Ontario’s Popular Immigration Streams is Reopening Next Week!

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) is going to accept applications regarding its three much popular immigration streams. These streams are as under.

• The International Masters Graduate Stream
• The Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream
• The International D. Graduate Stream

There was a temporary pause on these streams during last May, as their annual allocations have reached its limit.

Furthermore, a new user-friendly process of submitting an online application was on its way. This process will start after reopening of these OINP streams. According to the government of Ontario, this overhauled system will speed up the application process. It will allow employers to look for skilled workers in a hassle-free manner.

A clear message to the Provincial Government is out there. The following streams will experience a pause and reopen periodically.

• The International D. Graduate stream
• International Masters Graduate stream
• Human Capital Priorities stream

The basic purpose this strategy is to process existing applications in an efficient manner.

For the year 2017, overall allocations for OINP are 6,000 and include all applications related to OINP streams. No doubt, the number of allocations is going up, as the province’s allocation was just 2,500 in 2014.

International Ph.D. Graduate Stream

This Stream focuses on such individuals who graduated from one of Ontario’s publicly funded universities in a Ph.D. program. A job offer is not required for this stream as it operates outside the Express Entry System.

International Masters Graduate Stream

This specific Stream operates outside the Express Entry system. It targets individuals who have graduated from one of Ontario’s publicly funded universities, with a Master’s degree. Besides this, it is not necessary to provide a job offer.

Eligible candidates residing outside Ontario are capable of applying, once this stream reopens. It is possible for applicants to hire an alternate service provider to obtain their language test.

Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream

The reopening of Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream, will receive a great response by the candidates of federal Express Entry pool. Once this stream reopens, OINP will start looking into federal Express Entry pool to find qualified candidates. After this, eligible candidates will receive Notifications of Interest, which is an invitation to apply.

It is necessary for the candidate to be a part of Express Entry pool. In addition, the candidate must have 400 or more points in Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The applicant can also get 600 additional CRS points if he or she obtains an OINP nomination certificate through this stream. The 400 CRS points threshold is relatively lesser than any one of the Express Entry draws, conducted previously. This may enhance the chances of eligibility under the OINP Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream.

According to a statement shared by Laura Albanese (Ontario’s Minister of Immigration), “Ontario is helping to make our province even stronger”. Further stated, “Immigration is the right key for competing in today’s global economy in a better way. This helps in growing our workforce and stimulating innovation. By attracting people with skills and abilities, we can easily fill labor market gaps.” Source: immigrationexperts

Indian students hope to return to NZ after deportation

A group of students who are on the verge of being deported say they will continue to fight their case once they're back in India.

Nine students will fly out over the coming days after more than eight months fighting the decision.

The students gathered in their Auckland lawyer's boardroom today and finished off some paperwork for a complaint to the Ombudsman to be made.

The students and their lawyer, Alastair McClymont, said they were unfairly paying the price of India-based agents who submitted fraudulent documents on their behalf. But after failing to get Associate Minister of Immigration David Bennett to intervene they'll be returning home over the next couple of days.

Rahul Reddy said he has organised for his friends to pick him up from the airport.

He said he would be going back to live with his parents and would start to look for work. But despite it all he said he was still set on returning in order to gain work experience.

"Because we've spent our money here, it's not a small amount that we've spent here. It's almost like $30,000 that we spent here for our education and for our work experience to gain. So without that I cannot go back to my country and work there. I have to show them the experience of practical knowledge here."

Mr Reddy said his bags were packed and he would be spending the weekend saying goodbye to friends, family, and members of the Unitarian Church who supported the cause by providing sanctuary.

Mr McClymont said it was far from over.

He was planning on filing a complaint to the Ombudsman about how the students' characters were assessed with a specific emphasis on their case that the students were not aware of what their agents submitted on their behalf.

He was feeling confident the outcome would be positive, he said.

"And if it is I intend to ask Immigration New Zealand and the Ombudsman [to] go back and review up to 150 applications which have been declined by the same method."

Mr McClymont said he would seek to remove his clients' deportation statuses so they were able to apply for a visa to return to New Zealand.

He expected the decision would take a couple of months.

'New Zealand's reputation is going down'

The students returning to India would continue to seek justice there by visiting the local police to press charges against their agents.

