A Filipina based in Waikato, New Zealand has now been sentenced to 11 months and 2 weeks of house arrest after she was convicted for 284 immigration fraud charges involving her visa scam back in October 2015. A 180-hour community service also comes with the sentence.
Loraine Anne Jayme, 35, a resident of Te Aroha, Waikato has a dual citizenship. For every OFW who wish to come to New Zealand, she charges $2,250 each. It took some time for the scam to be uncovered because Immigration New Zealand (INZ) didn't initially realise a large portion of the workers were processing their application through the alleged ringleader.
However, Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said that more than a thousand Filipinos who might have entered the country illegally using fake visas could stay.
Mr. Woodland said that they could stay to avoid potential damage to the dairy industry and the rebuilding of Christchurch.
There are 38,000 OFWs working on dairy farms in New Zealand and they are living with pretty good reputation with regards to their work ethics and they are worried about what it could mean to them.
"We're law abiding people. We like to see the law of our land upheld and proper process done," Mr Lewis said.
"So yeah, I have to give credit to Immigration New Zealand for doing it and hopefully they'll be back on deck next week processing them within their required rules," he added.
The authorities are now auditing farms around the Waikato, Canterbury and Southland.
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