More raids by immigration officials this week have found several migrants living in squalor at six houses across Auckland.
The fresh investigations follow an Immigration New Zealand (INZ) inquiry after 30 migrants caught up in an apparent visa fraud were found living in similar conditions in South Auckland a couple of weeks back.
The Indian and Bangladeshi nationals who came to New Zealand on Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) reportedly paid up to nearly $44,000 to agents for job offers, but ended up without work or pay after they arrived.
Masud Alam from Amerinz Legal, who is helping out the migrants, said INZ has offered a few options.
“Either find a job, apply for a variation [of work conditions], or going back to their home country is the third option they have offered,” he said.
However, the migrants will need to have a job offer as a prerequisite to apply for a Variation of Conditions visa (VOC), which is a provision for employees when they are changing their role, employment location, employer, or a combination of these.
“So you can have your three-year work visa but work for that company that is offering you the job,” he says.
“[But] that option is not immediately available because to find a job you need to go through your application, and then an assessment…by that time, they can’t afford their next meal, how can they [the migrants] wait for two months?”
By the time this newspaper went to print, the INZ had not replied to a query by The Indian Weekender on the possibility of VOC for the stranded migrants.
The migrants can also apply for a six-month Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa, through which they can be eligible to work in New Zealand.
“Based on what immigration has said, this visa is for the migrants to find a job. They are removing those conditions, making it free and open. You can work for anyone, any company, in any role, and any pay,” Masud says.
At least 77,000 migrants have arrived in the country since the AEWV was launched in July 2022. As of August 6, 2023, INZ says 164 accredited employers were being investigated for a variety of offences.
Immigration officials have, so far, revoked the accreditation of six employers while those of five others have been suspended.
Masud says immigration is to be blamed for its negligence in this issue. “It could have been stopped if they could have asked those companies whether they had any ongoing project, and if so, what is the proof? So this was just one of the negligences from immigration.”
The Accredited Employer Work Visa is a provision the government announced last year that enables employers to fill in critical vacancies relatively quickly, and with less red tape.
It has come under scrutiny in the last few months over concerns it is susceptible to fraud since it removes proper checks on each application. Cases of possible fraud under this category have been reported by migrants from across the world, including South America.
