Was John Banks licenced to give immigration advice to Kim “Dotcom” Shmitz?
A little gem amongst all the stuff written about Kim Shmitz (I just cant bring myself to use his ludicrous fake name), is an article about the Ex Mayor of Auckland, John Banks. Now, John Banks is currently an MP for the ACT party, famous for having a cup of tea with the PM, and being the Ex Mayor of Auckland.
While still the mayor, it seems that Mr MegaUpload paid for $500,000 worth of fireworks for the City of Auckland, and John Banks met him regarding this.
The interesting thing is a quote from Mr Banks:
“To the best of my knowledge I gave him some advice about applying for residency.
Which is illegal under the Immigration Advisers Licencing Act, unless you are exempt, or a licenced adviser.
As an MP, Mr Banks is currently exempt from needing to be licenced.
As the Mayor of Auckland, he was not.
Of course, the IAA cannot and will not do anything about it unless someone makes a formal complaint to them. Which really hacks me off.
On a similar point, New Zealand First and Labour are hassling the government on “who knew what” about how this guy got through immigration with a criminal past. Labour is conveniently forgetting that they were in charge when Michael Barrymore was let into New Zealand, and neither is asking questions about the medical issue and whether Immigration sent his medical tests to the Medical Assessors.
Which shows a marked lack of knowledge about the Immigration Process.
INZ incompetance or just plain old bribery?
This weekend the papers all over the world are full of the news that the bosses of MegaUpload have been arrested in New Zealand. MegaUpload is apparently a hub for filesharing pirated tv/movies. Which clearly is highly illegal and should be stomped on forthwith.
Kim “Dotcom” (what a bloody pretentious name), was arrested. He’s German, but has New Zealand Residency.
Now most of the news is about his nefarious dealing in the world of illegal Internet downloads, and his mega luxury lifestyle.
What I want to concentrate on is the Immigration side of this.
Because Kim “I need a silly name” Shmitz, was refused a residency visa on the grounds that he failed the good character test. Now the information in the news is a bit sketchy on this point, but quoting directly from the Dom Post At the weekend:
“his New Zealand residency initially failed the “good character” test, but was granted after he invested $10 million in government bonds”.
Any one else think heads should be rolling at INZ???? Winston Peters MP does and is asking pointed questions of the government. Which I think he needs to do. INZ hound people to breaking point over good character and health issues. Apart from the fact that this guy did have convictions for Internet Piracy and insider trading, he seems also to be way too overweight to have ever passed the BMI 35 or under test. Was he even refered to the Medical Assesors?
BMI <35? Hmmmm.
Amazing just what $10,000,000 can buy you in New Zealand if you know who to pay it to.
A quote from INZ says:
In a statement, the Immigration Service said that “Mr Dotcom made full disclosure of his previous convictions and they were taken into account in the granting of his residence. The Immigration Act allows for discretion to be exercised in certain cases. In this particular case, Immigration NZ weighed the character issue and any associated risk to New Zealand against potential benefits to New Zealand”.
I.e. we don’t actually care if your health is a cost to New Zealand and we don’t actually care if you are a criminal mastermind, as long as you give the NZ government $10,000,000 we will let you in, no problem. On the other hand, if you are a “normal” human being, with a career you have worked hard at, a family you love, and you happen to be a bit over weight – then “Bugger off because you are a danger to New Zealand and our wonderful country has to be protected from you and your filth ever costing us a cent.”
Now interestingly, in one article about this reported some questions put to John Key (Prime Minister), he is quoted as saying that INZ made this decision to accept his good character without reference to the Immigration Minister. Which means they were even slightly concerned. Which also means that they need to take full responsibility for their decision. Bet they won’t.
Another question is: does the New Zealand Government have to return the $10,000,000 in bribes investment funds as they are likely the result of “ill gotten gains”? Will those assests be frozen? Are they part of the MPAA FBI case?
