Finally – something goes right for us at Immigration.

September 10, 2009 by Avalon
Filed under: NZIS & Immigration issues 

After nearly throwing up yesterday when we saw the “new extended” visitors permit, and spending all day yesterday in a state of near panic – we went into the Wellington INZ branch today.

In fact – my first good moment came yesterday – but the anger and frustration was just too great to take much pleasure in it.

I actually phoned the Helpdesk. So many people have had issues with this – that I never recommend it – they just give out so much contradictory (and often wrong) advice, I just don’t think it’s worth it. In this case – I wanted to name of the Branch Manager, so I could add them to an email. And I got it – no hassles.

I then emailed the Visa Officer who had written this letter to us with the approval notice, copying it to the branch manager. I had to re-write the email twice to get the anger out of it. Something I learned through my parent’s application which I now find invaluable:

1/ Write the email, then re write it, and then get someone else to read it and rewrite it again. This is especially useful if you are banging your head against the laptop in frustration. It gets rid of the anger, and allows you to write factual emails.

2/ Take out all email addresses in the “To” box until you are absolutely sure your email is precise and polite. This avoids someone getting a vent-fest, and avoids you looking silly.

We basically approached this assuming it was a genuine mistake – though one that had a very profound affect on us. So we asked that error be corrected immediately and said we would take the passport in the next two days if it was convenient.

We got a call from the Visa Officer, who said we could go in today – which we did.

Well, that Visa Officer was lovely. Really apologetic, and incredibly understanding of the situation we are in, and the stress we are under. We could not get an 18 month visitors permit for my brother, but the 12 month permit was issued immediately, and the VO talked us through the process and what we should do if at the 10 month mark there is no further progress with the residency visa.

I was so relieved, and came out of there with a much lighter heart. You know, I sincerely believe that if the Case officer handling my Parent’s case had fronted up to us and allowed us the opportunity to talk to him face to face and go through the issues we had, that our complaint would never have been made. Being able to speak to the Immigration Officers in person really is so much easier, but some of them have an amazing arrogance that says we are just not worth their time and effort.

SO today, I am exceedingly grateful to the Immigration Officer: who apologised for a mistake, treated us with compassion and understanding, and fixed the problem. It wasn’t difficult, but it has made such a difference to us.

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Comments

3 Comments on Finally – something goes right for us at Immigration.

  1. Juli Ryan on Fri, 11th Sep 2009 7:37 am

    2. Almost all of my dealings with the INZ have been face-to-face. It may not be the norm, but every officer that I have met with at the Wellington branch has been efficient and understanding. There were a few times that I was under real stress, too. Being polite and respectful are the keys.

  2. Avalon on Fri, 11th Sep 2009 8:58 am

    3. Its been a bit of a mix for me – but then this is actually only the third time I have seen a VO face to face since arriving in New Zealand. Though we have friends who did not get good treatment from face to face meeting, and were lied to and insulted on a number of occasions while going through thier PR application in Wellington.

    The biggest problem I have found is that being polite doesnt always work, because if the staff are rude, obnoxius and basically lazy – you actually have two choices: let them treat you like dirt and deny you your visa, or fight back. In going through my parent’s case – we stayed polite and respectful for almost a year – and got absolutely nowhere for our troubles. And even then, it wasnt actually us that started being rude – it was the Head of the Family Residence team who became abusive and condescending. Putting up with that kind of behaviour wont actually help anyone.

    I guess the thing is that there are always going to be a mix of types working at INZ – we just got a couple of particularly arrogant and lazy people working on my parents case (and I happen to know that we are not the only people being treated like crap by them – they are doing it to other applicants as well).

    Things are looking up for my brothers case, though I do hope they stop making silly mistakes. In just 6 weeks – we have 4 errors already. We also now have a named person we can speak to – which helps enormously. I really do feel if the UK case officer had been less arrogant, and prepared to take an hour out of his day – our experience too would have been very different.

  3. Ivan on Tue, 22nd Sep 2009 9:38 am

    4. Coming from an Immigration Officer background, it’s not the staff that’s the problem it is the system. I have some great memories in my 5 years in the Department, especially my time in Business Migration Branch. The system does not allow Officers to see you as a person unless you have a face-to-face interaction. You are but a number in 100 other applications allocated to them. Don’t blame the good Officers of New Zealand. Look towards Management and politics… otherwise, look for proper advice!

    Ivan Flinn
    International Advisor

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