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New Zealand Immigration - New Zealand now a magnet for fraudulent Chinese students
The discovery of a number of Chinese students who had arrived in NZ on fraudulent visas has revealed the country is becoming a hub for illegal Chinese migrants.
A report by an Immigration New Zealand employees based in Beijing has caused alarm as it states the country is now a magnet for illegal arrivals under the student visa system. In 2011, INZ relaxed its stringent Beijing risk-profiling rules and is no longer verifying the educational and academic qualifications of Chinese applicants.
In the year since the rules were relaxed, 279 Chinese so-called students issued with their visas in Beijing were found to have fake qualifications as well as falsified bank statements. According to the Beijing whistle-blower, meetings were convened last July at which INZ staff were told not to waste their time checking qualifications and other paperwork.
The Chinese employee told the NZ Herald newspaper that staff had been given orders to keep up the number of visas granted in order that New Zealand language schools could double their receipts from foreign students. Speaking anonymously, the staff member added that New Zealand was now a magnet for illegal students as everyone now knows that checks are no longer being made.
NZ Education Minister Steven Joyce confirmed that two independent Beijing agents were linked to the cases of fraud, adding that several employees at the INZ agency were under investigation. Another INZ immigration whistle-blower told the newspaper by letter that the student visa fraud had spread beyond Beijing to Shanghai, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Dubai and Pretoria.
A report by an Immigration New Zealand employees based in Beijing has caused alarm as it states the country is now a magnet for illegal arrivals under the student visa system. In 2011, INZ relaxed its stringent Beijing risk-profiling rules and is no longer verifying the educational and academic qualifications of Chinese applicants.
In the year since the rules were relaxed, 279 Chinese so-called students issued with their visas in Beijing were found to have fake qualifications as well as falsified bank statements. According to the Beijing whistle-blower, meetings were convened last July at which INZ staff were told not to waste their time checking qualifications and other paperwork.
The Chinese employee told the NZ Herald newspaper that staff had been given orders to keep up the number of visas granted in order that New Zealand language schools could double their receipts from foreign students. Speaking anonymously, the staff member added that New Zealand was now a magnet for illegal students as everyone now knows that checks are no longer being made.
NZ Education Minister Steven Joyce confirmed that two independent Beijing agents were linked to the cases of fraud, adding that several employees at the INZ agency were under investigation. Another INZ immigration whistle-blower told the newspaper by letter that the student visa fraud had spread beyond Beijing to Shanghai, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Dubai and Pretoria.
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