How to get promoted in Immigration New Zealand?
Filed under: NZIS & Immigration issues, The Family Sponsorship Saga
Have a serious complaint made against you!
I have recently discovered that the Head of the Family Residence Team in London, the person who made my life such a misery with their bad attitude and abusive style of management, has been made Acting Branch Manager of INZ London in the absence of the current Branch Manager.
This is what happens when the head of INZ refuses to disipline his staff and put his derpartment in order.
The worst thing is there are plenty of people within INZ who actually deserve these promotions. They don’t treat applicants like they are the dirt beneath their feet, they know what they are doing, they understand how difficult this is for those of us going through the process and they manage to do their jobs without resorting to bullying, incometenace, lying and writing emails in fluffy pink bold!
I wish we were only applicants being treated like crap by this person – but we are not. The reason they get away with it is because the people in Charge are not willing to manage the situation. They didnt even get a slapped wrist for completely screwing up a simple application – they got promoted.
How sick is that? 
And Mr Annakin wonders why his department is held in such low regard!
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Oh The Irony :)
Mum and dad have just received a lovely welcoming letter from our local MP John Hayes, which is a standard letter sent to all new constituents to the area (we received one when we moved here).
In it he says:
As your member of parliament my job is to represent all people in the Wairarapa regardless of who they vote for. I am here to help with any issue or constituency enquiry that you may have.
Funny – the one time we asked him for help – he all but told us to bugger off. And he made it quite clear that it was NOT his job to represent us. Oddly enough, we do know that he helped another potential migrant – who was not his constituent. I wonder if he has a problem with younger people?
Tosser!
Oh well, it gave us a real laygh yesterday – so thank you Mr Hayes – you were at least good for something!
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Yes – I can have more contempt for Immigration New Zealand.
Filed under: NZIS & Immigration issues, The Family Sponsorship Saga
We got my brothers extended Visitors Permit today.
We applied for 18 months, giving us time to get through the fact that INZ want to sit on their backsides for at least a year. We were advised by a “support” officer that would apply for 9 months, and we were also told by a “Technical Advisor” that we could apply for 12 months. The application form allows you to apply for 18 months, so we did. (Nothing like consistancy eh?)
Well, we got the extended permit today.
Guess how long they extended it for?
2 DAYS.
Yep – we paid INZ $130.00 for them give this family and extra 2 days togther. And they wonder why I make complaints about them. How do these people have jobs??? 
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Here we go again – Part 2 – Uh Oh!
Filed under: NZIS & Immigration issues, The Family Sponsorship Saga
Well, if anyone was hoping that a second round with Immigration New Zealand couldn’t possibly be as bad as what we faced with my parent’s application – think again.
We have received notification that the application is in and was accepted for processing on (unfortunately I can’t tell you that because the numpty who wrote the standard letter forgot to put the date in – it’s not as if they have to write the letter from scratch.)
We are being told that a case officer will not be allocated for 12 months, as it is a non-urgent case, and that it will then take about 9 months to process.
We were told much the same about my parent’s application but as I’ve said before on a forum or two – this rarely means much in our experience.
However there are a few things in this letter, which really do take the flippin biscuit – and deserve an honorary mention for gross stupidity.
Under the heading: Request for Urgent Processing is the comment:
To be fair to other applicants, waiting for the outcome of their residence applications in New Zealand, we are unable to prioritise your application. (Their underlining).
Only – we haven’t requested urgent processing. We put the application in with the job offer and basically expected it to be dealt with in a timely fashion because there was a job offer involved. The only mention of any timescales is in the job offer letter where the employer has asked for a start date of late August. (It is a requirement of the policy that your job offer has to contain a proposed start date).
It is also noted that extensions to the visitors permit will not necessarily be granted even though an application for residence is pending, as it
“is unlikely that your application can be decided in the next 18 months, you may wish to consider departing New Zealand before the expiry of your permit”. (Their underlining.)
Funnily enough though – despite the fact that INZ claim they will sit on this for a year before they assign a case officer – we have until only the 10th September 2009 to provide them with proof of our income, and a certified copy of my birth certificate (which they already have a gazillion copies of if they bothered to look). Also even funnier is that people sponsoring Adult Siblings don’t actually have to prove a minimum income in order to act as a sponsor. That is only applicable to Parent Sponsorship applications. It’s a bit irritating, as I don’t have an income. Under the parent sponsorship rules however – Hubby’s income was accepted as long as he co-signed the sponsorship forms. I do hope INZ are not going to make a fuss about this – because I am really not in the mood.
Of course – the scariest things about all this – is that before an adult sibling can even put an application in under this policy – they have to have a job offer. Now – would anyone like to hazard a guess as to how the hell you are supposed to be able to keep a potential employer hanging around for over 18 flippin months! And this is after finding one willing to take a chance on a migrant, and put up dealing with immigration issues in the first place. By the time INZ get off their backsides – that offer will be a long and distant memory, at which point – there will be no job contract with which to finalise the residency. What the hell is my brother supposed to say to his potential employer???
I honestly want to throw up with frustration at the sheer idiocy of these people.
For a job offer to be accepted under this policy it has to be (among other things):
current at the time of assessing the application and at the time of issue of the visa or grant of the permit. (taken from the Operation Manual).
But the way INZ claim they will handle this application means that it can’t possibly meet that requirement – no one can. I feel this is an absolute abuse of the system and INZ are deliberatly trying to scupper the chances of adult siblings joining thier families.
