Deadlines live in people's heads
Or in a spreadsheet somebody remembers to open. The system that tracks them should be the same one that holds the file, not a parallel copy that drifts.
For New Zealand licensed immigration advisers
The practice system that knows the Code.
Matters, deadlines, documents, client messaging and AI-assisted drafting in one place — built around the IAA Code of Conduct and the Privacy Act 2020 rather than bolted on afterwards. Client files are stored in New Zealand.
Clerq is in early access with a small number of New Zealand practices. We onboard one practice at a time, deliberately.
AEWV-0412
PPI response due
2 days overdue
2 days overdue
SMC6-0388
Medical certificate expiry
Today
Today
VISIT-0501
Application lodgement
In 4 days
In 4 days
S61-0210
Section 61 request
In 9 days
In 9 days
Every adviser gets this by email each morning, before they open anything.
- Data residency
- Client files stored on servers in New Zealand, in AWS's Auckland region.
- Built to the Code
- Engagement terms, conflicts, custody and complaints follow the IAA Code of Conduct 2014.
- Privacy Act 2020
- IPP 3A, 9, 10 and 12 are features, not footnotes — prompts and gates in the workflow.
- Your data stays yours
- Clerq acts as your agent. No training on your files, no cross-practice analytics.
Why we built it
Immigration practice is a deadline business wearing a paperwork costume.
A missed PPI response, an expired medical, a lodgement window that closed on a Friday — the damage is done to a client, and the complaint lands with the Immigration Advisers Authority. Meanwhile the tools most practices use were built for lawyers, for accountants, or for nobody in particular.
Documents arrive from everywhere
WhatsApp photos, emailed scans, a folder a client shared once. Filing them by hand is the job nobody costs, and it is where files go missing.
Compliance is a separate chore
Engagement terms in a Word template, conflicts in a memory, CPD in a folder. None of it connected to the matter it belongs to, and all of it needed at renewal.
The product
One system, from first enquiry to file closure.
Everything below is one application with one client record underneath it. Nothing here is a separate subscription you reconcile at the end of the month.
Matters & deadlines
Nothing falls off the edge of a week.
Every matter carries its own deadlines, and every deadline knows whose it is. The morning digest reaches each adviser before they open the system — overdue first, then the next fourteen days. Matters without an owner route to an administrator instead of quietly going nowhere.
- Daily deadline digest by email, per adviser, with opt-out.
- Today view — appointments and priorities on one screen, readable aloud.
- Workflow templates so a new AEWV matter arrives with its deadlines already on it.
Step 1Engagement terms acceptedDone
Step 2Conflict check recordedDone
Step 3Document checklistIn progress
Step 4PPI responseDue
C Drive
Documents that file themselves, and can be found.
A per-practice document store with folders, permissions and version history. Scanned passports and handwritten forms are put through OCR so their contents are searchable, not just their filenames. Clerq suggests where a new document belongs and what it should be called; a person confirms it.
- Full-text search across document contents, including scans.
- Client upload links — a client uploads without an account, straight into a review queue.
- Original-document custody register, because cl. 26 and 27 require you to know where a passport is.
IMG_4821Passport bio pageOCR read
scan_02Employment agreementOCR read
WA_imgPayslip, MarchConfirm
doc_11Handwritten declarationConfirm
Client communication
Your clients already message you. Now it lands on the file.
WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram arrive in one inbox alongside email, and each conversation is matched to the client it belongs to. Bookings, reminders and reschedules run themselves; the client picks another slot without a phone call.
- Unified inbox — messages auto-filed to the client, replies sent from Clerq.
- Public booking page per adviser, with confirmations, reminders and no-show follow-up.
- Outbound is always human — no auto-responder gives immigration advice on your behalf.
WhatsAppPriya KaurFiled
EmailINZ correspondenceNotify client
MessengerUnknown senderUnfiled
BookingChen — consultationConfirmed
AI assistance
Drafting help that never sees your client's name.
Clerq drafts PPI responses, Section 61 requests, file notes and scope descriptions from the material already on the matter. Before anything reaches a model, identifying details are replaced with tokens inside our own infrastructure, and the real values are put back on the way out. If that step fails, the request fails — it does not proceed unprotected.
- Drafts, never submissions. Nothing is filed with Immigration New Zealand automatically.
- A licensed adviser reviews everything before it leaves the practice.
- Clients can opt out of AI assistance entirely, and your engagement terms say so.
In"Ms Priya Kaur, born 14/03/1994, of 12 Rimu St…"
Sent"[PERSON_1], born [DATE_1], of [ADDRESS_1]…"Tokenised
BackDraft returned, tokens restored in-houseRestored
RuleAnonymiser unavailableFail closed
Compliance
The Code of Conduct, wired into the workflow.
Not a checklist you tick at renewal. These are gates and prompts at the moment the obligation arises, so the record exists because the work was done — not because somebody remembered to write it up afterwards.
Written agreements (cl. 17–19)
Engagement agreements drafted in-product, validated against the mandatory clauses, and accepted by the client on a link. A scope description can be drafted from the consultation itself.