The Indian Express newspaper was also starting to report on the students' cases.

One student who was returning, Manoj Narra, said it was not a good look for New Zealand.

"In India New Zealand's reputation is going down, frankly speaking ... Because everyone is saying that if Immigration is in the right position they have to check before entering this country."

He said people were asking why discrepancies were picked up after students had already started studying.

The students maintained that justice had not been served in their case and said they did not want any other international students to New Zealand to have to endure the same ordeal. Source: radionz

US-based Australians fear crackdown on working visas by Donald Trump

Australians living in the US have called on the Turnbull government to demand tolerance and evidence-based policy-making from Donald Trump's White House, amid concerns from employers that foreign workers could be targeted in a sweeping review of visa rules.

Speculation exists among immigration experts that Mr Trump will direct the Homeland Security, Labor and State Departments to review employment-based categories, potentially hitting thousands of Australians with work and study visas. 

Australians could be affected by any changes to the E3 specialty occupation visa, established by the George W. Bush administration specifically for Australians and available to 10,500 people each year.

One US recruiter has told clients a draft executive order being considered by Mr Trump would direct a wholesale review of a range of popular visas to assess whether foreign workers are disadvantaging American citizens, with possible restrictions to student visas also being considered. 

Mr Trump's chaotic first two weeks has prompted more than 225 Australians living across 15 states of the US to sign an open letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, calling on the federal government to publicly endorse values including trade, respect for institutions, independent media and freedom from discrimination as part of the Australia-US relationship.

Signatories include Australian employees of Facebook, Google, Goldman Sachs, Boston Consulting Group and PwC, as well students at leading universities, including Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, the University of California, Columbia, and New York University.

Matt Tyler, a public policy masters student at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, said many Australians were alarmed by Mr Trump's actions and rhetoric and hoped the federal government would use political and diplomatic representation to push back on infringements by the administration.  

"In the midst of rapid changes, there is a risk that behaviours undermining the fabric of society and democracy are normalised," he said. 

"To prevent this, a set of fundamental values are a useful starting point. As Australians at the coalface of changes playing out in the US, we are in a unique position to ask the Australian government to publicly clarify the values underpinning the US-Australia relationship.

"There is fear and uncertainty regarding the status of visas. Some are concerned that the E3 visa will be caught up in a review of the broader H1B visa although there has been no indication from Washington as to whether this is the case." 

Karissa Domondon, chief of staff at clean technology start-up Global Thermostat in New York, said answers were needed from both governments.

​"I've received numerous questions from Australia in my network about possible changes to foreign worker visas, but we can't say anything for certain.  This ambiguity has created some unease. 

"I moved to the US at a time when there was still significant optimism around the Paris 2015 climate agreement.  The depth of climate change entrepreneurship [and] public debate on climate change has been eye-opening, but I'm concerned about climate change action being put on the back-burner," she said. Source: smh

Ontario’s Human Capital Priorities and Graduate Streams to Reopen

One of the most popular Canadian immigration streams aligned with the Express Entry selection system will reopen next week, with Ontario set to begin inviting candidates through the Human Capital Priorities Stream of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP).

In addition, the OINP streams for eligible Master’s and PhD graduates will also reopen.

These three streams, among the most popular under the OINP, had been placed under a temporary pause since May, 2016.

Speaking at the announcement of this reopening, Ontario’s Minister of Immigration, Laura Albanese, stated that “Immigration is key to stimulating innovation, growing our workforce and keeping us competitive in today’s global economy. By helping attract the people who have the skills and abilities we need to fill labour market gaps, Ontario is helping ensure businesses are better able to prosper and make our province even stronger.”

News of the Human Capital Priorities Stream reopening is likely to be greeted with enthusiasm by many Express Entry candidates, as this stream proved to be an attainable pathway to Canada for many candidates when it was previously issuing Notifications of Interest (NOIs, effectively an invitation to apply to the program). This being an enhanced stream, successful applicants obtain 600 additional Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points and an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence at a subsequent draw from the pool.

When this stream reopens, the OINP will begin searching the federal Express Entry pool for qualified candidates and issue Notifications of Interest.

