Are you an international student? Have you been told you can gain bonus residency points if you study in a region of New Zealand? You may find the following interesting. Read it and contact us to share your experience.

International students are being duped by unregulated education agents overseas to study in the regions to gain bonus points for residency…

In the last year an additional 11,760 international students entered New Zealand, fuelling what is being marketed to New Zealanders as an ‘immigration boom.’

Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Northland, Taranaki and Nelson have seen double digit growth in overseas student numbers since the government announced they would give extra points to applicants who intended to settle in the regions.

Immigration advisers told the Herald that agents found it easier to promote regional campuses because they could tell students they could work while they studied, earning $200 a day in jobs such as fruit picking and packing.

Vijay Singh, 26, from Punjab, said he enrolled to study at a Bay of Plenty institution because his agent told him that doing so would lead to “automatic residency”.

“I was told New Zealand wanted migrants in smaller cities, so studying there will give automatic permanent residency,” said Mr Singh, who did not want to name his private training establishment.

“I borrowed $20,000 to pay for everything because they said … I will get residency and I can sponsor my whole family to come here.

Mr Singh arrived in February but moved to Auckland last month and is now looking for alternative pathways to permanent residence.

Munish Sekhri, spokesman for the India-based group Licensed Immigration Advisers of New Zealand (Lianz), said that up to eight in 10 Indian students here might have been misled by their agents…more here

Wintec named and shamed

Sizzling Career Solutions, a New Delhi-based student recruitment agency, claimed in an email advertisement: “Candidates studying in Hamilton will get an edge of 30 points while filing for permanent residency.”

Managing director Satpal Gulia said it was recruiting students for the Waikato Institute of Technology, also known as Wintec.

“The mail actually meant to convey that students will get bonus points eventually when they file for PR [permanent residence] because they would have stayed in a region outside Auckland,” he said.

However, Wintec chief executive Mark Flowers said it terminated the agent’s agreement due to the false claim after being alerted by Immigration New Zealand last Thursday…

According to the chair of the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment, unregulated overseas agents are “tarnishing New Zealand’s image and reputation” If that’s true why are institutions like Wintec dealing with “unregulated overseas agents” and why did it take a call from INZ for them to break off contact, didn’t they already know what was going on. Aren’t their students telling them there’s a problem?

An spokesperson for Education New Zealand said students if students think they’ve been lied to they should first of all make a complaint to their education provider. Why?

It appears education providers only act when Immigration New Zealand (INZ) are breathing down their necks.

Our advice is to contact Immigration New Zealand directly, as well as the education provider. Contact us too with your stories.

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NZ migration boom nears 60,000 a year as Indians and returning Kiwis flood in

Tertiary institutions have seen a rise in Indian and Chinese students on the back of exceptionally strong migration figures.

Statistics New Zealand says the number of permanent and long-term migrants in the year to July was a net 59,600 people with July monthly new migration much stronger than expected at a record 5700.

The figure was boosted by students from India and China…13,800 from India, with three-quarters on student visas…10,400 from China, with about half on student visas…

In Wellington, Weltec and Whitireia polytechnics have had a 35 per cent increase in international students in the last year, studying business, IT, hospitality, engineering and health.

Weltec chief executive Chris Gosling said the international student body used to be dominated by Chinese students but there were now just as many from India.

The growing number of Indian students reflected  the stronger Indian economy in recent years and visa rule changes allowing students to work while studying here, Gosling said…source

International students in the regions

• 104,418: Total in NZ in the first eight months of 2015.
• 11,760: Increase over the same period last year.
• 15-18%: Growth in Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, and Canterbury.
• 10-14%: Growth in Northland, Taranaki and Nelson.
• 11%: Increase in first-time Indian student enrolments
• 57% Increase in returning Indian students source