So, how exactly did we get residence for my brother so quickly? Part 3.

March 5, 2010 by
Filed under: The Family Sponsorship Saga 

So, unbelievably, we managed to get a meeting, not with the case officer, because there wasn’t one; but with the person in charge of all family residence applications.

I didn’t sleep much, had a migraine when i woke up, and also had a doctors appointment that morning for some tests; which ran late. SO by the time it came to our meeting; i was exhausted, in pain, and terrified. I guess that sounds a bit over dramatic if you haven’t been there, but after the way we were treated by London, I was genuinely worried about what we would be faced with.

What we were faced with, it turns out, was a lovely gentleman, who sat us down, went through the file and told us that in fact they could make a decision on whether Visitor Permits were extended, and that despite what we had been told by other staff, and a $450 an hour lawyer – it does NOT require the immigration minister to intervene.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I really didn’t.

He also looked through the file, and said that he could spend a week or so going through it, and look at whether the residence application could be processed now. I think he could see what a mess I was and took pity on me. I did tell him i hadn’t slept properly in months. It also helped that my brother was through the medical, so it basically made it an easy case to process, and i guess gets them nearer their targets.

I was gobsmacked.

Well, by the time i got home later that evening – a case officer had been assigned. He said it would take a few weeks to process the application. 2 days later, we got an email to say it had been approved in principle, and just had to be verified by management.

I screamed.

A few days later they asked for a letter from the prospective employer stating that the job offer was still available. This was a week after the meeting. We had to wait a few days to get that because the guy was away, but once again he came up trumps and got us a scanned copy via email, which was followed up by a letter in the post. The scan was sent to INZ on the Monday, and the original handed in on the Wednesday.

Wednesday afternoon, just as hubby was phoning me about being redundant, and just 2 weeks after our meeting – my brother opened a letter saying his residence was confirmed and could they have his passport and Migrant Levy.

Thursday morning at 9am I sat in the Wellington office, and 10 minutes later was asking a very nice man if they could possibly take the money in person and let us have the permits today. He didn’t know, but asked the case officer, who said yes, and 10 minutes later I had my brothers passport in my hand with a residence permit in it.

And somehow I did not embarrass myself by bursting into tears in the middle of Immigration in Wellington.

THE END .

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Related posts:

  1. So, how exactly did we get residence for my brother so quickly? Part 2.
  2. So, how exactly did we get residence for my brother so quickly? Part 1.
  3. Found an interesting comment at the Residence Review Board
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Comments

6 Comments on So, how exactly did we get residence for my brother so quickly? Part 3.

  1. Domestic Executive on Fri, 5th Mar 2010 9:46 am

    2. It made me nearly cry reading this – your pain comes through loud and clear. It just goes to prove that it’s people that drive these systems almost regardless of the policies and with the right attitude towards immigrants everyone will have a fair chance. You finally found the right person and with some clear thinking and focused action you got the result you wanted. Now I hope you are going to relax and have a huge party for your success in getting through it all.

  2. Avalon on Fri, 5th Mar 2010 11:28 am

    3. Thank you DE. It was actually quite hard to write to be honest. Even more difficult was keeping my blogging mouth shut when this started to happen, and wait till we got the stickers. But I didn’t want to tempt fate.

    Im trying to relax a bit – but ive been so wound up for so long that its actually taking a while for me to really believe its over. But as hubby is not out of work for a while, we can at least spend some time at the beach, and then the recovery will really start :)

  3. Sophie on Fri, 5th Mar 2010 10:36 pm

    4. Woohoo! It’s nice to have some faith in humanity restored now and then, particularly if you’ve been shat on so often :)

  4. Juli Ryan on Thu, 11th Mar 2010 3:29 pm

    5. I’m so happy for you. Your story does makes me fear what will happen if I ever try to bring my family to NZ. I may have mentioned this before, but we always have had good luck appearing in person at the Wellington Office.

  5. Alex on Wed, 31st Mar 2010 11:39 am

    6. Hello,

    I just read your blog and really feel for you.
    My wife and I are in the middle of the immigration process and they’re putting us through the hoops.

    I was wondering if you would recommend speaking to a politician?

  6. Avalon on Wed, 31st Mar 2010 9:28 pm

    7. Hi Alex. We had no luck whatsoever with our MP: he was rude, obnoxious, condescending and he didn’t know what he was talking about. So if you live in the Wairarapa – I would definatley say don’t waste your time. However, I have certainly heard of people who have had great success in getting help from their MP’s, so I have to say its worth a go.

    I cant help but wonder if it works in your favour if the MP is in opposition, so get to feel good about taking on an enemy government – but honestly I have no idea :)

    I would also consider asking for a face to face meeting. Especially if you would be dealing with Wellington. I am hoping that INZ have learned as a whole not to dismiss immigrants who feel they need the extra help of a face to face meeting. I understand that our complaint was acted on in as much as INZ were going to discuss the implications of the problems we had and how they could have stopped our complaint proceeding as much as it did. However I certainly haven’t been told by anyone of any improvements they have made.

    So yes – I would say it wont hurt to ask your MP to help you, as long as its not John Hayes ;) Best of luck – let me know how you get on!

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