I also had a look at the objective of the family policy (and yes – I know this is the kind of thing that will get me into trouble – but I need the information for myself anyway). I seemed to remember that the whole point of this policy was to reunite families and allow us to live as a family unit and thus be more successful as migrants if that is what was needed. (It’s fair to say that for many migrants the key to successful settlement is the exact opposite). However what I found was that the current objective is to :
- strengthen families and communities, while reinforcing the Government’s overall objectives in immigration policy; and
- contribute to New Zealand’s economic transformation and social development.
Although in 1999 that changed from:
- The objective of Family Category Policy is to allow individuals to maintain and be part of a family unit, while reinforcing the Government’s overall objectives in immigration policy.
Nice one! Suddenly being part of a family unit wasn’t anywhere near as important as the contribution to the economy.
I just do not know how we are supposed to go through all of this again.
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Saga of an NZIS nightmare part 10 – A bit late to shut us up
Filed under: NZIS & Immigration issues, The Family Sponsorship Saga
We had this theory that if NZIS were just getting bored of having to deal honestly with us, and we were becoming too much of an inconvenience – why didn’t they just approve the visa’s and tell us to bugger off?
It might have worked back in December.
So I’m sure they were a little dissapointed to find that having approved the application in an amazingly swift two working days, and put the visa stickers in the passports, we still wanted our complaint answered.
In part 10, we tried yet again to get answers to the questions NZIS had chosen to avoid. Plus with our new found knowledge of the official complaints process, we decided to work that through to the end.
Still – that should keep ours names fresh in their minds as my Brothers residency application goes in…
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Saga of an NZIS nightmare part 9 – Rumbling on
Filed under: NZIS & Immigration issues, The Family Sponsorship Saga
So we’re 14 months into the family sponsorship application, officialdom appears uninterested in helping us resolve the issues with NZIS, and we’re just rumbling on in Part 9 of the saga.
So this being NZ, a small, friendly & approachable type country, we look up the phone number for the Immigration Minister on the Beehive website. We ring and we’re put straight through to his private secretary who handles Immigration matters. A very nice and friendly type of person, who takes our basic details, and promises to ring back once she’s read through the case notes.
She rings back, and promises to speak with NZIS London to find out what’s happening. It’s Friday in New Zealand. And the world is about to turn rapidly.
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Saga of an NZIS nightmare part 8 – Political superiority
Filed under: NZIS & Immigration issues, The Family Sponsorship Saga
The advice from most people regarding making a complaint about NZIS was “don’t rock the boat” – including advice from Public Servants & elected officials.
It was therefore with some significant amount of incredulity, that we discovered that there are people in public office, that seem to think they are a class apart from the rest of us normal (tax paying & voting) folks.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more farcical, read part 8 of our continued efforts to deal with NZIS.
If you ever come across a Civil Servant who doesn’t know what either of those words mean, let alone together - rock the boat. Make your voice heard. They have a job to serve you, and you pay them to do it.
And if it’s an elected official who seems to think they are not part of ‘planet electorate’ – cast your vote and make sure they are then lumped in with the rest of us ‘non-political’ types after the next election.
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Saga of an NZIS nightmare parts 6&7 – It goes on and on…
Filed under: NZIS & Immigration issues, The Family Sponsorship Saga
Round and round and round we go – does any of this sound familiar yet?
In Part 6 – And still it goes on… More opinions from non-medical experts, questioning a medical expert, and yet more false accusations from NZIS.
In Part 7 – And on… We actually hold out hope of getting help from our elected MP, hold your breath – yep that was short lived! While NZIS continue throwing out chaff that obviously works when you’re in politics to distract from the real issues – it just doesn’t work in the real world.
In an ironic twist, Immigration advice from an MP, who doesn’t have to be licensed under the new IAA rules, is complete rubbish. Good to see that the Immigration Advisors Act is cleaning up the situation of poor support and help being given to migrants. If only migrants could give each other advice.
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Wow – we actually did it!
Filed under: NZIS & Immigration issues, The Family Sponsorship Saga
I’m absolutely bloody chuffed to be able to say that Immigration New Zealand have now (at last) published their own complaints procedure on the NZIS website. (Updated 21st July 2009). (Updated with the corect link since INZ sneakily “lost” the published process.)
The only slight problem is that it doesn’t actually match the complaints process as outlined by the Ombudsman (I published that as written here).
But ho hum – it’s at least a step in the right direction, and I’m hoping I will be able to get confirmation from the Ombudsman that following the process as now published will mean that they will investigate any complaints that are unresolved. They have even (thoughtfully) provided a PDF document detailing the process.
There is now even a special email address you can use to contact the Deputy Secretary (Workforce) with your complaint if it isn’t sorted by the branch manager. It’s just a pity he didn’t want to deal with our complaint.
depseccomplaints@dol.govt.nz
Even though we still have not had a resolution to the complaint we have made about the behavior of the Family Residence Team and Branch manager at London NZIS, it is a great relief to know that all the stress and grief we went through has at least resulted in some progress – and hopefully an easier time of it for future migrants.
Never doubt that you can make things happen, and don’t give up. And just because I have finally managed to write a post that I can stick a Babylon 5 quote in:
Intersections in Real Time
John Sheridan:You know, it’s funny, I was thinking about what you said, that the preeminent truth of our age is that you cannot fight the system. But if, as you say, the truth is fluid, that the truth is subjective, then maybe you can fight the system. As long as just one person refuses to be broken, refuses to bow down.
Interrogator: But can you win?
John Sheridan: Every time I say “no.”
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Saga of an NZIS nightmare part 5 – All hell breaks loose
Filed under: NZIS & Immigration issues, The Family Sponsorship Saga
Jack Bauer may have taken a whole 24 hours to save the world, but even that didn’t drive him as potty as NZIS drove us here – Part five where all hell broke loose
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