To be eligible under the Ontario Human Capital Priorities Stream under the most recent intake cycle, candidates must:

• Score a minimum of 400 points under the CRS. The score must remain at or above 400 during both the Ontario nomination processing stage and at the federal application for permanent residence processing stage;
• Have a minimum level of work experience;
  • Candidates who choose to be assessed against the Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSWC) criteria must have at least one year of continuous and full-time employment experience, or part-time equivalent, in a National Occupation Classification (NOC) level 0, A, or B occupation in the five years prior to the date of the Notification of Interest from the OINP.
  • Candidates who choose to be assessed against the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) criteria must have at least one year of cumulative and full-time employment experience, or part-time equivalent, in a NOC 0, A, or B occupation in Canada in the three years prior to the date of the NOI from the OINP.
• Have a Canadian Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD degree OR an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report produced by a designated organization indicating that their foreign education credential is equivalent to a Canadian Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD;
• Demonstrate a language proficiency level of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 or above in all four competencies (speaking, reading, writing, and listening);
  • Language proficiency must be proved by test results from one of the following designated testing agencies:
    • IELTS (General Training Test only) for English;
    • CELPIP (General test only) for English; or
    • TEF for French;
• Intend to reside in Ontario, as demonstrated by a statement of intent and indication of ties to Ontario;
• Possess sufficient funds to cover settlement costs in Ontario. This must be supported by bank statements; and
• Meet the additional criteria under either the FSWP or CEC.

These criteria are subject to change, and the OINP has stated that further details may be revealed next week.

International PhD Graduate Stream

Individuals who have graduated from a PhD program at one of Ontario’s publicly funded universities may be eligible to apply to the OINP International PhD Graduate Stream. This stream operates outside the Express Entry system, and a job offer is not required.

International Masters Graduate Stream

The International Masters Graduate Stream, which operates outside the Express Entry system, targets individuals who have graduated with a Master’s degree from one of Ontario’s publicly funded universities. A job offer is not required.

When this stream reopens, eligible candidates will now be able to apply if they are residing outside Ontario. Applicants will also now have the option of using an alternate service provider to obtain their language test, though exactly what this entails is not clear at this time. Source: cicnews

Manitoba Introducing New Provincial Nominee Program for 2017

Canada is the most favorite destination for immigrants; there are eight provinces of Canada which are providing Provincial Nominee Programs. Manitoba introducing a revised Provincial Nominee Program to attract more and more immigrants across the world to enter Canada.

For skilled persons who are applying for skilled immigration to Canada must have a successful job offer and that job offer must be certified by the Labor Market. If we put a deep eye to the new labor market strategy which clearly shows that this strategy is only to give benefit to labor market only. But, this new strategy gives the highest opportunities to the skilled workers.

Why Manitoba Introducing New Strategy?

Manitoba government is in the hands of progressive conservatives and this new change introduced by the progressive conservatives. You can say that the credit goes to the progressive conservatives to initiate this new change.  Labor market of Manitoba and its projection plans clearly shows that skilled workers and skilled occupation will get approval and also receive the request from Manitoba province. Manitoba government is on the way to generate approximately 167k job for natives and to the immigrants.

There are different trades which require workers having particular skills. Moreover, services and sales sector require workers in the coming years. There are other sectors like health, finance, and business trades who are also willing to announce job openings. If you possess the certain required skills then you can apply and get the benefit to become a permanent residence in Canada.

In fact, Manitoba government wants to allow more and more immigrants to enter and boost its economy. If you are from Pakistan and looking for Canadian Immigration for Pakistani, then this new change is extremely beneficial for you.

Further Important Changes Coming in 2017

Currently, there is no fee demand from the applicants for an application or for processing of the application. We are expecting that Canadian Immigration will introduce a non-refundable fee schedule in which a sum of 500 CAD will be charged from the applicant. This change will be applicable in April 2017 and if the applicants are from Pakistan the criteria will be same as for the other country applicants.

In fact, this fee of 500 CAD will be charged not only to help the cause of eliminating the backlog but to refine the applicants who are willing to enter Manitoba through MPNP. Moreover, this fee will be payable by those applicants who are picked up from Expression of Interest (EOI) pool. This will lead the government to release some new programs right after April 2017.

Canadians less tolerant of uncontrolled immigration than Americans: poll

When you talk to Canadians, you develop the impression that they’re a tolerant lot that largely rejects the disaffected rhetoric sweeping countries around the world.