Conflicts (cl. 5–7)
A conflict register per practice, checked before an agreement can be sent. A conflict that has not been considered stops the send rather than appearing in a report later.
Original documents (cl. 26–27)
A custody register that records what you hold, when it came in and when it went back. Passports are not a thing to be vague about.
Complaints (cl. 15)
An internal complaints procedure with a recorded timeline, so the practice can show what happened and when.
Futile applications (cl. 9)
Where an application would be futile, the assessment and the advice given are recorded against the matter before it proceeds.
Licence & CPD
Licence and insurance expiry reminders at 90, 30 and 7 days, a CPD record you can export for renewal, and a readiness checklist. Clerq prepares it; you submit it.
Privacy obligations are treated the same way. An applicant must be told when information about them is collected from a third party (IPP 3A), so Clerq keeps a per-matter register and prompts at the moment it happens. A retention period belongs in the terms the client engages under (IPP 9). Information must be used only for the purpose it was collected for (IPP 10). And where anything crosses a border, the client is expressly informed (IPP 12). These positions were taken on written advice from New Zealand privacy counsel.
Security & privacy
Your clients' files do not leave the country, and do not train anything.
Immigration files hold passports, medical history, relationship evidence and financial records. The architecture assumes that from the start rather than hardening later.
Stored in New Zealand
Client files live in AWS's Auckland region. Where a service is not available in New Zealand, we say so in your engagement terms rather than leaving you to find out.
One practice cannot see another
Tenant isolation is enforced by the database itself on every query, not by application code remembering to filter. A bug in a feature cannot leak another practice's file.
A tamper-evident audit trail
Every action is recorded in a hash-chained log, so a record that has been altered or removed after the fact is detectable rather than merely unlikely.
Separated identities
Personal information is held apart from operational records, and the operational side references clients by opaque identifiers rather than by name.
No training, no benchmarking
Clerq acts as your agent. Your client data is not used to train models, to benchmark, or for product analytics — that is a contractual position with our providers, not a promise in a blog post.
Leaving is a supported operation
Export your matters and deadlines whenever you like. On offboarding, your practice's encryption key is destroyed rather than your data merely being marked deleted.
Pricing
The practice system is free. The growth tools are not.
We would rather every New Zealand practice ran its casework properly than charge for the part that keeps advisers compliant. So the practice system is free, and you add only the modules you actually want.
The practice system
Free
whole practice, every adviser
Not a trial, not seat-limited, and not a cut-down edition.
Request access- Clients, matters, deadlines and the daily digest
- C Drive with OCR, search and client upload links
- Unified inbox, bookings and client reminders
- The full compliance suite and AI drafting
Pay for what you add
Talk to us
per module, per practice
Each one is priced and switched on separately. Take one, take all, take none.
Enquire- Marketing — social and email, every draft checked against IAA Code cl. 6 before approval. Available now.
- Mail hosting — your own domain on Clerq's mail, so correspondence files itself. In development.
- Accounting — fee invoices, client ledger and reconciliation. In development.
Each add-on is priced and confirmed before you commit to it, and can be switched off again. There is no contract minimum and no charge for the practice system — including every compliance feature on this page.
Questions
The things advisers actually ask.
Does Clerq submit applications to Immigration New Zealand?
No, and it is not going to. Clerq never holds your INZ or RealMe credentials and never files anything on your behalf. It prepares the work; a licensed adviser reviews it and submits it themselves. Anything else would put your licence in software's hands.
Where is my client data stored?
Client files are stored on servers in New Zealand, in AWS's Auckland region. Some services are not offered in New Zealand yet — where that affects you, it is stated plainly in your engagement terms rather than buried.
What exactly does the AI see?
Identifying details are replaced with tokens inside our own infrastructure before anything is sent, and restored on the way back. If that step is unavailable, the request is refused rather than sent unprotected. Your data is not used to train any model, and that is a contractual term with our providers.
Can my clients refuse AI assistance?
Yes. The suggested engagement wording includes an opt-out, and your fee does not change either way. Clerq is designed so a practice can operate with AI assistance switched off entirely.
How does Clerq compare to what I already use?
Most practice systems were built for a different profession and adapted. Clerq starts from the IAA Code and the Privacy Act — engagement agreements, conflicts, custody, complaints, CPD and the privacy principles are the product, not modules bolted on. And the casework system is free.
What happens if I want to leave?
Export your matters, deadlines and documents at any time. On offboarding, the encryption key for your practice is destroyed, which makes the stored data unreadable rather than merely flagged as deleted.
Who is behind Clerq?
Clerq is built by Trailblazer Labs, a New Zealand company, and developed in consultation with practising licensed immigration advisers. It is early-access software: we onboard one practice at a time so that problems are found by us rather than by your clients.
Early access
See it against one of your own files.
The most useful first conversation is a walk through a real matter — the deadlines you are tracking, the documents you are chasing, the letter you are drafting this week.