OPINION: Most immigration scams are committed vs the government – but one of the biggest immigration scams I know of was through the government.
The scam works like this: New Zealand government agencies encourage students from poor countries to mortgage their family’s property so they can come to New Zealand to study a business degree. They tell them that this course will lead to a job and a permanent residence in this country. Spoiler alert: this is rarely the case, which prevents them from paying their debts.
The victims of this scam are students from the Indian subcontinent.
Of course, since Covid-19 closed our borders, it is not possible for most international students to come and study here. But the scam is still promoted.
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As of this writing, there is still a control List on the Immigration New Zealand (INZ) website which states that Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Nepali students can submit evidence of loans to pay for education in New Zealand in support of visa applications.
And Education New Zealand’s website still encourages people in India to contact its “ENZ Recognized Agencies” – those same education agencies that lie about how easy it is to study, find a job and to obtain an approved residence in New Zealand.
In fact, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, when the INZ stopped inviting people to apply for residency under the skilled migrant category, only about 20% of fee-paying students ended up getting approved residency.
In recent years, India has been New Zealand’s second-largest market for fee-paying students, after China. Most of these students have been encouraged to follow the shorter and cheaper qualifications which allow them to obtain post-study work visas.
This has led to an oversupply of Indian business graduate students in the New Zealand market. You can often meet some of these students who have completed their studies in your service at the gas station, bottle shop or dairy in your neighborhood.
In other words, working in dead-end jobs that are unlikely to lead to residency here.
These New Zealand graduates are the luckiest
Those graduates in dead-end jobs are actually the luckiest — at least they’re paying off the “educational loans” their parents took out to pay for their tuition and living expenses.
They usually hold a two- or three-year post-study work visa, which allows them to work in any job – except prostitution – once they have completed their studies at degree level or above. in New Zealand.
The worst off are the 5,685 people holding a post-study work visa who took a break at home after completing their studies in New Zealand, and can no longer return here due to Covid-19 restrictions.
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Sukhchainpreet Singh blames himself for his grandfather’s death.
People like Sukhchainpreet Singh, whose family mortgaged their house and car to pay for his one-year accounting degree in 2019, by borrowing the equivalent of $20,000.
After graduating, Sukhchainpreet returned to India in early March 2020 when he learned that his grandfather was in hospital.
It was the month New Zealand closed its borders to temporary entrants, so Sukhchainpreet was unable to return, even though her post-study work visa is valid until February 2022.
After a few months in India, his grandfather still needed hospital treatment, but the money to pay for it had run out.
“We didn’t have enough money, as I am the only breadwinner for my family, but I couldn’t go back to New Zealand to find a job,” Sukhchainpreet told me.
“So later in 2020 my grandfather passed away, and I think I’m solely responsible.”
Sukhchainpreet is paying interest on her family’s $20,000 loan, but has been unable to repay the principal. He recently sold his motorcycle to help cope with the interest.
We elect politicians to act, not just to say they care
About 10 days ago I asked Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi if the government was considering allowing post-study work visa extensions so that the 5,685 people stuck outside New Zealand can return to seek employment once our border reopens.
It seems fair to extend visas for the same duration as the border has been closed. This would not solve visa holders’ money problems, but at least give them some certainty. At the moment they don’t have any.
The minister did not respond to my email. However, in Parliament he acknowledged the problems faced by people stranded outside the country, separated from friends and family in New Zealand. This week, he announced that family members of healthcare workers in New Zealand on temporary visas will be able to join them here.
It took a year for the government to act, after facing strong political pressure from migrants protesting and their families overseas, immigration advisers including myself, and the opposition in the form of Congresswoman Erica Stanford.
Meanwhile, holders of work visas such as Sukhchainpreet remain stuck outside New Zealand, struggling to repay the loans our government has encouraged them to take out to pay for their education in New Zealand.
We must continue to remind the government of people like Sukhchainpreet.
Ankur Sabharwal is the owner of immigration consultancy Visa issues. He is a licensed immigration consultant and handles complex immigration matters. His previous post was about the sad and sick joke of who we allowed into New Zealand during the pandemic.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute immigration advice. Individuals should seek personal advice from an immigration consultant or licensed attorney to assess their particular situation.
