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Home / New Zealand

Immigration adviser 'unfit to be a member of the profession' has licence cancelled - again

Ric Stevens
By Ric Stevens
Open Justice reporter·NZ Herald·
29 Apr, 2022 03:30 AM3 mins to read

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Apurva Khetarpal's photo on the Immigration Advisers Authority website. Photo / IAA

Apurva Khetarpal's photo on the Immigration Advisers Authority website. Photo / IAA

An Auckland immigration adviser described as deceptive, dishonest and a danger to vulnerable immigrants has had her licence cancelled following a "sustained history of misconduct".

The Immigration Advisers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal has censured Apurva Khetarpal for the fifth complaint it has received against her, and banned her from working as an adviser for at least the next two years.

"It is self-evident that the public need as much protection from Ms Khetarpal as the tribunal is able to give," tribunal chairman David Plunkett said in a decision on the latest complaint.

"She is cavalier about her professional obligations and contemptuous of the disciplinary process."

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Khetarpal said she was unaware of the decision when contacted on Friday. She said she was under medical and mental health care and did not wish to comment.

"I just don't know what to say to you at this point in time," she told Open Justice.

The latest complaint came from a woman, an Indian national whose name is suppressed, who alleged negligence in the way Khetarpal handled visa applications for her family.

The tribunal found that she had breached the immigration advisers' code of conduct on four grounds.

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It found she lacked due care because she did not tell the client her salary was below a threshold for a particular visa, and applied for the wrong visa for the woman's son.

It found Khetarpal did not tell her client she was subject to supervision after successfully appealing in court against a previous cancellation of her licence.

She also did not provide her client with a written agreement, as required, and did not give the licensing authority the client file when it was demanded, the decision said.

"This is the fifth complaint against Ms Khetarpal upheld by the tribunal," Plunkett said.

"Three of the complaints have involved dishonesty. Previous complaints have involved a lack of due care and a lack of professionalism, as does the current one."

The tribunal fined Khetarpal $3500.

In a previous decision, dated September 24, 2021, the tribunal said Khetarpal had "repeatedly and deliberately" misled both her client and Immigration New Zealand, and was responsible for making the client's husband – who did not read English – sign a false statement.

In that decision, Plunkett said Khetarpal had a "sustained history of serious misconduct".

"Her deception of her clients is systemic and her professional transgressions are widespread … Ms Khetarpal is unfit to be a member of the profession. Vulnerable immigrants must be protected from her."

That decision imposed penalties and compensation to the complainant totalling nearly $26,000.

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It is not known how much of the money, if any, has been paid.

Khetarpal, of Pakuranga, Auckland, is listed at the Companies Office as the sole director of Ivisas Ltd, which was placed in liquidation on June 21, 2021.

A liquidators' report dated February 25 this year said they had been unsuccessful in their attempts to engage with Khetarpal as they tried to take ownership of her company vehicle, which they eventually obtained through a repossession agency.

The liquidators' report shows Ivisas Ltd's creditors have claimed the company owes them more than $96,000.

Khetarpal's Twitter profile says she is a former government immigration officer.

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