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Immigration lawyers in Nelson

There are 6 immigration lawyers based in the Nelson area, and 3 law firms practising immigration law have an office here. Each firm is verified from its own website as practising New Zealand lawyers, who are exempt from immigration adviser licensing; they are regulated by the New Zealand Law Society instead of the IAA. The list below starts with the longest admitted. How this ordering works.

Nelson immigration lawyers in figures

Years since admission

12 years median

Immigration lawyers based in Nelson, by years since admission
Immigration lawyers based in Nelson, by years since admission
0 to 4 years1
5 to 9 years0
10 to 19 years4
20 years or more1

83% of the 6 immigration lawyers based in Nelson with a known admission date were admitted 10 or more years ago. The longest-admitted was admitted in 1995.

Year admitted

1 admitted since 2020

Immigration lawyers based in Nelson, by the decade they were admitted
Immigration lawyers based in Nelson, by the decade they were admitted
Before 19900
1990 to 19991
2000 to 20091
2010 to 20193
2020 to 20261

1 of the 6 were admitted as barristers and solicitors in 2020 or later. The chart counts the immigration lawyers listed here today, not every admission in those years.

Practice breadth

33% practise immigration only

Immigration lawyers based in Nelson, by practice breadth
Immigration lawyers based in Nelson, by practice breadth
Immigration law only2
Immigration among other areas4

2 of the 6 immigration lawyers based in Nelson practise immigration law only; 4 also practise in other areas. Practice breadth comes from each immigration lawyer's own profile.

Firm size

67% have one immigration lawyer here

Law firms in Nelson, by immigration lawyers based here
Law firms in Nelson, by immigration lawyers based here
One immigration lawyer2
Two immigration lawyers0
3 to 5 immigration lawyers1
6 or more immigration lawyers0

The 6 immigration lawyers work across 3 law firms with an immigration lawyer based in Nelson. 2 of those firms have a single immigration lawyer here, and 0 have six or more.

Tribunal appeals

4 named in published decisions

Immigration lawyers based in Nelson, by published appeals naming them
Immigration lawyers based in Nelson, by published appeals naming them
No matched published decisions2
1 to 4 appeals3
5 to 19 appeals1
20 appeals or more0

4 of the 6 immigration lawyers based in Nelson are named as counsel in at least one published Immigration and Protection Tribunal decision, 19 appeals in all. Most representation never reaches the tribunal, so an immigration lawyer with no matched published decisions may still have acted on appeals.

Nelson immigration lawyers by list

Showing 6 of 6 immigration lawyers

Search all 6 current immigration lawyers

Published appeal record of Nelson counsel

19 published appeals name counsel based in Nelson, across 4 of the 6 listed here, most recently 21 May 2026. “Allowed” is the appellant’s share of decided appeals; a percentage is shown only where at least 5 were decided.

Appeal typeAppealsAllowedDismissed
Deportation12 appeals
Non-resident1155% 6 of 11 decided5
Resident10 of 1 decided1
Residence6 appeals
Partnership44 of 4 decided0
Skilled migrant21 of 2 decided1
Refugee & protection11 of 1 decided0

Counts come from decisions the tribunal has published and that name a representative we can identify with certainty. Appeals settled, withdrawn or resolved before a decision do not appear, so this is a record of published outcomes rather than of everything a practitioner has done. How matching works is set out in the methodology.

Not sure which immigration lawyer to choose in Nelson?

Read the immigration adviser vs immigration lawyer guide or send one enquiry and we will connect you with a licensed professional.

Get help

If you already know what has gone wrong

Guides to the situations people most often need representation for, with the deadlines that apply.

Facing deportation from New Zealand - liability, notices and appealsBeing liable for deportation is not the same as being deported: it is the start of a process with strict deadlines, and what you do in the first days matters most. Residents served a deportation liability notice generally have 28 days to appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal; a person who becomes unlawful has 42 days from first becoming unlawful to appeal on humanitarian grounds. The tribunal cannot extend either deadline. In the tribunal's published decisions, 37% of 4,009 decided non-resident deportation appeals and 35% of 536 decided resident deportation appeals succeeded: real prospects, but ones that reward early, well-prepared cases.Read more

Frequently asked questions

Both can represent you to Immigration New Zealand and at the Immigration and Protection Tribunal. You need a New Zealand lawyer with a current practising certificate if your matter may go to court, or if it crosses into other areas of law such as employment or criminal matters affecting character. 6 immigration lawyers are based in Nelson, alongside 9 licensed immigration advisers.

Search their name on the New Zealand Law Society's public Register of Lawyers, which shows whether a person holds a practising certificate. The 6 immigration lawyers listed here for Nelson were checked against that register as at 7 October 2026. An immigration lawyer never appears on the Immigration Advisers Authority register, because a New Zealand lawyer with a current practising certificate may neither apply for nor hold an immigration adviser licence.

An immigration lawyer based elsewhere in New Zealand may be able to. Section 234 of the Immigration Act 2009 requires the Immigration and Protection Tribunal to decide an appeal on the papers unless section 233 requires or allows an oral hearing, as it does for some deportation and refugee appeals, and the tribunal may hold a hearing by telephone or audiovisual link. Of the immigration lawyers on this site, 86 are based outside Nelson. Whether one takes on your matter is for that immigration lawyer to decide.

Immigration lawyers in other cities

How firms are listed and ordered: methodology. See all immigration lawyers in New Zealand.