Sometimes, even with my own personal animosity towards Immigration New Zealand taken into account, they manage to sicken me with their ability to make decisions based on how rich you are and ignore how you got the money.
What on earth are Immigration New Zealand up to?
It has been a bit of an odd time lately with Immigration News, and it is a bit hard to fathom the thinking behind some of the decisions being made. Now that isn’t to say that INZ are necessarily making the wrong decisions – but some of them seem a little barmy to be honest. So here are some of the recent stories, make of them what you will!
1. Carers on work visas being sent home.
I blogged about this a while back, but essentially, immigrants on work visas in the Christchurch area are being sent packing to allow more work to be available for Kiwis out of jobs because of the earthquakes. Now on the face of it hat sounds good – Immigration policy is meant to plug holes, and temporary work visas are meant to be just that – temporary- so that immigration can be flexible and allow for Kiwi workers to take jobs first.
This is really only a problem if, as reported, Kiwis are not taking those jobs: unemployment in the area stays high, and there aren’t enough staff to act as carers for the elderly.
2. But Work Visas are being extended for immigrants so they can stay and work during the Rugby World Cup.
Ok, I’m not a rugby fan at the best of times, but I am heartily sick of the country being turned upside down so that we appear to be polished and sparkling for the influx of visitors – because the heavens forfend that we look like we are a low wage economy that cant afford first class facilities!
But when Immigration Policy is being stretched or outright ignored, and kiwis would actually like and be willing to take those jobs – which they now cant because immigrants have them – well – that kinda stinks. This is not the purpose of Immigration Policy.
I think it also speaks volumes that Immigration will stretch the policy for Rugby, but not for elderly people in need of carers. Just shameful.
3.Immigration released a statement about Martin Payne.
Now, in the 6 years I have been writing about immigration on forums or blogs, I have never actually seen immigration respond to criticism in the press with a statement like this. I can only put it down to the sheer amount of backlash from Kiwis furious that a hard worker gets kicked out while others they deem to be “the usual bludgers” get to stay. Either than or they do indeed release statements and I have never noticed them of course.
The statement can be found here, and is well worth a read. The interesting thing is that in reading it, and the quoted Residence Review Board case, I personally felt that INZ had a point in as much as the latest Medical Assessor actually listed 10 reasons why Mr Payne did not have an acceptable standard of health. Compare that my Dad’s case where all the assessor could come with is “get more tests” – it actually looks like this guy had some nouse about him.
That’s not to say the system is fair. I would contend that INZ new full well when granting Mr Payne his business visa that we would not likely pass the test when it came to converting from a LTBV to residence, and let him in anyway – cos its all about the money!
The offensive bit is the RRB’s contention that in sending the Paynes back to the UK:
[58] The Board accepts there would be emotional harm, and possibly also
financial loss, but there is no reason to believe they would be serious. The couple
can, as the representative says, sell both the business and their house. As the
appellant has built the business up, it should sell for more than its cost, though
whether they would recoup all capital invested, the Board cannot know. Even so,
they arrived with substantial capital and will return with reasonable and perhaps
even substantial capital.
what a load of crock! They came here when exchange rates were pretty ropey anyway, and the world wasn’t in financial turmoil. I would like to see the RRB members cope with being forced to sell up and shift round the world. The only thing in the Payne’s Favour is that the exchange rate going back to the UK works in their favour this time. As long as the reduction in property values here don’t offset that. Still – I think it takes a certain amount of heartlessness to make a comment like this. Of course the emotional harm is serious!
Besides – when will INZ and the NZ Government make some serious change to this ridiculous $25,000 limit on health care costs? They really need to get a grip!
4. Immigration has backtracked on the carers in Christchurch.
National MP Nicky Wagner organised a meeting between Immigration New Zealand staff, rest-home providers and caregivers in Christchurch last week.
INZ head Nigel Bickle said Christchurch staff used the meeting to ensure employers understood immigration requirements and made genuine attempts to find New Zealand citizens or residents to fill vacancies.
