Scary lack of info about Immigration
An article out today says that the Chinese are topping the number of applications for immigration to New Zealand under the family scheme -
For the third consecutive year, China has topped Immigration NZ’s parent and sibling/adult child stream, with 1632, and a further 1264 others qualifying through the parent policy.
Now, I didnt really pay much attention to it, until I came across a thread about it on Property Talk entitled NZ is a such a soft touch, starting with the comment that
Man, when I read stuff like this, my blood boils. And we wonder why we’re going broke as a country!
What followed was depressing to read. Almost everything was based on factually wrong information – what people think happens vs what actually happens. Undoubtedly the chinese do have an advantage in wanting to sponsor parents to NZ – which is basically the point of the article. China’s one child policy makes it easier for migrants to pass the centre of gravity rules. (Though clealry equally unable to bring adult siblings in for the same reason).
But the misconceptions generally revolve around these elderly parents and grandparents (you can’t actually sponsor grandparents – but ho hum who cares – lets pretend you can) taking resources, benefits, healthcare of Kiwis, and us immigrants getting here, getting those elderly useless parents in, then the old “will bugger off to Aussie leaving us to look after the oldies” rubbish. Also complaints about these elderly parents being unable to work. Of course if they did then the complaint would be that they are stealing jobs from Kiwis. Jeeze – parents! Shoot the lot of them I say!
I know it’s natural to despise immigration. A lot of the waffle here was the same as you would hear in almost any country I’m sure. And the only reason I know any better is because I AM an immigrant. Ive seen what the process is, just how soul destroyingly hard it can be, and I know that most of what these people think is just not the case. What bugged me about this is that being on Property Talk – these posters are often the brunt of similar media beat-ups because they are property investors – so should know to think first rather than buy the spiel.
The worst thing today was finding myself dismissed as being someone who should not be here, because I have brought my parents and unskilled brother with me. And I don’t have children – who at least would presumably grow up to be a good kiwi, and presumably have the correct skills and not do what so many other kiwis do and leave at the first opportunity. To find that some people consider my worth as an immigrant in those terms was awful.
I did my best to correct many of these warped ideas, but still – it was not pleasant, and was a bit of an eye-opener. Don’t get me wrong – there is plenty that could be improved with Immigration Policy – but saying that people can only immigrate if they are prepared to leave family behind for ever is just cruel. This is after all a country that bangs on incessantly about “Whanau” – ie Family.
Personally I am proud and blessed to have a family I could not leave behind, and who wanted to leave thier lives and friends behind to join us.
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Finally – something goes right for us at Immigration.
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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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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