NEW ZEALAND-TAKING CARE OF MIGRANT FARM WORKERS.
Migrant farm staff are being urged to blow the whistle on dodgy practices by immigration agents as the deadline for agency licensing nears.
From early May agents operating out of New Zealand require a licence to advise migrants, but a Rangiora advisor believes that licensing may not prove the be all and end all to suspect practices.
"It is a great move bringing in licences to try and improve the standard of advice out there. However, unless migrant staff complain about advice they have received from an agent, the Immigration Advisors Authority (IAA) won’t know about it or be able to act," said Jay Shadforth of Immigration Law Advocates.
She acknowledged the $2000 application fee for a licence was hefty, but believed it was already prompting fly-by-night operators to seek other options.
The licence deadline comes as Immigration New Zealand (INZ) raises concerns over practices being used by agents employing migrant farm workers to NZ. This has included applying for visas on jobs that no longer exist and discrepancies between migrants’ skills and those required for advertised positions (The NZ Farmers Weekly, March 16).
Shadforth said other illegal practices included migrants being charged for a job application.
The licence is compulsory for agents offering advice, as opposed to information already available through the INZ website and documents. This could present a grey area when determining what was information and what was advice.
One recruitment agent spoken to by Farmers Weekly said he had no intention of applying for the licence, intending simply to offer information.
"My lawyer tells me as long as I stick to this I will not be breaking any law."
IAA head Barry Smedts said it was a risk for agents to try and draw a ring around advice versus information.
"We do not have a big investigations team to make sure all advisors are complying, and if people try to avoid the licence by claiming to only give infoprmation they are vulnerable to a complaint being laid by a client."
He hoped the agent had a clear understanding of immigration law to feel so confident they did not require a licence to continue operating.
Licensed consultants like Shadforth are sceptical recruiters will be able to step around the definition for long before quitting or coming into line with a licence.
"Unless he is saying to the client, here is the website get all you need there, it would be impossible to offer a service. Without a licence they will not be able to lodge applications, it would require getting the migrant to sign that they have completed the forms on their own."
There are exemptions to licence requirements, and this includes lawyers and community law groups. However, Shadforth believes given immigration’s complexities, lawyers should also be required to register.
"We do spend a part of our time cleaning up problems created by lawyers who do not practice immigration law full time and don’t know all they need to."
The IAA has so far had 120 agents receive licences. This was fewer than expected but Smedts said this could be a reflection of the rigorous audit process, so fewer agents already reflected a lift in standards.
Farm recruitment-focussed companies with personnel licensed on the register so far include ATR Fegan of Cambridge, Immigration Placement Services of Auckland, and Shadforth’s Immigration Law Advocates in Canterbury.
John Fegan of ATR Fegan admits finding the $2000 fee "eye watering", on top of a $1000 annual charge to keep his staff member registered.
"Our experience is increasingly that these guys need all round help and advice. It is impossible to assist an immigrant without giving advice."
He supposed non-licensed agents could team up with a licensed operator, but this would only add to the cost and non licensed agents would become marginalised over time.
Johan Van Zyl of Immigration Placement Services believed the line between information and advice was so thin agents needed to safeguard themselves and their clients by getting a licence.
"It is expensive at a time when the economy is slower but tightening up in this industry is a good thing. Some agents may think they will get away with getting the migrant to fill out their paper work but what do you do if they run into complications that require your advice?"
