YouTube clip: How to beat immigration

The YouTube video tells travellers how to deal with NZ immigration officials.

Online video tells tourists how to get work in New Zealand despite holding only a visitor visa.

A video on YouTube is teaching would-be migrants how to get into New Zealand to work while holding a visitor visa.

The 29-minute video is in Portuguese and advises tourists intending to work to lie when questioned by Immigration New Zealand officials at the border.

Visitors should "never mention the work" and to just say they are coming for a holiday, the video hostess says.

"If you want to extend your visitor visa for six months, you will need $6000 [in your bank account], but if you have only $3000 then borrow money from your friends, say $1000 from three friends, and put it into your account," the video added.

"Get a bank statement and show it to INZ, they will not know the money is not yours and will grant you the extension."

It claimed officials at the border are often suspicious of travellers aged between 30 and 35 years.

Immigration spokeswoman Rachel Purdom said this was a common ploy, and last year the agency stopped 1700 people from boarding flights to New Zealand and refused entry to nearly 800.

"These are common ploys attempted by people trying to gain entry to New Zealand to work unlawfully or thwart the requirement to have funds available to support themselves during their stay.

"Immigration has robust systems and processes in place and efforts to subvert those processes are very easily detected."

Paola Neilson, a New Zealand-based South American licensed immigration adviser, said Immigration's inaction against those who posted such videos would just lead to more immigration fraud.

"Immigration's systems are not robust enough and people are getting through using these tricks, and many more will be encouraged by the video to try," she said.

Thiago Schalch, a New Zealand specialist travel agent based in Brazil, has written to Tourism New Zealand claiming the video tarnishes the country's image.

Mr Schalch said he believed the people behind the video could be in New Zealand and were "posting this from Queenstown". "[Such videos] seriously disrupt the work we do to promote the tourism in the country."

South American connection

• 11,088 visitors from Brazil year to April
• 1700 total denied boarding flights to New Zealand
• 800 refused entry at the border
Source: Immigration NZ.