World Immigration News

(Free Movement)Immigration Advice Authority annual report reveals ongoing decline in number of immigration advisers

Release Date: 2026-02-02
Media: Free Movement
Summary: The Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) has published its first annual report since being renamed from the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner. The number of individual immigration advisers declined slightly from about 3,900 to 3,800, while the number of registered organisations rose marginally to just over 200, suggesting some consolidation in the sector. Fewer individuals applied for registration or renewal, though approval rates improved, with a 58% success rate for new registrations and a 55% pass rate in competence assessments.

The report highlights ambitions to use artificial intelligence to enhance advice provision, but concrete, practical applications remain unclear. On enforcement, complaints against advisers doubled to 182, yet investigations and prosecutions fell sharply. Only two convictions were secured, and future prosecutions may be at risk due to the termination of a legal services agreement, with alternative public or private options still under consideration.

Overall, the report is criticised as inward-looking and overly self-congratulatory. It provides little analysis of the effectiveness, quality, accessibility, or market structure of immigration advice, including regional distribution, the balance between for-profit and not-for-profit providers, or the scale of poor-quality and illegal advice. While the IAA’s statutory duty is to promote good practice among advisers, the report raises doubts about whether the authority fully understands or is addressing the real-world outcomes and needs of the immigration advice sector.
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