Labour Party official in immigration probe (Auckland, New Zealand)

A Labour Party official is being investigated over immigration irregularities, just weeks after he helped Labour MP Su'a William Sio facilitate a meeting with Pacific Islanders duped in a fake-visa scam.

Immigration New Zealand confirmed it was investigating Semisi Faka'osiki

muli, the secretary of the Labour Party's Tongan branch, but would not disclose details or comment further while the investigation is going on.

The Herald understands the investigation centres around fake skilled employment offers to help immigrants get New Zealand work permits and residencies, but it is not clear how much money or how many people were involved.

Mr Sio, Labour's Mangere MP, said he was "surprised and shocked" at the allegations against Mr Faka'osikimuli - but said he supported the Immigration investigation "to get to the bottom of the matter".

"For too long, our people have been preyed on ... because of their desperate immigration situations, and this is all part of cleaning the industry up, so I say, bring it on."

Mr Sio said he had known Mr Faka'osikimuli for two years and had worked with him in various capacities - most recently at a meeting with Pacific Islander victims of a fake residency stamps and visa scam on July 4, where Mr Faka'osikimuli chaired the Tongan group.

"He's an active member of the Labour Party, and like many members of the local Pacific community, Semisi comes regularly to my electorate office in Mangere," Mr Sio said.

Mr Faka'osikimuli, a former immigration consultant, said yesterday that he was not aware of any investigation and that Immigration had not contacted him.

"Yes, I am involved with the Labour Party, but I do not use it to push my private business," he said.

Han Jian, a former client of Mr Faka'osikimuli - whom he knows as James Semisi - said he decided to lodge a report to the police and Immigration, after receiving a letter from Immigration accusing him of fraud and submitting fake employment job offer documents, and for falsely claiming he had an offer of skilled employment from a company, TVP Computers.

"I was shocked, because I didn't go for any interviews and didn't even know I had any job offer, and I definitely did not submit anything to Immigration," said Mr Han in Mandarin.

"After paying James about $14,000, all he said was to trust him and that is what I did. I thought with his involvement in the Labour Party, he will have good connections with Immigration."

Mr Han, originally from China, who is now in New Zealand illegally, says he has engaged a new immigration adviser, Tuariki Delamere, and is fighting to stay in New Zealand.

When contacted by the Herald, Vaifoou Pangataa, of TVP Computers, said he was a sole owner-operator of the company and said he did not know Mr Han and had never made job offers to anyone.

According to Immigration documents, the application papers were submitted by Rosie Brown, JP, a community worker who works part-time out of Mr Sio's electorate office. Source: NZ Herald, article by Lincoln Tan.

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No favours for scam victims - New Zealand Police

The 36 overstayers who have been caught up in an alleged passport scam will not receive any protection from police.

Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Pizzini says police located the 36 people, who then lodged complaints against Gerrard Otimi.

But he says they will not have any protection from the police when it comes to their immigration status.

"It's between them and the Immigration Service. We don't have anything to do with their immigration status," Mr Pizzini said.

A spokesman for Immigration New Zealand said those who had lodged complaints would be treated the same as others who came forward.

"[Immigration New Zealand] considers their current circumstances, as against the case for them staying in New Zealand.

"This is an individualised assessment. If there is no reason for them to remain, and they are in New Zealand unlawfully, the expectation is always that they will depart New Zealand."

Otimi is facing 39 fraud-related charges and is accused of charging people hundreds of dollars for passport stamps.

He made a brief appearance in the Manukau District Court yesterday and was charged with 36 new counts relating to the alleged alteration of Samoan passports in June.

Otimi - who represented himself - initially refused to stand in the dock.

He asked Judge Anna Johns if she ordered him to stand in the dock. She said she did.

The small courtroom was packed by Otimi supporters, some of whom had protested at the recent Taito Phillip Field case.

Police have indicated that they will disclose evidence to Otimi within three weeks. The defendant will next appear on August 26.

In June, police executed three search warrants in relation to the case and found $40,000 in cash and 5000 blank "hapu certificates".

Otimi claims to be representing a hapu but Tom Roa from Ngati Maniapoto has told the Herald he has never heard of Otimi's hapu - Okahukurapukekauwhatawhataarangi.

Mr Roa was also asked if Otimi was an activist.

"Certainly I would never describe Jerry as an activist, he's an entrepreneur - he thinks beyond the square.

"The key thing really, I think, is the matter of mana," Mr Roa said.

D-Day: New Zealand Immigration Licensing Act 2007

The Immigration Licensing Act 2007 is enforced today in New Zealand. It is good news for some and sad news for thousands of potential migrants in New Zealand. Imagine you paid NZ$10,000 or $15,000 fee to your unlicensed migration consultant a few months ago for processing your work visa or permit, business migration or skill-shortage migration; your agent cannot proceed to act for you regarding your application. Many are left with delima now and uncertain how to move on to the next step.

This Act is shocker for the "amature" migration consultant; as there are about 171 licensed consultants out of the estimated 1,200 in New Zealand. This Act made it to the front page of New Zealand Herald newspaper, click here for the news. What does the Act says: * All NZ-based immigration advisers must be licensed from today. * Just 171 of the estimated 1200 advisers have so far got licences. * A licence costs $1995. * Unlicensed agents face fines up to $100,000, seven years' jail and reparations. * Overseas-based immigration advisers have until May 2010 to get licensed. You can verify more details information from New Zealand's government website http://www.immigration.govt.nz/ and it stated:

"From 4 May 2009 anyone who provides immigration advice in New Zealand must have a licence from the Immigration Advisers Authority, unless they are exempt from the requirement to hold a licence. From 4 May 2009, Immigration New Zealand will refuse to accept applications from unlicensed onshore advisers."

