550 students deported from New Zealand since 2010

LIBBY WILSON

Last updated 16:33, February 8 2016

More than 500 international students have been kicked out of New Zealand in the past five years.

The peak year for deportations was 2013, when 150 students were sent home, according to figures released under the Official Information Act.

But those students who stayed vastly outnumbered the ones sent home, adding about $2.8 billion to New Zealand's gross domestic product in 2014 alone, according to an Infometrics analysis.

Reasons for student deportations include criminal convictions, illegal work and expulsion by an education provider, Immigration New Zealand said.

Those "engaged in criminality" were top priority, but didn't make up the majority, Immigration NZ assistant general manager Peter Devoy said in a statement.

"If a student visa holder no longer meets the requirements of their visa, then they are required to depart."

Those who didn't leave voluntarily could be deported.

Wintec, the Waikato Institute of Technology, has to report to Immigration NZ if a student breaches visa conditions - for example, by not attending classes, poor academic performance, or misconduct.

"It is INZ's responsibility to decide on the action that is then taken with regard to the individual and this is not reported back to us," Wintec said in a statement.

At the University of Waikato, permanent exclusion of a student for misconduct would only happen after a serious and deliberate breach of the rules, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Robyn Longhurst said.

"We don't tolerate cheating or deliberate, premeditated misconduct, but thankfully, instances of this are rare."

Immigration NZ aims to get people to leave voluntarily, Devoy said, so they can settle their affairs and pay their way back home.

Those who don't leave after getting a Deportation Liability Notice, or are unsuccessful in an appeal, can be taken into custody and forced to leave the country.

A total of 553 student visa holders were deported from New Zealand from 2010 to October 24, 2015.

Just four students were sent home in 2010, according to figures from Immigration NZ - by far the lowest annual total for the past five years.

Anyone who doesn't pay up before leaving is responsible for the debt, as deportation costs are funded by the Government.

"Should the person want to return to New Zealand after the expiry of their statutory exclusion period, they are required to repay the full deportation cost prior to being considered for a visa," Devoy said.

In 2012, a Saudi student faced the possibility of deportation after he was convicted in Queenstown District Court of wounding and injuring with intent.

Later that year, 16 Chinese students were deported and an Immigration NZ staffer resigned after an investigation into hundreds of fraudulent visas.

And a man whose student visa had expired was found after seven years and was awaiting deportation to China, police said at the time.

But the year with the most student deportations was 2013, on 150, according to Immigration NZ data.

There were almost 97,400 international students enrolled with Kiwi institutions that year - from primary to tertiary - the NZ International Education Snapshot says.

The three most common nationalities of deported students were Chinese, Indian and Fijian.

China and India were the top two countries of origin for student visas in 2015, according to Education New Zealand's full-year student visa dashboard for the year.

Immigration NZ declined to provide information on the number of students who needed an escort and the cost of this, saying it could not do so without "an extensive manual search of Immigration records".

The organisation declined to give the average cost of deporting a person for the same reasons.

How many students had to leave each year?

2010: 4

2011: 81

2012: 135

2013: 150

2014: 105

2015: 78 (to October 24, 2015)

Total: 553

 - Stuff