Indian Woman Who Says Visa Fraudsters Duped Her of Over $33,000 in New Zealand May Get Deported

An Indian woman, who claimed she was duped of over $33,000 by three men who promised to get her work visas in New Zealand, may be deported back to India on account of violating visa-related norms of the country. The jobs promised to the woman by the men did not exist. 

Damanpreet Kaur said that she informed Immigration New Zealand about the fraud and told them that she paid two men over $18,000 for a work visa and job in 2017, and later gave $15,000 to a man from Hamilton for the same purpose, Radio New Zealand reported. She was duped in both cases, she said, according to report.  

She told the publication that she has sent a detailed statement to Associate Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi, citing her allegations along with the bank statements showing payments to the three men. She added that she was under depression after these episodes and provided the details to the department in hope of getting a permission to stay in New Zealand.  

Kaur was cited as saying that Immigration New Zealand had told her that she could be served with a deportation notice because she was not working for the company whose name was mentioned on her current two-year work visa. 

She told RNZ that she initially got a one-year open work visa in 2016 after completing her IT course in New Zealand but after the expiration of that visa, she was facing troubles in getting two-year work visa.  

In March 2017, two men offered to get her a job in an internet cafe in Tauranga in return for $50,000. They lured her, saying that the job would get her a work visa, which later can be helpful in getting residency in the country.  

Kaur said that she gave over $18,000 to these two men, who established an internet cafe to give her an impression of an actual job. They also named one of the men’s wife as the director and owner of the company. Kaur also paid a man $15,000 for job and visa, which also turned out to be fraudulence. 

In both cases, she got a two-year work visa but the company mentioned on the visa had no job. 

Her immigration adviser, Tuariki Delamere, urged the government to crack down on the group, and described these men as parasites. He said to Morning Report that Immigration New Zealand should let Kaur stay till the investigations into her allegations is completed.  

As per the report, the Tauranga men denied the allegations while the Hamilton man didn’t respond to the phone calls.