Sonny Lam

Sonny brings something special to his legal practice – he was formerly an Immigration New Zealand Officer. Sonny was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor in 2007 (Sonny is also admitted in NSW, Australia), initially practicing in employment and family law for around 7 years before joining Immigration New Zealand. He has a deep understanding of the New Zealand Immigration system having served with INZ in multiple officer roles before being called back to private practice as a lawyer in 2015.

Sonny focuses on helping families. He has personally taken part in assisting thousands of people obtain residency, whether as an Immigration officer or as an Immigration lawyer. He has particular expertise in the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) Residence applications, particularly in Immigration Appeals to the IPT on residency decline decisions. His family law background and his former experience as an Immigration Officer in the partnership assessment teams will give clients an edge when preparing for a partnership application.

Sonny’s services are in high demand in providing Employment and Immigration business advisory advice for companies hiring migrant workers, including applying for the legalisation of overstayer workers which is known as a s61 application. He has acted on Immigration/Employment matters for various international companies for their New Zealand business interests, including collective bargaining with migrant workers and is also specialised in accredited employer work visas.

Sonny came to New Zealand in 1990 from Hong Kong with his parents. He understands how tough and difficult it may be to travel to a new country, to be suddenly without family support, and to have to make it on your own. Applying for residency is not an easy or simple process, and he is here to help.

In his spare time Sonny is an avid tennis player. His favourite musicians are Jacky Cheung 張學友, Leah Salonga and Gary Moore. He is a columnist for https://www.yiju.co.nz/yiju-english. Sonny speaks Chinese, Cantonese and English.