Presenters

Arunima Dhingra, CEO and Principal, Aims Global; Senior Licensed Immigration Adviser; NZAMI Board Director & Past Chair.
The Founder & CEO at Aims Global, Arunima Dhingra, is a long-timer in NZ's immigration industry. She has been providing immigration advice and support to businesses and migrants for over 15 years. In 2017 she won NZAMI’s prestigious Immigration Adviser/Lawyer of the Year Award as well as the Community Outreach Award. Arunima is now serving as a Board Director for NZAMI - NZ’s largest association of immigration advisers and lawyers. She has witnessed governments come and go, and policy changes - both good and bad. She has also been a very active voice in lobbying for changes when policies were estranged from practicalities of real life. Her wealth of experience and vast knowledge as an immigration industry leader means her input is often sought on all aspects of immigration policy development, including submissions on pilot schemes. Arunima says there isn't a boring day at work because the immigration landscape in New Zealand cannot stand still. That's how you clock in so many years and still remain so vested!


Mahafrin Variava, Associate, McVeagh Fleming
Mahafrin has extensive experience and knowledge of immigration law. Her clients appreciate her dedication to solving complex immigration problems and winning difficult cases. Mahafrin joined Pitt & Moore in 2021. Mahafrin has a great appreciation for and insight into different cultures and is able to assist clients in Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu. Mahafrin practices in all areas of immigration law and has more recently, branched out into the employment law space. Although Mahafrin’s clientele are a mixture of private and corporate – she finds it most fulfilling to reunite families and help new migrants blend into the fabric of Aotearoa. You can expect Mahafrin to provide you tailored and detailed immigration advice. She takes pride in her thorough submissions and her ability to seamlessly work her magic to get the best possible outcome for her clients.


Lauren Qiu, Principal, Stay Legal
Lauren is the Principal at Stay Legal. She has presented at national seminars and conferences on immigration law. Lauren is an immigration law commentary author for Thomson Reuters. Lauren is currently a Committee Member of The Law Association’s (formerly Auckland District Law Society) Immigration & Refugee Law Committee, a Member of the Tauranga Migrant Settlement Network (an Immigration New Zealand led Welcoming Communities initiative), and a Volunteer Immigration Solicitor at the Citizens Advice Bureau (Tauranga). Previously, she was a guest lecturer, teaching aspiring immigration advisers at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology.