Alleged Immigration fraudster in court

The woman was ordered to surrender her passport and will reappear in court in November. Photo / File

A Waikato woman arrested over a suspected fraud involving visa applications for Filipinos seeking work in the dairy industry has appeared in court.

The 35-year-old, who received interim name suppression when she appeared in the Hamilton District Court today, is a joint New Zealand-Philippines national and is charged with three offences by Immigration New Zealand.

She entered no plea to charges of using an altered Work and Income labour market letter dated October 8, 2014 and giving that document to a person; altering a Work and Income document with intent to deceive Immigration NZ in Manila and obtaining the Work and Income document by deception for three job vacancies with Makan Milk Dairy Farm in Invercargill when only one had been advertised by the employer.

All offences are alleged to have occurred on October 8, 2014 at Te Aroha.

She was remanded by Judge Glen Marshall and ordered to surrender her passport and reappear in court in November.

INZ allege they first became aware of potential issues with applications from some Filipino nationals working on dairy farms in the South Island in February.

The woman successfully applied for suppression after claiming, through the duty solicitor who appeared for her, that she had been receiving threats and was concerned for the safety of her two children.

As part of her bail, she must report to Te Aroha Police Station every Wednesday.