Backpackers being deported for faking employment details say lack of farm work forced their hand

Backpackers who are being deported from Australia for submitting fake work details in visa applications arranged by a third party over email say they resorted to the scheme because there was not enough farm work for them to comply with their visa conditions.

Backpackers on a working holiday visa must show they have worked for 88 days in specified occupations in regional or remote Australia, if they want to extend their stay beyond 12 months.

In one email exchange seen by Guardian Australia, Golden Fish said they had been operating since 2009.

One Irish backpacker who used Golden Fish and is currently appealing his deportation said it was common practice.

Cameron, who did not wish to use his real name, said the Golden Fish email was passed around in the backpacker community.

Cameron travelled to Ayr, an hour south of Townsville, when the pandemic hit to complete his 88 days. But over more than four and a half months he was only able to secure 50 days of work on different farms.

Nine months later he received an email from the immigration department saying it had caught him using false documents and he would have to leave the country.