Nurse Paid $25K for AEWV Visa - But No Work, No Employer

Right, we've got an immigration news here of migrant nurses from India, lured to New Zealand by promises that vanished the moment they landed. The culprits? A Canterbury recruitment firm and an agency back in Kerala. These nurses, arriving with dreams and hefty debts, were left high and dry.

Sruthi, one of the nurses, paid a staggering $25,000 to an agency called London Academy in India. She arrived in Hastings, hopeful, only to find that Deocare, the so-called employers, had nothing for them. Not a job, not a single cent taken, they claimed. Instead, they were advised to hunt for work on their own.

It’s a grim scenario. Here’s Sruthi, a nurse with five years under her belt, thrown into the deep end of New Zealand’s job market, shackled by the specific requirements of her visa. She needs an accredited employer willing to meet the median wage and perform all the bureaucratic gymnastics involved in job checks and job tokens. Easier said than done.

And let's not forget the verbal assurances. The agency’s smooth talk led Sruthi to believe there was flexibility in her travel dates. Yet, once here, she found that her contract was as brittle as a dry leaf, conditional on starting within four weeks of signing or upon arrival.

Sruthi’s story isn’t unique. Another nurse, also from India, arrived in Hamilton and faced the same rejection from Deocare. No jobs, just a bland letter suggesting she seek "other opportunities."

The broader picture is even bleaker. Nurses from India are arriving in New Zealand in droves — 458 in the last quarter alone. They make up nearly half of all new registered nurses since the borders reopened in 2022. These numbers speak volumes about the scale of this issue.

Immigration New Zealand and the Indian High Commission have these complaints on their desks now. Deocare’s tactics and London Academy’s broken promises are under scrutiny. But for Sruthi and her peers, this scrutiny comes too late. They’re stranded, jobless, and fighting an uphill battle to stay afloat in a system that promised them a lifeline but delivered nothing but despair. This is more than a recruitment failure; it’s a betrayal of trust, and it's time for accountability.

And there we have it, immigration news in New Zealand. Do subscribe and follow me for the latest immigration news and updates. Ka Kite Ano.