Based in Ashburton, the licensed immigration adviser says changes will be introduced in various stages this year to replace six current employer-assisted temporary visa categories with one new visa called Temporary Work Visa.
A new employer-led visa application process was also being introduced.
It was important to stay up to date with the rules as they came in, she said.
The former Manila resident came to New Zealand in 2007 on a visitor visa, which she later upgraded to a work visa.
"The rules were different when I first came over and not as complicated.
"I did ask, and received some useful advice through an online forum, but things are much more complex now and still evolving."
Ms Jimenez said she had decided to become an immigration adviser in recent months because she believed there was a need for the service and she wanted to help people work through the process successfully.
She was now licensed with the New Zealand Immigration Advisers Authority and was already helping clients.
Before setting up her own business she had worked in sales and hospitality.
A New Zealand resident since 2010, she had spent 10 years in Auckland and was now happily settled in Ashburton, which was a friendly town and had a sizeable Filipino population, many of whom worked on farms or in other jobs around the district.
Ms Jimenez is based in an office at 192 Wills Street and is offering a free one hour consultation, by appointment only, between 9am and 10am.
More information at the website iammsmariajimenez.wixsite.com/nzlia.