But there is at least one area concerning immigrants in which Canadians feel stronger than people from many other countries, including the U.S., said an Ipsos poll provided exclusively to Global News Wednesday night.

Canadians mostly shun a harder-edged approach on issues such as immigration, terrorism and confidence in institutions, a study titled “Power to the People?” found.

For example, only 37 per cent of Canadians agreed with the statement “Society is broken,” compared to 66 per cent in the United States and 79 per cent in Poland, where that feeling was strongest.

Canadians also showed comparatively more confidence in institutions like banks, the justice system and the media than people in other countries did.

They also appeared to show more tolerant attitudes on immigration — in most instances, anyway.

Canadians were among the least likely to feel like strangers in their own country, and to worry about the effects of immigration on jobs.

They were, however, on the higher end of countries who didn’t feel that Canada would be better off with uncontrolled immigration.

Sixty-nine per cent of Canadian respondents disagreed with the statement, “[My country] would be better off if we let in all the immigrants who wanted to come here.”

It tied it with France, and came up behind only Israel (77 per cent), Belgium (72 per cent), Hungary (72 per cent) and Serbia (72 per cent).

Canada also outranked the United States, where only 57 per cent disagreed that their country would be better off if America let in all the immigrants who wanted to go there.

Israel, Hungary and Belgium also ranked near the top of the list of countries whose respondents felt their nations would be stronger if immigration were stopped altogether (Canada was on the lower end of that list).

“I think they are worried about the issue of security,” Ipsos president Darrell Bricker said of Canadians, in an interview with Global News.

“There is some concern about some of the things that have been happening negatively in the Middle East finding their way here.”

At the same time, Bricker said that Canadians showed a “sense of fairness” around immigration.

“They’re just not open anybody at any time,” he said.

Canada has welcomed over 40,000 Syrian refugees since Nov. 4, 2015. And in accepting them, the Canadian government is acting “a little on the edge of Canadians’ level of tolerance,” Bricker added.

“There’s just a sort of general embracing of the idea of particularly humanitarian types of immigration, particularly from that part of the world, that the Canadian public’s more tentative about,” he said.

Canadians nevertheless think very differently from other countries that not only feel more strongly that the system is broken, but are also experiencing more nativist attitudes.

Countries experiencing these feelings include Israel, France, Italy, Hungary and Turkey.

Most of these countries have been dealing with a combination of immigration and people who feel “deeply disaffected by their current governments.”

“France is a great example,” Bricker said.

“People’s attitudes about immigration, particularly Islamic, and given the terrorist incidents there and in Belgium, people are very on edge there.”

The survey gleaned its data from 16,597 interviews with adults aged 18 to 64 years old in 23 countries, between Oct. 21 and Nov. 4.

The countries were Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the U.S.

Between 500 and just over 1,000 people participated in each country via the Ipsos Online Panel. Results from countries where 1,000 were polled were accurate to within +/- 3.5 percentage points.

Data from countries where 500 were polled was accurate to within five percentage points. Source: globalnews

Innovation schemes show NZ still prepared to benefit from immigration

New Zealanders pride themselves in their ideas and innovation – we call it our No. 8 wire mentality.

Throw us a problem and we'll find a way to sort it.

Challenge us to find a better way to achieve something and we'll do that, too. It's one of the things we're known around the world for.

In that context, the Wellington region is a hot-bed of innovation.

Our high-tech companies are world leaders in areas from computer games, apps, and whizzy accounting systems, to online tools, telecommunications and system design.

Our scientists are at the forefront of drug development and medical diagnostics.

And our film sector has achieved animation innovation we can only marvel at.

Through all this, our companies are always prepared to take their ideas to the world when they need help to take them to the next step. 

Hardly surprising, then, that one of the most exciting developments of recent years is a move in the other direction – encouraging the world's best to come here to contribute to our search for further world-leading innovation. 

I'm talking about an initiative the like of which I suspect there are few that exist anywhere else.  

The Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF) is a programme that each year gives 100 entrepreneurs, investors and start-up teams a platform to incubate global impact ventures from New Zealand and contribute to our innovation scene.

