The Licensed Immigration Advisers for New Zealand (Lianz), is a group that represents the New Zealand immigration advisors who are licensed and are based all around India have warned that some of the immigration advisers in India might break the law if the authorities from New Zealand keeps on working with the unregulated education agents.
The Representatives are in Auckland for making the compliance demanding the obligatory license for the foreign student advisers.
At the meeting today with the Authority of the Immigration Advisers, it would also ask for the law to control the commissions being paid for hiring the foreign students.
According to the Lianz Spokesman, Munish Sekhri, the students from India were being wrongly assured the automatic route to the residence in New Zealand by the study agents.
Since May 2010, individuals who give the advice on immigration are required by the legislation to get the license, but those who provide advice on education are being exempted.
According to Mr. Sekhri, these unlicensed agents are playing with the lives and careers of many students who visit the New Zealand and see that their dreams are shattered. These unlicensed agents are deliberately advertising which could be only be provided by the licensed advisers, but no action is taken against them.
He also told that if the Education New Zealand and the education providers have the right to think about their profitability, the immigration advisers who are licensed might also be forced to play with the legislation.
India is the fastest growing foreign student market for New Zealand, which is worth more than $430 million to the economy of New Zealand.
The previous year, the immigration department of New Zealand earned around $24.6 million in the income by processing the student visas, and around $7.7 million of that income was from India.
The agency, however, said that it has now become alert of the fraud and risk in the Indian market.
Almost a third of a around 29,406 citizens from India who had applied for the New Zealand student visa between the previous year’s month of March and the end of the February month were denied.
In the previous year, around 206 student visa holders from India were successful to get the additional visa to continue their education, and that puts India on top of immigration denied nationalities list.
And according to the area manager of immigration, Michael Carley, the exception of the student advisers who are offshore were being viewed at in the present review of the Act for Immigration Advisers Licensing.
