They came to perform at a New Zealand festival. Now immigration officials are looking for 11 of them

Monday, 9 March 2026

A group of “performers” who were given special visas to come here for the Holi festival appear to have gone to ground.

Concerns were raised about the group even before it arrived, with Immigration NZ declining some applications after discovering fraudulent documents.

Immigration says it is dealing with the over-stayers on a case-by-case basis.

Immigration NZ is scrambling to find a group of “performers” who came to New Zealand on special visas for the Indian Holi festival and are now here “unlawfully”.

A source told Stuff last month there were concerns about the whereabouts of a group of Indian nationals who came here to perform alongside Indian pop star Shibani Kashyap in Auckland.

Stuff approached Immigration NZ, which said it had investigated the trip - part organised by the Indian consulate in Auckland - beforehand and had identified some concerns, including “fraudulent documents”.

However, of the people who did travel, all had current, valid visas as of last week so no action was being taken, Immigration said.

Thirteen of the visitors had been issued with short-term limited visas approved for the specific purpose of attending the Shibani Kashyap event, held at the Pukekohe Indian Association Centre.

Those visas expired on March 6, last Friday.

On Monday, Immigration NZ’s director of visas, Jock Gilray, told Stuff that 18 people ended up coming to New Zealand and three of those had left the country.

Fifteen were still here, but only four held valid visitor visas.

As for the remaining 11, “we are prioritising contact with those who are here unlawfully on a case-by-case basis,” Gilray said.

“For privacy reasons, we are not able to go into any further detail.”

Gilray said last week that the Indian consulate in Auckland was the point of contact for the group.

“INZ verified that the event was genuine, including consultation with the Indian Consul General in Auckland who confirmed they were supporting the event,” he said.

“A robust and fair assessment process was applied to the individuals making up this group, including collaboration with our risk and verification teams in India.”

Gilray said seven visitor visa applications were approved, with the visas valid for one month.

“Concerns were identified with some of the visa applications – including fraudulent documents. Four visa applications were declined. Three applications were withdrawn.”

Gilray said 13 short term limited visas were approved for the specific purpose of attending the Holi festival event as it was determined “this would mitigate concerns”.

He added: “This is a good example of the challenges INZ staff face every day as we strike the balance between risk management and facilitating visitors.”

Contact the reporters: tony.wall@stuffdigital.co.nz

Kashyap says she travelled to New Zealand on her own as an invited artist and was not involved in any visa applications or immigration matters relating to the group.

Stuff has contacted the Indian consulate but has not received a reply.

We also reached out to Charu Dass, founder of the Delhi-based CD Foundation, which is understood to have helped with the visa applications, but did not receive a reply.

Dass and Kashyap appeared in a video on Dass’ Instagram, promoting the Auckland event.

Kashyap said she was looking forward to seeing her “favourite people” - New Zealanders. “CD Foundation rocks … we’re gonna rock it in Auckland,” she said.