- Paola Walker-Rodriguez was found guilty on 11 of 12 charges for acting as an unlicensed immigration adviser in Auckland.
- Four families paid for “Study and Work in New Zealand” packages, but their student visa applications were never lodged with Immigration New Zealand.
- Immigration New Zealand opened a priority phone line after the Sept. 15, 2026 verdict for people affected by the case.
Paola Walker-Rodriguez, an unlicensed immigration adviser in Auckland, was found guilty on Sept. 15, 2026, of 11 of 12 charges after four families paid tens of thousands of dollars for “Study and Work in New Zealand” packages and later learned their student visa applications had never been lodged with Immigration New Zealand. They had uprooted their lives. The paperwork never moved.
The families were told the visas were already being processed. Instead, no application had been submitted. By the time the truth surfaced, they had already moved to New Zealand and organized their plans around a path that did not exist. The promise was gone.
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The Auckland District Court said Walker-Rodriguez provided immigration advice without being licensed or exempt. It also found that she held herself out as an immigration adviser when she was not licensed or exempt, and that she asked for or received a fee for immigration advice. The guilty findings covered 11 charges.
Between March 2023 and May 2025, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment received five complaints from Chilean citizens living in New Zealand. The complaints concerned Walker-Rodriguez’s companies, AIS.Walker and Walker Travel Education. The same sequence kept appearing. Families paid, moved, and then found nothing had been filed.
Some complainants also said school or institute fees they had paid never reached the education providers. That left the losses wider than the visa paperwork alone. The money had been collected twice over, once for the package and again for tuition or enrolment costs. The trail stopped there.
Families paid, moved, and then found no filing
Immigration New Zealand later set up a priority phone line for people affected by the case. Callers in New Zealand can use 0508 558 855. From outside the country, the number is +64 9 914 4100, then select option 7. The line was meant for people caught in the same situation.
The public notice went up on Sept. 17, 2026. It came two days after the guilty verdict. The notice was updated on Sept. 19, 2026.
