Emigrate to New Zealand: Character Waivers Part 1.
There is very little information available on the process of applying for a Character Waiver. Funnily enough – there is no published guide from Immigration New Zealand on how to proceed if you are in the position of having to apply for this. Why am I not surprised???
What is available is a section in the Operations manual showing the actions that case offices are supposed to take when dealing with issues of character.
A5.25.1 Action
a.Visa and immigration officers must not automatically decline residence applications on character grounds.
b. Officers must consider the surrounding circumstances of the application to decide whether or not they are compelling enough to justify waiving the good character requirement. The circumstances include but are not limited to the following factors as appropriate:
i if applicable, the seriousness of the offence (generally indicated by the term of imprisonment or size of the fine);
ii whether there is more than one offence;
iii if applicable, the significance of the false, misleading or forged information provided, or information withheld, and whether the applicant is able to supply a reasonable and credible explanation or other evidence indicating that in supplying or withholding such information they did not intend to deceive the NZIS;
iv how long ago the relevant event occurred;
v whether the applicant has any immediate family lawfully and permanently (see F4.1.1) in New Zealand;
vi whether the applicant has some strong emotional or physical tie to New Zealand;
vii whether the applicant’s potential contribution to New Zealand will be significant.
c. In the case of a person covered by A5.25(j) and (k) above, officers must consider, in addition to any relevant matters listed in A5.25.1(b) above, the following:
i the length of time since the applicant publicly expressed the views, or was a member or adherent of the group or organisation, and
ii whether the applicant still holds the views or still belongs or adheres to the group or organisation, and any evidence of a change in views, and
iii the extent to which the applicant was involved in publishing or distributing the views, or the extent of involvement in the group or organisation, and
iv. the nature of the views, or the nature of the group or organisation.
d. Officers must make a decision only after they have considered all relevant factors, including (if applicable):
i any advice from the National Office of the NZIS, and
ii compliance with fairness and natural justice requirements (see A1 (See: “A1 Fairness and Natural Justice” on page 1)).
e. Officers must record:
i their consideration of the surrounding circumstances, (see paragraph (b) above),
noting all factors taken into account, and
ii the reasons for their decision to waive or decline to waive the good character requirements.
f. Any decision to waive the good character requirements must be made by either:
i a seconded visa officer; or
ii an officer with schedule 1 delegations.
OK, so what on earth does that all mean???
Firstly – it suggests that NZIS have to give you the opportunity to state your case. There are people who are not eligible to apply for character waivers – that is under a slightly different heading in the Operations manual. These tend to be people connected to regimes and groups that would be detrimental to New Zealand’s reputation if they lived here – basically the more serious criminal types.
If however it has been determined that you have criminal convictions, or that you said something on your application that isn’t true – then according to the above list INZ cannot simply turn you down for a Visa.
So in terms of whether NZIS can waive the character requirement – they need to look at 7 things under section b. above – the surrounding circumstances.
Once again – I am disgusted to say that they do not clearly state how they approach this, or how they make the determination – however we have found a case at the Residence Review Board that does explain it.
In this case – Appeal 14978 – you actually get to see the process for NZIS to work through these 7 sections. It’s about half way down the file, and there is a table with a “Negative” column and a “Positive” Column. NZIS work through the 7 factors and determine whether the applicant scores a + or – for each item, and puts it in the appropriate column. I guess if you have more positives than negative – you get the character waiver.
Why on earth NZIS can’t just say that to the people involved in these cases is just beyond my comprehension I’m afraid.
Please note: We do not KNOW if this is the process NZIS use to work through the waiver process. We have no way of being able to tell for sure.
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Related posts:
- Emigrate to New Zealand: Good Character Requirements.
- Character Waivers Part 2 – Intent to Deceive.
- INZ incompetance or just plain old bribery?
Comments
3 Comments on Emigrate to New Zealand: Character Waivers Part 1.
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Hubby on
Thu, 2nd Jul 2009 7:00 pm
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craig dawson on
Wed, 19th Jan 2011 1:30 am
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Avalon on
Wed, 19th Jan 2011 3:09 pm
I think akey thing here, get character references from colleagues, friends etc. Then it’s not just your word, but someone else saying you’re a good egg really.
I have been approached by an employeer in Auckland. I have a few friends that work for him as a specialist engineer. Whom i workwd with in london. The boss of the said company wants to hire me as to do my job it would take a fellow engineer 6 years to learn the software and applications of systems that he sells/ engineers.
I have been in trouble with the police , and i have been to prison .
I have been in prison for 8 weeks for bladed artical in a public place. it was totally out of character as i was drunk at the time . no body got hurt, it was a stupid moment. and the law did deal me with in leanent way . Mitigating circumstances etc.. it was a very difficult issue to deal with as i had never been to prision before.
The police offences are all driving offences,
This job offer is a real oppertunity to re start my life , and forget about my past demons etc.
I am unsure what type of visa to get.
do i go for a temporary work visa, for say 18 months to see how we get on and no police checks?
do i go for a residence visa and ask for a character reference waiver ?
The perfect idea would be to get the job offer in writing, do my meds, and get a temp work visa for 18 months without a police check.
or do all visas have a police check.
The job in itself is a long lasting career.
can i apply for a temp work visa .. stay for 12 -18 months , see how its going and then apply for a residency visa.
or is it better to get it all out in the open and pay a small forune to find out my visa will be rejected ?
thanks
Craig,
I am SO sorry, but because of the draconian Immigration Advisors Licensing Act, if I answer your questions then I too could go to jail. The IALA makes it ILLEGAL for me to give you advice, and if I do so I risk 7 years in jail or $100,000 in fines. If you want advise yo now have to pay one of a very small number of “Licensed Advisors” and hope they do a good job (having a license is NO GUARANTEE of competence whatever the IALA would like us to believe, and most migrants still believe they are an utter waste of money).
You can also use a Lawyer, or someone working at Citizens Advise, as they are exempt from the IALA.
What is vitally important, and I have blogged about not just here but in other posts is that whatever you do – you tell the full truth on your application. I cannot tell you whether INZ would view these issues as serious – but then neither can a Licenced Adviser, because often it will come down to who the Immigration officer is.
Have you spoken about this to the person offering yo the job? If not I would consider doing so – I know I would appreciate honesty if I was in their shoes, and I think that fronting up to them about possible issues would go along way to getting them on side if things get difficult with Immigration.
As we noted above – I think getting a load of references off people at the start of the process is a good idea – again this isn’t really advise on the immigration aspect as such – I just think its better to be prepared to say upfront that you know theres an issue and you are willing to accept that there may be a problem becuase of it.
I listed the events when a Character Waiver would be needed here:
http://www.avalonsguide.com/anab/2009/06/emigrate-to-new-zealand-good-character-requirements/
(Copied direct from INZ so thats allowed). Your time in jail does mean a waiver would be needed – so you would end up needing references anyway – may as well be prepared.
I wish there was more I could say to help – this is exactly the kind of problem that the IALA is causing – unfortunately the powers that be don’t really care about that im afraid. I really hope this works out for you. As you said – you made a mistake – I really hope that doesn’t stop your new life.
Good Luck xxx
I wish you the best of luck
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