He said labour market advice after the quake showed there were about 600 vacancies at rest-homes. About half of them were caregivers, which meant new work visas could not be issued because there were New Zealanders available to do the jobs.
“The labour market situation has since changed, and from early May, Work and Income has advised that there are no longer New Zealanders available,” Bickle said.
You notice that there is no admission whatsoever that they may just have screwed up a tiny little bit?
5. Immigration backtracked on Martyn Payne’s Visa
However, in the decision released today, Mr Bickle said new information presented to them has shed light on the case, and Mr Payne has since been granted an eight-month visa to stay in the country and work. He will also get up-to-date health assessments from New Zealand specialists and from there will be able to apply for residence.
“There are still concerns about Mr Payne’s health but we’ve taken into account all the circumstances,” Mr Bickle says.
He says Mr Payne’s case has highlighted how difficult it can be to make decisions around cases that do not meet health requirements.
“The decision to grant Mr Payne a new visa today gives him time to get all the information required for a new residence application and return to running his service station in Northland,” he said.
So, he gets anther crack at the whip, and a chance to present more medical information. My only question is – what if the medical information shows the issue is still getting worse? (Which is INZ’s contention). This is still no guarantee of a residence visa – but I personally suspect that one will be granted – this is just INZ trying to save face.
I also think what this case highlights is not the difficulty of making decisions around health cases – I feel it highlights the utter uselessness of the health policy! $25,000 is nothing in medical terms these days. It’s also nothing compared to the benefit the migrant brings. It also shows that the Medical Waiver is usually a waste of time – I have so rarely read of cases where they were granted – and the reason given is usually the reason that residence was originally turned down. It is supposed to look at other factors.
So all in all – I can’t say INZ are doing very well right now. Odd that.
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Invest $700,000 in a New Zealand business and get kicked out anyway.
Martyn Payne did exactly that, and it seems that no one can really understand what the hell Immigration New Zealand and the Minister office are thinking in deporting a family that invested that kind of money here and built a thriving business out of one that was run down and going nowhere. Martyn and his family looks to have done everything right – bring money, buy a business, turn it around, and employ Kiwis.
So what did he do wrong? Well, Martyn it seems had the bad luck to have a heart problem, which is cleared up and has been checked by specialists and Okayed.
A medical examination six years ago revealed Mr Payne had a heart issue. Immigration believes he might require healthcare in the future, and it’s not prepared to pay, so Mr Payne is being deported.
He had an operation in England and passed the test.
“The operation was a success – I got a letter from the specialist saying I was fully recovered,” Mr Payne said.
But four years later the Department of Immigration requested another medical
“They asked me to have another test. I had a fibrillation, which means the heart beat is irregular, which means I have to have a jump start.”
He disagreed with the findings, and went to a doctor who specialises in heart disease. Dr Brendon Wong said although Mr Payne has a dilated impaired heart muscle, he is coping well.
Mr Payne says he’s prepared to pay for follow-up tests, but there is no evidence he will need heart surgery in the future
But as we know personally – sometimes no matter what you can prove – INZ will not listen and will not accept that proof. And to be honest – who the hell cares if he has a heart problem and may at some point in the future cost NZ a bit of money in healthcare costs - he invested $700,000 sodding dollars in your cournty which you were perfectly happy to take. He’s built up a business that pays taxes, employs kiwis that pay taxes, has a family which works and pays taxes.
There is no sense in this decision. None. The concept of Fairness and Natural Justice just got crapped on here I feel.
Unfortunately Mr Payne had a Business Visa, not a residency Visa, and while he seems to have got through the medical process first time round, INZ just wouldn’t let him through the second time round. But I personally know of people who have got residency in New Zealand after having major heart issues – so it’s not the policy that forced this issue. It’s individuals who have decided that despite all Mr Payne and his family have given to NZ – and what the medical tests show - what he may cost them at some undetermined point in the future is vastly more improtant. It’s not clear from any of the articles whether he was applying for residency, or was looking to get a further business visa. Either way, INZ and Kate Wilkinson (Associate Immigration Minsiter) have ended up looking cruel, stupid and selfish.
