Pathways to New Zealand

What Pathways to New Zealand does

Pathways to New Zealand is a privately held, licensed immigration advisory firm headquartered in Hamilton, New Zealand, with a secondary office in Wellington. Founded in March 1992 by Richard Howard (originally trading as The International Group, later renamed Pathways to New Zealand Ltd), the firm provides fee-based professional immigration advice and visa application support to individuals, families, employers, and high-net-worth investors seeking to visit, study, work, reside in, or become citizens of New Zealand. The team of approximately 17 members includes 11 Licensed Immigration Advisers regulated by the Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA), with over 150 years of combined immigration experience across visitor, study, work, residence, investor, business, family, citizenship, and complex immigration matters including Tribunal appeals and Section 61 requests. The firm is described as the second largest and longest-established immigration company in New Zealand, having served over 20,000 clients from 125+ countries.

The firm's service portfolio is organized around the full immigration journey lifecycle through ten distinct service lines: Visit Services, Study Pathways, Work Pathways, Residence Pathways, Investor Pathways (including the Active Investor Plus visa at NZ$5M-NZ$10M investment thresholds), Business Pathways (Business Investor Visa), Family Pathways, Immigration Problems Services, New Zealand Citizenship Services, and Employer Accreditation & AEWV Services. The firm has scaled its Active Investor Plus advisory substantially, with 730+ active applications representing over NZ$4 billion in potential investment and over NZ$3 billion in confirmed investments. Distribution is direct — through offices in Hamilton and Wellington, plus phone, email, and video consultations for international clients — with no third-party reseller or partner channel. Marketing is driven by content marketing on the firm website, SEO for immigration-related queries, personal referrals, and professional network memberships in NZAMI and Engineering New Zealand. Revenue is generated entirely through professional service fees per case, with pricing not publicly disclosed and governed by the IAA Code of Conduct requirement for fair and reasonable fees documented in a written agreement. The firm has no proprietary software platform, AI/ML capabilities, or app presence, operating as a pure-play human advisory service.

Name

Pathways to New Zealand

Legal name

Pathways to New Zealand Ltd

Website

https://pathwaysnz.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pathways to New Zealand is a licensed immigration advisory firm founded in 1992 that provides visa application support and immigration advice for individuals, families, employers, and investors seeking residence, work, study, or citizenship in New Zealand.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Immigration Advisory Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Immigration, Visa & Work Permit Support (Relocation-Related) (HSAKACAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Immigration, Visa & Work Authorization Support (HSAKAJAF), Destination Services & Settling-In Support (THACALAB), Family/Dependent Visa & Permit Services for Assignees (THACAKAK), Family Support Services (Schooling, Spousal/Partner Assistance) (THACALAI)

Keywords

• Immigration advisory services
• Licensed immigration advisers
• Visa application assistance
• Employer accreditation services
• Investor visa consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamilton

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Immigration Advisory Services: Professional fee-based immigration advisory services for visa applications, including visitor visas, study visas, work visas, residence visas, investor visas, business visas, family visas, citizenship applications, and complex immigration matters including appeals, deportation liability, and Section 61 requests.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Pathways to New Zealand is a family-owned licensed immigration advisory firm providing end-to-end visa and immigration advice to individuals, families, employers, and investors seeking to migrate to or remain in New Zealand. Services span visitor, study, work, residence, investor, business, family, and citizenship visa categories, plus employer accreditation, Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) support, job check assistance, and complex immigration matters. Advisory is delivered by 11 Licensed Immigration Advisers across offices in Hamilton and Wellington, with remote coverage for international clients.

