews, edits, and signs every draft before it leaves Provisas.
- Meeting transcription. With your consent at the start of each consultation, we may record and transcribe our meetings using an AI transcription service. Transcripts go into your case file for accuracy. You may decline transcription at any consultation — let your adviser know at the start of the meeting.
- Document analysis. Your case documents (passport, qualifications, employment records, references) are processed on a private inference server located in New Zealand. No cloud-based AI service ever sees your personal information.
- Anonymisation gateway. When we use cloud-based AI for non-personal research (for example, looking up an INZ policy interpretation), an automated layer at our boundary replaces any personal information with placeholder tokens before the request leaves our infrastructure. Personal data does not cross the network without anonymisation.
- No model training. Your information is never used to train AI models. Your data is yours.
Your rights:
- Opt out of any specific AI use while remaining engaged.
- Request a list of every AI-assisted output relating to your case (we maintain audit logs).
- Withdraw consent for transcription at any point — past transcripts remain in your file, future consultations follow your new preference.
For our full privacy policy — including data handling beyond AI, retention, cross-border disclosure, and your rights under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 — see /privacy.
7. Complaints
If you have a concern with any aspect of our service, raise it with your assigned adviser first. We will respond within five working days.
If the matter remains unresolved, you can raise it with Inder Singh, our Principal Adviser, directly at contact@provisas.co.nz.
If our internal complaints process doesn't resolve your concern, you can escalate to the Immigration Advisers Authority of New Zealand. The IAA is the regulator that licenses immigration advisers and handles unresolved complaints.
See our full complaints procedure at /complaints.
8. Document retention
We retain your case file for seven years from the date of our last action on your case, in line with IAA Code of Conduct 2014 requirements.
After seven years, files are securely destroyed.
You can request earlier deletion of records that are no longer subject to regulatory retention requirements. We'll confirm what can and cannot be deleted on request.
9. Termination
You may terminate the engagement at any time, in writing, by emailing your assigned adviser.
Provisas may terminate the engagement in line with the Code of Conduct Schedule — for example, if continuing would breach the Code, if fees are unpaid after fair notice, or if the case scope changes beyond what was agreed.
Termination doesn't waive fees already incurred for work completed.
Your case file remains available for transfer to another adviser on written request.
10. Governing law
This engagement is governed by New Zealand law. Disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of New Zealand courts.
11. Final note
What you've read above is the framework that sits behind every Provisas engagement letter. The letter you sign is tailored to your specific case — naming the visa category, the adviser primarily assigned, the fees agreed, any third-party fee payer where applicable, and the scope of work for your particular situation.
You'll receive your engagement letter after your consultation. We don't begin case work until you've signed.
After you sign, see /onboarding for what happens next.