It's run in conjunction with Immigration NZ's new Global Impact Visa. EHF will deliver the attraction, selection and integration programme, and Immigration NZ will handle the visas, which allow innovators to work here for three years and eligibility for residency. 

The innovators will be joined each year by 20 Kiwi entrepreneurs and investors, who will participate in workshops, skill-sharing sessions, and other learning opportunities.

Importantly, the innovators can work anywhere in New Zealand that works for them.

The initiative is looking not just for those who want to invest money, but also those with industry experience who want to work alongside innovators, investing their time as well.

So far, the response has been inspiring. Within weeks of advertising, EHF had received more than 350 expressions of interest.

Those at the launch in Wellington last week were, I'm sure, impressed by what they heard.

In particular, it was the tone set by Somalian-born Harvard-educated chief executive Yoseph Ayele, who enthused over New Zealand as a great environment to live and work in, with transparent government and a people with a great attitude.

When you hear people who are lately to our shores talk like that, you have a feeling this initiative is going places.

It's about New Zealand going out to the world and saying we want the brightest to come here and we will help them do what they do best. 

Bringing in these people and spreading them around the country is a new way of doing things, and I'm convinced it will have a halo effect.

Similarly, the initiative announced this week by Wellington Regional Development Agency to fly in overseas IT professionals to match them to prospective employers is trying something new and is to be applauded.

I'm told that by placing one in three, this initiative will make back the total investment, which isn't too bad a return. 

Initiatives like these show New Zealand is prepared to continue to look outward to benefit from immigrants who are prepared to contribute to our values, our land, our transparency, and the way we do things.

At a time when there's a great deal of debate about immigration, and when others are putting up barriers, it's great to see we continue to boldly open ours in the name of progress. Source: stuff

Australian tourists visiting the U.S. 'forced to take in-person INTERVIEWS' before being granted visas under tough new Donald Trump border control laws

Australian tourists may be forced to undergo an interview with U.S. officials under Donald Trump's tough new border control plans.
The president is considering an executive order that would suspend a 90-day tourist visa program that allows visitors to enter the U.S. simply by filling out an online form with biographical information.

This means tourists would have to sit an interview in person before entering the U.S., the Los Angeles reported.
The newspaper cited a draft executive order which would immediately suspend the Visa Interview Waiver Program.

This means 'all individuals seeking a non-immigrant visa, undergo an in-person interview, subject to specific statutory exceptions'.
If this happens, Australians wishing to visit the U.S. on a tourist visa would have to queue for hours at a U.S. consulate, as visitors seeking work visas already do.

They would bring their passport and be asked about their criminal history.
The news comes a day after New South Wales Christian conservative politician Fred Nile revealed he was denied a U.S. visa, to witness President Trump's inauguration, for security reasons. 

President Trump is also considering blocking all refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days and banning people from Muslim terror hot spots, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

The draft order temporarily suspends the US refugee program while new vetting procedures are put in place and stops refugees from Syria being admitted indefinitely until a security screening review is completed.

Many of the asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island, who tried to reach Australia, are from Syria and the other targeted terror hot spot countries.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer has confirmed President Trump will announce details of his 'Keeping America Safe' plan later this week.

It could affect Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's deal with former president Barack Obama's administration to have asylum seekers from Nauru and Manus Island sent to the United States.

Powerful members of the Republican-controlled Congress were outraged when it was revealed Turnbull and Obama had struck the agreements without their input.
If Trump torpedoes the refugee deal it will be the second major blow he has delivered to the Australian prime minister this week.

Trump signed an executive order on Monday withdrawing America's involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement with Australia and 10 other Pacific countries.
The Australian government, however, is holding out hope the strong relationship Australia has with the U.S. will keep the refugee deal alive.

'We look forward to working with President Trump, his administration, and in particular Secretary of Homeland Security General John Kelly, on this issue and many others of shared interest in the years ahead,' Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told AAP on Wednesday.

'We will continue to work with our friends in the United States on the arrangement but will not provide a running commentary through the media.'  Source: dailymail

Trump Planning Work Visa Order That Could Impact Canadians: Report

Last week’s market euphoria that saw stock indexes hit all-time highs came to a sudden halt on Monday morning as a new reality sank in for traders.

