Anmol Singh, originally from Punjab in India, arrived in Auckland on a student visa to in 2014. He secured a work visa and a job a year later, working as assistant manager of the BP service station in Dunedin. Singh worked there until the company ceased to operate the service station in July last year.
Mr Singh alleges he was not paid entitlements worth more than NZD $20,000.
"I worked hard. I worked on weekends. I worked on holidays," he told SBS Hindi. "The salary started getting delayed gradually. Sometimes I would get paid after a month or so. Whenever I complained, he would deposit one week's worth of salary. Things got worse, and my employer stopped responding. I lodged a complaint with the labour department in July last year,"
Anmol Singh claims he was owed leave, lieu days and approximately 230 hours of unpaid wages. The Labour Inspectorate, a government department, is investigating the matter.
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Meanwhile, a new owner who leased the station in November last year offered to employ Anmol as a manager, if he got his work visa - which was due to expire in December - renewed. He applied for the renewal however it was declined by Immigration New Zealand (INZ).
"They say I had been out of work for three months and had failed to inform INZ. But my case was with (the) inspectorate. INZ and inspectorate are parts of the same Ministry. So, technically I had informed them," says Mr Singh.
Mr Singh says he wanted to stay in New Zealand to continue the battle against his former employer so he applied for a tourist visa. However, that too was declined.
No reason was provided, Mr Singh said.
Now he has been asked to show INZ that he has booked a ticket to leave the country before May 1st.
INZ area manager Stephanie Greathead told the some temporary work visas had conditions requiring the holder to work for a particular employer and that if the visa holder wished to change employers they could apply to INZ if the new job was in the same geographical location.
Anmol Singh comes from a humble background; his family lives in Phillaur district in Punjab. "This money means a lot to me. I have no problem going back to India. I just want my money," he said.