So, if you are planning to use a professional consultant with proper licensing, please check their names at official Immigration Adviser Authority website, you can searched for licensed consultant here.

If you are lost and need advice, please consult the guidelines on the New Zealand Immigration Service site for specific dettails. If you have more questions or doubt, click here for more information.

Some will claim that they are lincensed or even producing fake/forged licenses to hang on the wall. The one thing to make sure is check the consultant's legal name and verify it on the government IAA website.

Do not simply part with your money, put your faith and build your dream on those unlicensed consultant. Hey, to begin with, the consultant must be able to speak and fleunt English. Reputable and professional immigration consultant do not normall advertise on the media. They get tons of new clients from their success case.

Most noticeable of all are those chap who advertised on the etnic newspaper claimings absurd things like:

"No success, no fee. We standby our words"
"Largest migration consulting group in the world"
"We have helped thousands to get the PR (Permenant Residence)"
"The most trusted migration consultant in New Zealand"
"We the most reputable consultant and considered by many as the experts"

They can claim what they want, they are not legal and licensed consultant unless they real name is listed under the government website.

Skill Migrant Application to New Zealand: General information, Auckland

A mate emailed this information to me and hope it will be helpful to those who needs it. Any way, please double check with the New Zealand Immigration Website on the latest news annoucement and skilled migration points.

1. Do a "quick check" and test your points for the Expression of Interest (EOI).
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/pointsindicator/

You need at least 100 points to apply, but criteria can change at any time. Currently, you also need a job offer, unless you have 125 points or more. 140 is the "magic number" for automatic selection, under the current set of criteria. Big changes may be in the works, for better or worse...
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...nactreview.htm

2. Submit your EOI, either online or with a paper form. It's best to do this online at the immigration website, because the fee is lower ($300 NZD). You need a credit card to do it online. Your partner and dependent children can "tag along" on the application, so only one person's points are considered.
The first step to submitting online is to register with "online services," which will create sort of a personal immigration homepage:
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/Regi...n/default.aspx

3. Your EOI is added to the "pool" of applicants, unless you messed up and misunderstood your eligibility. The EOI stays in the pool for up to six months. Your EOI can be selected at any time during these six months - there are selections made twice a month.
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rd...et20060329.doc

4. Once your EOI is selected, there is a preliminary verification process. I'm not sure what this entails, probably some kind of basic fraud screening. Once this is complete, you will see "Decision Successful" on your immigration home page (the one you created when you registered with online services). This can take 9-12 weeks or more? Seems to depend on which office is dealing with your EOI and how backlogged they are.

5. After the verification process for the EOI results in "Decision Successful," you will be mailed an "Invitation to Apply" packet (ITA), which is the actual application for residence.

6. You have up to 4 months to gather all the documentation needed to back up the info in your EOI, prove that you meet health and character standards (that is, not a burden to their health care system, and not a criminal) and turn in your application, along with another fee. Here's the checklist:
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...ps/default.htm

The fee depends on where you are located, and your nationality.
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rd.../1028Feb10.pdf

Many people advise getting your police check underway the moment your EOI is selected from the pool, as this can take months to process. Seek advice on your specific situation to find out what documentation you need (medicals, proof of qualifications, etc) well in advance so you don't miss your ITA deadline.

7. Once your ITA has been received, you will be assigned a Case Officer (CO). Some people report waiting weeks before hearing from their CO. They will schedule a telephone interview for a convenient time, so they can get a better idea of how well they think you will settle in. The idea here is to admit migrants who aren't going to realize they made a mistake after only a few months, and fly away home again.

8. The phone interview usually takes place within a month or two of the ITA being accepted, and has been reported to last between 10-60 minutes. The questions vary, but it's supposedly pretty friendly, not like they are trying to grill you. They will ask "Why New Zealand?" and a bunch of things about your plans, whether you have any social support in NZ, what you would do if you can't find a job right away, etc etc...

9. If your case officer is satisfied with everything, they will recommend that you be granted Permanant Residence (PR). Then this is approved by someone else I guess? i'm a little foggy on how long this step takes. It probably depends on how high of a priority they think you are. If you have a job offer you are fast-tracked through the entire process, I think?

If you are not granted PR, you may be given an alternative such as "work to residence," or else you will simply be turned down. :-(

10. Once you have PR, you will be issued a Residence Visa, which is valid for 12 months. When you arrive in NZ, your Residence Visa becomes a Residence Permit. You pay the "Migrant Levy" at this point, which is $300 NZD per person, up to $1200 total for a family.

This allows you to stay in NZ indefinitely, HOWEVER it expires if you leave NZ. So, in order to be able to travel, you will need a Returning Resident's Visa. Fortunately, if you have a valid Residence Permit, you are automatically entitled to a Returning Resident's Visa (RRV).

The RRV is good for 2 years. So, theoretically you could get PR, receive your Residence Visa, travel to NZ within 12 months, get your Residence Permit and RRV, then leave NZ right away without losing any of your hard-earned residency rights. The only thing to keep in mind is that once your RRV expires after 2 years, in order to get a new one, you have to prove some kind of commitment to NZ. The easiest way to prove this is having been in NZ for 184 days out of EACH of the 2 years. There are other ways to prove a commitment to NZ as well...
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rd...7FA/0/1005.pdf

11. Once you are in NZ with PR, you have all kinds of rights, even voting and health care. So, it doesn't seem quite so bad that you have to be in NZ for 5 years before applying for citizenship :-)