The South African migrant and his family moved to New Zealand in 2013. Photo:
A high-profile immigration adviser has been fined for what a disciplinary tribunal described as a "significant blunder".
Iain MacLeod blamed his client and Immigration New Zealand for the mistake, a recently-released Immigration Advisers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal decision said.
He failed to recall or understand the financial forecasts in the man's business case for an entrepreneur residence visa.
The client said he was taking a civil lawsuit against MacLeod, who had taken a Disputes Tribunal case against the man for $22,540 in unpaid fees.
The father-of-two told the tribunal the effects of the mistake were "far-reaching and destructive" as he had to work very long days to boost sales, which strained family relationships.
The complaint was upheld, the tribunal saying MacLeod had "somewhat belatedly" admitted his wrongdoing but made no apology.
The South African migrant and his family moved to New Zealand in 2013 and filed two residence applications, including an appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal. The second residence application MacLeod, a director of IMMagine New Zealand, filed for him was successful.
The mistake centred on a misreading of the target third-year sales forecast of $379,950 in the business plan, which Immigration New Zealand (INZ) was using to assess whether the business was profitable.
"MacLeod now accepts that he was wrong to believe that Immigration NZ had accepted the third-year forecast was $235,000. He says he has owned the error. The Tribunal notes, as the complainant points out, that MacLeod has not offered any apology to him or Immigration NZ for wrongly blaming them for his own error. The lack of any apology will be taken into account by the Tribunal."
There was also some suggestion he continued to blame Immigration, it noted.
The tribunal accepted it was MacLeod's first appearance before the tribunal, that he had made honest mistakes and "a repeat of the wrongdoing is most unlikely".
"He has a long and distinguished record of contribution to the industry".
He was censured and ordered to pay a $2000 penalty.