I also think its about bloody time that INZ looked long and hard at the doctors it employs to do the mediacl assesments – because some of them are idiots. If all the evidence Mr Payne has provided says he’s fine, and the only people saying he isn’t are the INZ Medical Assesors – then INZ should be sacking those doctors, not deporting someone that has evidence that he is in good health.
I wish Martyn and his family the very best, and hope one day they find a way to beat this and stick 2 fingers up to INZ for the sheer absurdity of all this. I really feel for them – this is exactly what we went through with my Dad – prove, prove and prove again that hos health was acceptable and meet an arrogant and ignorant brick wall of INZ staffers.
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Medical Assessments – back to the grindstone.
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, NZIS & Immigration issues
Well, once again, even though INZ say clearly they won’t even look at an application for a gazillion years – they have already sent my brother’s paperwork to the Medical Assessor and asked for some further tests. Now one difference we did notice is that this time, the letter was sent by a “support officer” whereas with my parents application, it was an immigration officer who sent out this letter. Im wondering if that means they are using lower grade staff to do a lot of the background work before the Immigration Officers take up the case and make the decisions. Sensible if they are – except I understood that it was up to the warranted officers to make the decision as to whether an application had to go to the MA or not.
I’d check – but that would be “systematic”.
The other thing which I am being gently “optimistic” about is that they aren’t asking any questions about the epilepsy – which would suggest that they are comfortable with this aspect of my brothers health. I would like to be wildly optimistic and say that this means the epilepsy is in the clear – but the last MA – having got conformation that my dad’s Diabetes was not an issue then went looking for other things to make a fuss about. So we can’t quite tick that one off just yet.
What they want to look at is Liver Function. It seems on the forums that a lot of people are being picked up on this. My brother does have lowered function, but then Epilepsy medication will over time bugger up your liver to a certain extent. It does not however tend to result in needing transplants or anything hideous.
Most people in this situation of needing renewed LFT’s take Milk Thistle supplements and avoid alcohol for a while before the second blood tests. I’m quite a fan of Milk Thistle anyway, and Brother has been taking a daily since the original set of tests were done and the LFT’s came out higher than normal. (Sometimes having someone in the family who can read blood tests results is handy!). And thankfully – the second bloods were taken before the Alcohol-Fest which is Toast Martinborough.
They also want to test for Hepatitis C. At first I thought this was a re-test and was quite worried, thinking that there must have been a bad test result. Which would be odd. But looking back at the original medical – they don’t actually test for Hep C as standard, only Hep B.
(Note: A lot of people believe wrongly that you are not allowed to look at the medicals once they are done. You can. And you should. You should also take copies of all medical test results – so you have something to prove your case if you start getting the run-around. You may also need – as we did – to be able to give the full set of medical paperwork to your own doctors for a second opinion.)
There is an annoying aspect to this though. Once again, INZ have made a silly mistake with the application. The paperwork for the MA has a comment on it that the original lab results were not sent to them. As we know we sent them to INZ, it means that INZ forgot to pass them on.
It would be nice if they would just take a bit more care with these things, and at least try to prevent screwing things up. Its not rocket science!
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How to Sponsor your family into New Zealand Part 4: What is an acceptable standard of health?
Your parents have to be reasonably healthy in order to emigrate to New Zealand, and Immigration New Zealand has what is called an “acceptable standard of health” that they need to have.
