New Zealand uncovers Sri Lankan student visa scam

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Radio New Zealand made a revelation about a Sri Lankan visa scam involving hundreds of students studying in New Zealand. The report says the New Zealand immigration office in Mumbai that handles Sri Lankan applications received a tip-off at the beginning of this year. Officials inquiring into the incident concluded a Sri Lankan based finance company has been fraudulently creating documentation to help students meet the criteria of having $15,000 in the bank. New Zealand Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said officials did not yet know how many fraudulent applications may have slipped through the net. The Minister said the officials were going through 895 applications that came from Sri Lanka through the Mumbai office, to identify applications containing information from the "fraudulent" finance company. The Minister added the New Zealand government would not, however, be challenging any visas other than the original 88 when the fraud was discovered. According to the report, the New Zealand National Party wants to know why hundreds of past visas that have been granted to Sri Lankan students won't be reviewed. The report says a number of New Zealand educational providers had been affected and were warned about the impact of student numbers in the future.