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WATCH: Here’s why you must not lie to immigration officials when traveling to another country

Filipinos who travel to another country with the intention of landing a job there or for any other purposes which are not indicated in their application may be attempted to provide false statements to immigration officials or commit immigration fraud, thinking that they cannot get caught. However, lying is a serious immigration offense and a ground for inadmissibility and immediate deportation in many countries, including the UAE, that have set up  border patrolling measures to detect and prevent immigration offenders.

A case in point was a Filipina, who recently traveled to New Zealand on a six-month visitor visa. She had already passed the immigration counter in the Auckland International Airport before she was spotted by another officer who was monitoring passengers of an inbound Manila flight.

When she was asked why she intends to stay for six month, the Filipina said only wanted to sell her car and close down her existing bank accounts. Her last visit to New Zealand was in July 2018.

Before this, she was granted and completed her three-year student visa. But this time, the immigration officer wanted to know how the Filipina would support her six-month stay in New Zealand which is quite long just to sell a car.

To separate fact from fiction, the officer had some digging. “Are there any other reasons why you traveled to New Zealand besides selling your car and closing down your existing bank accounts?” the officer asked.

She replied: “Well, actually, for the last three years that I have been here studying and working at the same time, I kind of enjoy the country instead of like staying in my home country; I’ve got no future there.”

However, upon checking her visa records, it was found that the Filipina’s travel application was sponsored by a New Zealand citizen. She dodged to mention this when she was asked by the officer. Her male sponsor invited her to “celebrate various milestones in his life and he’s going to provide for her meals and transportation during her stay here” as documented in her visa application.

The authorities also phoned her sponsor who told them that she is a divorced woman, contrary to her statement that she is still married.

Add to that, she lied about the car she was intending to sell. It turns out that she has got no car to sell because it had been sold during her previous visit in New Zealand.

“It looks like you have been lying to immigration of New Zealand,” the immigration officer told her. She tried to convince him to allow her entry, but the lies just keep on coming.

“If you told me the truth, then you might not have been to this predicament today, but you lied to me and you also lied to the visa processing branch. So now, your credibility is questionable,” said the officer.

After finding that her stories are at odds with her real intention to stay in the country, the immigration officials at the airport decided to refuse her entry.

The Filipina was immediately sent to a turnabout flight back to Manila.

According to the immigration law of New Zealand, “Immigration fraud is an offense under the Immigration Act 2009. We have wide-ranging measures to detect and prevent immigration offending.”

Immigration fraud includes the following offenses:

  • Using a false or altered document to support a visa application, e.g. passport
  • Providing false or misleading information to support a visa application
  • Helping  someone to come to or stay in New Zealand who you know either doesn’t have a visa or doesn’t have the right visa
  • Helping someone to come to New Zealand who you deceive about the type of work they’ll be doing in New Zealand or your reasons for bringing them to New Zealand.

Penalties

    • Those found guilty of immigration fraud can be imprisoned for up to 7 years and/or fined up to NZ $100,000.
    • People who use immigration fraud to become New Zealand residents can be deported.
    • People who use immigration fraud to become New Zealand citizens can lose their citizenship.

Staff Report

The Filipino Times is the chronicler of stories for, of and by Filipinos all over the world, reaching more than 236 countries in readership. Any interesting story to share? Email us at [email protected]

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