The number of declined visas on the basis of relationship status has been increasing for the past six years.

Indian women on a student visa in New Zealand are being used as a free pass into the country by husbands who wouldn't otherwise qualify for a visa - and then suffering domestic abuse, a migrant body says.

"IELTS brides", named after the International English Language Testing Systems exam required to study abroad, are educated Indian women who have qualified for a student visa application and are then used by their husband's families to give their sons a better future abroad.

Founding member of the Migrant Workers' Association Anu Kolati said she first heard of this arrangement two years ago and had been contacted by three people involved in such a relationship since then.

"It's beyond belief and beyond conception that somebody can start a relationship as sacred as marriage like a business deal," Kolati said.

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Of those that contacted her, two were men who had both been deported for domestic violence and were seeking advice to get their wives deported also.

The third was a woman whose heroin-addicted husband had been deported for domestic violence. She had been unaware that her marriage in India had been arranged so she could give her husband a new start.

Kolati said often both the bride and groom were aware of the "business deal".

"Her husband and in-laws took all her documents and applied or the visa on her behalf."

She said drug abuse was a increasing problem in Northern India, where the woman was from.

Kolati said the woman also faced deportation for allegedly providing false information to Immigration New Zealand and feared for her safety.

An Immigration NZ spokeswoman said it was aware of the term "IELTS brides" but it had not receive any complaints in relation to it.

It has received a total of 1361 allegations of relationship fraud since July 2010. The number of declined visas on the basis of relationship status has been increasing for the past six years.

Providing Immigration NZ with false and misleading information could be punished by a term of seven years' imprisonment.

Kolati said anecdotally there were many cases of IELTS brides in New Zealand but the fear of deportation prevented most from complaining about domestic abuse and work exploitation.

"While I don't condone that those being exploited should suffer in silence, I fully understand their reasons for not speaking out.

"Until and unless whistleblowers are given some protection then people will have more confidence and will be much more likely to come forward," she said.