If you’re planning to apply for a visa to New Zealand, be cautious of immigration scams. Scammers may steal your money or place you in a job that doesn’t match what was promised.

Immigration New Zealand points out scam options to check for and steps you can take to protect yourself from scams or visa fraud.

Signs of immigration scams

They’re asking you to pay for your job

Watch out if they ask you to pay fees for your job, sometimes called ‘processing’ or ‘placement’ fees.

New Zealand employers cannot charge you fees for a job or make you pay any of their recruitment costs. This includes indirectly through a third party who then demands you pay them.

If you are using:

• a recruitment agency, be wary about any high fees they want to charge you directly. Any charges from a recruitment agency should reflect the service they provide you.
• an immigration adviser, you will need to pay a fair price for their services.

Immigration New Zealand only charges you an application fee. You may need to pay for costs when gathering evidence for your application, such as completing a medical.

Getting application priority and access to immigration officers

With this scam, your adviser, agent, consultant or other third party say they can use their connections to guarantee an outcome or faster decision.

Remember, that Immigration New Zealand:

• will not prioritise your application because you use an adviser, and
• only decides applications by assessing the information it has against immigration rules.

You’re asked to lie in your application

It is illegal to lie in order to qualify for a job or a visa.

Your adviser or other third party is breaking the law if they advise you to do this. It is a sign they may break other immigration or employment laws.

It is important that the information you provide is true. Any false statements you make will affect your current and future visa applications.

They say you don’t have the same minimum employment rights as a New Zealander

This is not true. Everyone in New Zealand has the same minimum employment rights, including migrants. This includes the right to paid holidays and sick leave, and the right to complain about unsafe work practices.

Learn more about your right as a worker in New Zealand on Employment New Zealand website.

They promise you residence

New Zealand provides fantastic opportunities to study and work. A temporary visa will allow you to enjoy these opportunities, but there are no guarantees this will lead to residence.

Scammers often overstate how likely residence is, so be aware as pathways to residence require certain skills, experience, qualifications or occupations.

Learn more about how to immigrate to New Zealand and evaluate your possibilities.

Also, learn about pathways to New Zealand residence

Promises on house buying, or accessing government support

You should decide to move here based on what you are offered, not on future promises that may not be kept.

In general, you cannot buy a house or access government financial support unless you hold a residence visa. You cannot take on additional jobs to earn extra money.

They say you must use an adviser

It’s not mandatory to use an adviser to apply for a visa. You can apply for a visa on your own using information on INZ website.

However, if you choose to use an adviser, only use a licensed immigration adviser (LIA), a certified New Zealand lawyer, or someone else legally able to provide immigration advice. We can reccommend Yana Gild.

What are immigration advisers for?

You come across a suspicious email or website claiming to be Immigration New Zealand

Check the website address to make sure it includes ‘.immigration.govt.nz’ exactly. Check carefully as scam website addresses can look similar.

Official email addresses from Immigration New Zealand end with ‘immigration.govt.nz’ or ‘mbie.govt.nz’.

Sometimes scammers may ‘issue’ a fake visa. If your agent or adviser says that the visa has been approved, you may verify this through the visa verification service on the INZ website

in New Zealand

If you’re already in New Zealand, and you’ve become a victim of online-scam, you may report this incident and ask for help on On your online.

If you’re in New Zealand, and you reckon that you’re being exploited, do not hesitate to inform Immigration New Zealand (INZ).