Product overview

Pathways to New Zealand is a licensed immigration advisory firm offering a comprehensive suite of visa and immigration services. The company operates as a service-based consultancy with multiple specialized service lines covering visitor visas (Visit Services), student visas (Study Pathways), work visas (Work Pathways), residence visas (Residence Pathways), investor visas (Investor Pathways), business investment visas (Business Pathways), family reunification visas (Family Pathways), complex immigration matters (Immigration Problems Services), citizenship applications (New Zealand Citizenship Services), and employer immigration services (Employer Accreditation & AEWV Services). The portfolio is organized around the immigration journey lifecycle from temporary entry through to permanent residence and citizenship, with particular expertise in business and investor immigration. The company is not a software platform but provides professional advisory services through licensed immigration advisers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Visitor Visa Advisory
• Study Visa Advisory
• Work Visa Advisory
• Residence Visa Advisory
• Investor Visa Advisory
• Business Visa Advisory
• Family Visa Advisory
• Citizenship Application Advisory
• Employer Accreditation Services
• Job Check Services (AEWV)
• Complex Immigration Matters

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 20,000 clients successfully assisted since 1992
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Engineering New Zealand Te Aro RangahaucoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 October 2025Pathways to New Zealand has established a key partnership with Engineering New Zealand to support engineers on their New Zealand immigration journey. Charlotte Summers coordinates this key partnership. The partnership helps migrant engineers navigate immigration requirements while connecting them with professional engineering networks in New Zealand.
• Immigration New Zealand (INZ)coreOthersPathways works extensively with Immigration New Zealand as a licensed advisory firm. The company assists clients with all INZ visa categories including AEWV applications, residence visas, investor visas, and citizenship applications. INZ processes all visa applications submitted by the company's advisers.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Bell Gully: Major New Zealand law firm with a corporate immigration practice serving employers and high-net-worth individuals. Comparable to Pathways on investor and residence pathways from a legal-advisory standpoint, though immigration is a smaller part of Bell Gully's overall practice.
• Chapman Tripp: Leading New Zealand commercial law firm with an immigration practice advising on employer-sponsored and complex matters. Comparable on the legal-advisory, complex-case dimension (appeals, character, Section 61), but immigration is one practice within a full-service law firm.
• Fragomen: Global immigration law firm with a large New Zealand practice serving corporate employers and high-net-worth individuals on work, residence and investor visas. Comparable to Pathways as a licensed immigration advisory firm, but operates across dozens of jurisdictions at much greater scale.
• EY New Zealand: Big Four firm with a New Zealand immigration practice supporting employers and individuals on work and residence pathways. Overlaps with Pathways on AEWV, Skilled Migrant and Global Employer Services, but immigration is non-core within EY's wider advisory business.
• PwC New Zealand: Big Four firm with New Zealand immigration and mobility services for employers and individuals. Comparable on employer accreditation and migrant visa work, but immigration is one component of PwC's full-service advisory offering.
• Deloitte New Zealand: Big Four firm operating a New Zealand immigration and global mobility practice serving corporate clients and skilled migrants. Comparable to Pathways on employer-sponsored work and skilled residence pathways, though delivered as part of Deloitte's broader consulting portfolio.
• KPMG New Zealand: Big Four professional services firm offering immigration advisory services to employers and skilled migrants in New Zealand. Comparable on employer accreditation, AEWV and skilled-migrant work, but immigration is one line within a broader audit/tax/consulting portfolio.

Others

• Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA): Statutory regulator that licenses and oversees immigration advisers in New Zealand. Not a peer but the regulator under whose licence every adviser at Pathways must operate; defines the licensing, complaints and Code of Conduct framework that constrains the firm's operating model.
• Immigration New Zealand (INZ): New Zealand government agency within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment that processes all visa applications. Not a competitor — Pathways is a customer of INZ as a licensed advisory firm — but the regulator/processor that defines the firm's product and policy environment.
• New Zealand Association for Migration & Investment (NZAMI): Industry body representing licensed immigration advisers and migration agents in New Zealand; Richard Howard is a life-member and former Chairman. Not a competitor, but the professional association that sets industry standards and represents the sector to government.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/pathwaystonzimmigration
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pathways-to-new-zealand

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pathways to New Zealand