An agricultural science student is still out of pocket for €2,000 after transferring money to a company that advertises itself as securing farming jobs abroad for people.

The student from the southeast decided to take a gap year from college and travel to Australia to undertake farm work.

Through friends, the student heard of Agri Global People, a business that places people in farming jobs abroad and also completes their visa applications.

The student transferred the company €250 to get him a farm job, €535 to complete his visa application and €3,000 to provide a letter to prove he had adequate funds to enter the country.

This €3,000 was to be returned within one week of the student travelling to Australia.

It is a condition of the Australian working holiday visa (subclass 417) that those entering the country on this visa need to have $5,000 (€3,000) in available funds.

However, proof via a bank statement is adequate and there is no stipulation to necessitate a letter from a third party.

The €250 was also to be returned, as the student sourced his own job.

He left on 21 October and to date has only received €1,250 from the company in December. The outstanding €2,000 is now over 10 weeks’ late in being paid.

Contact

Both the student and his mother have been in contact with the company.

An email sent in December from Agri Global People, seen by the Irish Farmers Journal, said that the remaining money would be paid in two instalments, €1,000 on 13 December and a further €1,000 on 14 December.

The money has not yet been received.

The student’s mother said people who have travelled to Australia need this money as it takes up to a month to receive a tax file number so you can get paid.

“He absolutely needed this money and didn’t get it back. From that point of view, he was relying on us at home for that time, when he shouldn’t have been. Young men don’t like asking for money, they like to be independent, they like to be autonomous,” she said.

Support

The student’s mother also highlighted that the situation would be serious for someone whose family at home could not support them.

The Irish Farmers Journal contacted Agri Global People. A representative from the company said the remainder of the money would be returned to the student by Friday morning 5 January and that the money should have been transferred before Christmas.

When asked why they require the €3,000 to be transferred to Agri Global People, the representative said: “Sometimes we got caught with guys who didn’t have their proof of funds.

“When I say they don’t have proof of funds, they might be going through [emigration] and have $4,200 in their bank account. Some of the guys mightn’t have the full amount, so we draft a letter for them on headed paper and they can present it in emigration.”

The representative added: “We have probably over 200 people working in Australia and New Zealand at the moment.”

Offices

Agri Global People’s website says it has offices in the UK, Canada and the US. The number the Irish Farmers Journal contacted Agri Global People on was Irish.

Agri Global People has a Facebook page with over 50,000 followers. This page was previously called Silage Work New Zealand. The name was changed to Agri Global People in 2020.