Stocks, led by tech companies, dove on a report that President Donald Trump is planning to restrict the issuance of certain popular work visas, a move that could affect thousands of Canadians, and hundreds of thousands of others.

According to a draft executive order seen by Bloomberg, the Trump administration has plans to overhaul the H1-B visa that many tech companies rely on to fill high-skilled positions.

The order would cap the number of people admitted to the U.S. under that and a number of other work visas, at 85,000 per year. This cap would also apply to the L-1, E-2 and B1 visas, Bloomberg reported.

That’s a significant decrease in the issuance of these visas. There were more than 172,000 visas issued in the H1-B category alone in 2015, according to data from the U.S. State Department.

High-skilled Canadian workers in the U.S. are admitted under TN-1 visa, which the Trump administration is reportedly not targeting with this executive order. However, more than 2,900 visas from the affected categories were issued to people in Canada in 2015, State Department numbers show. The category includes intra-company transfers.

"We believe this [executive order] will limit the ability of businesses to bring professionals who they employ abroad from performing any services in the U.S. under the B-1 (business visitor) category," said Ted Ruthizer, a business immigration lawyer with New York-based Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel LLP.

"Foreign companies that have invested heavily in their U.S. subsidiary companies would likely be prohibited from having any of their employees qualify for the E-2 (treaty investor) status."

It's unknown how the executive order would be implemented, or whether Canadian visa holders would be exempt. The Trump administration has shown a tendency to backtrack on some of the more extreme elements of its executive orders.

The NASDAQ Composite index of tech stocks fell 1 per cent within 45 minutes of opening, as traders absorbed the possible impact of this news.

It was the largest drop for the NASDAQ since last September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were also down 1 per cent at 11 a.m. ET, marking their largest drops since last fall.

The H1-B visa has been commonly used to hire people in STEM (scientific, technical, engineering and mathematical) fields, and many tech companies say they could not find the high-skilled employees they need without it.

However, in recent years critics have argued the visa has started to be used in instances where it shouldn’t be used, that is, when U.S. residents are available to do the work.

Trump’s executive orders on Friday banning entry to citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries has had an immediate impact on the U.S.’s largest tech companies. Google ordered all its staff traveling abroad to return to the U.S. immediately. At least 100 of its employees are affected by Trump’s order, Bloomberg reported.

“We’re aware of 76 Microsoft employees who are citizens of these countries and have a U.S. visa and are therefore affected by this new order,” Microsoft stated in a letter to staff on Friday, adding there may be more.

In a letter to staff obtained by Business Insider, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated the executive orders are “not a policy we support.

"Apple believes deeply in the importance of immigration — both to our company and to our nation's future. Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do." Source: huffingtonpost

Govt agencies at loggerheads over visa application

Two government agencies are in a legal scrap over an Indian student who claims he did not know his visa application was tainted by fraud.

Navneet Singh was in limbo while he waited to see who would prevail: the Immigration and Protection Tribunal, which granted him an eight month visa; or Immigration New Zealand which said the tribunal exceeded its powers.

Court documents have shown that immigration officials worried that if Mr Singh received the interim visa it would set a bad precedent, contrary to the government's harder-nosed approach to crack down on fraud in the foreign student industry in the last 10 months.

If Immigration won out, it would confirm Mr Singh was liable for deportation.

Mr Singh completed a level five business diploma in April last year, then applied for a second student visa to do level six study.

Meantime, it was revealed that the sponsor - his uncle - and the bank account he declared when applying for his first visa had not been used to pay his tuition or living expenses here, so his application was refused.

He appealed to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal on humanitarian grounds, saying he trusted the education agent in India who submitted the fraudulent bank documents without him knowing.

But the tribunal said he was ultimately responsible for the visa information he provided, and that he did not deny it was wrong.

It rejected his appeal overall on the grounds that his case was not that unusual - for the appeal to succeed there had to be "exceptional circumstances of a humanitarian nature".

He did not have family here and could readily return to life in India, the tribunal said. He had received the level five business diploma he had studied for, it noted.

However, the tribunal directed that he be given an eight-month visa to let him finish his level six business studies course, which he had already paid for.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and Immigration have appealed, arguing the decision was tantamount to the tribunal creating a de facto right of appeal for students.

The next court hearing would be held next month. Source: radionz