who we are

Our Story

In early 2000s, the seed was sown by the founder Girish Dugala in London, United Kingdom while he was there completing his master’s in business administration at the Southampton University.
While going through the migration process he came up with the business idea and implemented it once he returned to India. His completed a submission on the same topic which was well-liked by his professors at that time.
Our first office which is still our head-office was in Ambala, Haryana, Where Girish became one of the very first international study consultants in the area.
He soon gained the expertise in the industry and build long-lasting connections with his stakeholders which include some of the top universities and education providers around the globe.
Having gained the reputation of being an immigration ‘guru’ of sorts, he enjoyed helping people build careers and lives by helping them get an opportunity to gain and work in different countries.
This has helped him gain the trust and relationships of thousands of clients who he has helped over the years.
Clients describe Girish as trustworthy, friendly and someone who has been there for the clients long after they had gone through the process.
Opened multiple offices
Office in Canada
One of the success stories of Counsel One happens to be Girish’s nephew Himang Bhardwaj, our managing director. He arrived in New Zealand in 2011 and fell in love with Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud as soon as he landed in this country. The personal and professional experience that Himang gained in New Zealand led him to establish an office in New Zealand.

Worked for ministry
Has a unique mindset
Passion for migration and the positive impact on NZ
With aims to provide life changing advice to people who seek a better life in a foreign land.

Himang’s story

Himang has been living in New Zealand since 2011. Born and raised in Ambala, India Himang came to New Zealand to study Automotive Engineering at Unitec in 2011. While his enthusiasm for cars did not fade away, he lost interest in the profession when he started his career at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in 2014 as Immigration Officer for Immigration New Zealand (INZ) in Auckland. He spent majority of his time at the Immigration Contact Centre, Auckland and by the time he was leaving the Ministry, he had earned the reputation of being one of the most knowledgeable People Leader in the immigration legislation.
Towards the latter part of the time at Ministry, Himang was looking after a team of advisers who specialised in Immigration Instructions and processes. During his time at the ministry, he was involved in dealing with clients, government stakeholders and INZ processing offices across the globe. He then developed an interest in training and facilitated numerous learning sessions for new employees of the Ministry on Immigration Instructions and processes. He was involved in creating the learning content for new recruits and Having gone through the settlement process himself combined with his professional experience have provided Himang with a unique insight to the migration process in New Zealand. He understands what we need in NZ and what migrant needs which allows him to navigate through the immigration system seamlessly.

Himang likes to spend most of his free time socialising and keeping himself up to date with current affairs.