An Indian man accused of using an “imposter” to take part in an English language test has had his residency bid declined for the second time, prolonging his dream of a “better future” in New Zealand.
Rejecting his appeal, the Immigration and Protection Tribunal upheld Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) decision, which had refused to grant the visa to the 26-year-old man, after he failed to meet the good character requirements.
While rejecting his application earlier this year, the INZ raised two character issues with the man from rural Punjab, who held a series of student and interim visas, before he filed an application for residency in May 2018.
First, that he had worked illegally while on an interim visa and had withheld that information from the immigration authorities, and second, that he had used an “imposter” during a telephone interview to ascertain his English language skills in 2014 when his first student visa application was being considered.
Timeline:
The court documents state that he was in New Zealand as a student between 2014 and 2017.
During his first student visa interview conducted by INZ in 2014, another man took part in the telephone call for him. He was granted a student visa, paving way for entry into the country.
In 2016, his second student visa was subsequently cancelled after he failed to meet the minimum English language requirements.
He then held an interim visa, during which he worked illegally, breaching his visa conditions.
In December 2016, he married a New Zealand resident. After a year of the marriage, he departed to India in 2017 and has since been offshore.
In May 2018, he applied for a permanent residency under the Partner category which was declined. He then appealed against that decision in the Tribunal, which too was rejected.
The man told the immigration authorities that he had no knowledge of a stranger sitting for his English test over the phone.
In his defence, his counsel argued that the education agent must have used an imposter without his client’s knowledge and so he must not be held liable for the agent’s actions, on whom he had relied on “as do all applicants from countries such as India”.
He further contended that his client worked illegally only for a short period because he had been in a desperate financial situation, and had stopped working after his partner secured a job.
The man in his statement said that he did not want to be separated from his partner as he wanted any of their future children to have a good childhood and a better life than they would be able to have in India.
Dismissing his appeal, the Tribunal decided in favour of INZ and agreed that its decision to decline his residency application was “correct.”
"It is clear to the Tribunal that [the man] knew it was wrong to work in breach of his visa conditions, which was why he withheld that fact in a later interview. Being in difficult financial circumstances did not excuse the later withholding of that information," the Tribunal said in its decision.
It further said that it was his, and not the agent’s responsibility to ensure that accurate information was supplied to the authorities, in support of his application.
“Without this deception, the appellant would not have been granted his first student visa,” the decision said.
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