- An Auckland court found Paola Walker-Rodriguez guilty on eleven charges under New Zealand’s immigration adviser law.
- Four families paid for “Study and Work in New Zealand” packages, but many student visa applications were never lodged.
- Some school fees were not passed to providers, leaving families tens of thousands out of pocket.
An Auckland District Court found Paola Walker-Rodriguez guilty of 11 of 12 charges after families paid thousands for study and work packages, but many student visa applications were never lodged. The verdict came on 15 September 2026. The families had been told their visas were being processed.
Four families bought the programme, which was marketed as “Study and Work in New Zealand.” Many discovered the applications had not been submitted only after arriving in New Zealand. That left them without the filings they believed were underway.
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The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment received five complaints from Chilean citizens living in New Zealand between March 2023 and May 2025. The complaints covered services sold by Walker-Rodriguez, who was associated with AIS.Walker and Walker Travel Education.
The financial losses extended beyond immigration advice. Some victims also found that fees paid for schools or institutes had not reached the education providers as promised. The Immigration Advisers Authority said families were left “tens of thousands” out of pocket.
The packages bundled advice, visa support and study arrangements
The families had paid for more than help completing a visa form. The advertised programme offered personalised advice, assistance with visa applications, and support for studying and living in New Zealand. That bundle tied migration assistance to education arrangements.
The applications were central to what families thought they had purchased. They arrived believing the visa process was moving forward, but most later learned that their student visa applications had not been lodged with Immigration New Zealand. The gap between a promised service and an unsubmitted application became clear after they were in the country.
Some families also paid Walker-Rodriguez school or institute fees. Those sums were supposed to be passed to education providers, but some providers did not receive them. The failure affected both the immigration and study sides of the packages.
The case involved four families, while the government ministry received five complaints from Chilean citizens. Those figures describe different parts of the matter: the number of families who paid for packages and the number of complaints received. The complaints came over a period of more than two years.
The charges covered unlicensed advice and fees
The court found Walker-Rodriguez guilty under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007. The charges included giving immigration advice without being licensed or exempt, presenting herself as an adviser without that status, and requesting or receiving payment for immigration advice.
The findings addressed both the advice itself and the way it was sold. A person who provides immigration advice in New Zealand must be licensed or exempt, according to the Immigration Advisers Authority. The charges also covered holding out as an adviser, not only the provision of advice.
Walker-Rodriguez was convicted of 11 charges out of 12. The case therefore resulted in guilty findings on most of the charges before the Auckland District Court, under the legislation governing immigration advisers. The reported enforcement outcome did not describe every individual charge beyond the categories identified by the Authority.
The distinction between a package’s advertised contents and what was delivered ran through the complaints. Families paid for assistance with visas and education, but many applications were not lodged, and some education fees were not forwarded. The resulting losses included the sums paid and the disruption to plans made around study in New Zealand.
The Authority investigated complaints before prosecuting
The Immigration Advisers Authority said it investigated the complaints and that the investigation led to prosecution. It published the enforcement outcome on 21 September 2026, the same date as the case’s public reporting, and updated its notice on 25 September 2026.
The conviction rests on a rule that continues to govern the work: only people who are licensed or exempt may provide immigration advice in New Zealand. The complaints that led to the prosecution came from Chilean citizens living in the country between March 2023 and May 2025.