There are certain medical conditions that are automatically deemed to show that you do not have an acceptable standard of health when you want to emigrate to New Zealand. These are known as Appendix 10 Conditions and are:
- HIV infection
- Hepatitis B surface antigen positive, with abnormal liver function
- Hepatitis C, RNA positive, with abnormal liver function
- Malignancies of solid organs and haematopoietic tissue, including past history of, or currently under treatment. Exceptions are:
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- o treated minor skin malignancies (not melanoma)
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- o malignancies where the interval since treatment is such that the probability of cure is > 90%, e.g.: early stage (I & IIA) breast cancer at 5 years; low risk
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- o prostate cancer at 5 years; early stage (Dukes A & B1) colorectal cancer at 5 years; childhood leukaemia at 5 years
- Solid organ transplants, excluding corneal grafts more than 6 months old
- Chronic renal failure or progressive renal disorders
- Diseases or disorders such as osteoarthritis with a high probability of arthroplasty in the next four years
- Central Nervous System disease, including motor neurone disease, complex partial seizures, poorly controlled epilepsy, prion disease, Alzheimer’s and other dementia, and including paraplegia and quadriplegia
- Cardiac disease including ischaemic heart disease, cardiomyopathy or valve disease requiring surgical and/or other procedural intervention
- Chronic obstructive respiratory disease with limited exercise tolerance and requiring oxygen
- Genetic or congenital disorders: muscular dystrophies, cystic fibrosis, thalassaemia major, sickle cell anaemia if more than one sickle crisis in 4 years, severe haemophilia, and severe primary immunodeficiencies
- Severe autoimmune disease, currently being treated with immuno-suppressants other than prednisone
- In a person up to the age of 21 years, a severe (71-90 decibels) hearing loss or profound bilateral sensori-neural hearing loss
- In a person up to the age of 21 years, a severe vision impairment with visual acuity of 6/36 or beyond after best possible correction, or a loss restricting the field of vision to 15-20 degrees
- In a person up to the age of 21 years, a severe physical disability, where they are unable to stand and walk without support, and cannot independently dress, eat, hold a cup, or maintain their stability when sitting.
So basically – if you have any of those conditions: you are not considered healthy enough to Emigrate to New Zealand.
If you don’t have any of those conditions – you may not be in the clear yet – as you can also be told your health is not acceptable if Immigration New Zealand (INZ) believe (and more importantly can show) that your health is likely to cost more than $25,000 to the New Zealand Health service.
There are two sections to this bit – one if you have an acute condition (something that lasts a relatively short time and is treatable) in which case they want to know if you will cost $25,000 over 4 years. The other is if you have a chronic condition (lasts a long time, and probably isn’t curable – but manageable), in which case they want to know if you will cost the $25,000 over the length of the condition.
If INZ and it’s Medical assessors cannot show clearly that you are likely to cost over $25,000 to the New Zealand Health Service, or that you have an Appendix 10 Medical Condition – then you have an acceptable standard of health.
If you are assessed as having an unacceptable standard of health, the application for residency has to be declined on that basis. Your only option then is to apply for a Medical Waiver. Do make sure though that a second opinion on your Medical Assessment has been sought. You or your parents should not be turned down for a residency visa on the say so of just one Medical Assessor. INZ also have to explicitly state why they believe you do not have an acceptable standard of health.
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How to Sponsor your family into New Zealand Part 3: Medicals Explained
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, NZIS & Immigration issues
This is something that can cause a huge amount of trauma to applicants trying to emigrate to New Zealand, whichever route they take to get here. I’m guessing that it affects more parent sponsorship applications because generally the applicants are older.
So what is the deal?
Your parents have to be reasonably healthy in order to emigrate to New Zealand. NZIS has what is called an “acceptable standard of health” that they need to have.
When your parents have their original medicals done, the panel doctor will record any issues or problems, and has to tick one of two boxes:
- No abnormal or significant findings
- Abnormal or significant findings.
If the second box is ticked – you will almost certainly have the medicals referred to a Medical Assessor (MA). It is worth noting however that, despite what many people believe, having a tick on the “No abnormal or significant findings” box does not mean you have “passed the medical” and that it won’t be referred to a medical assessor. It was pointed out to us rather snottily that “Case Officers look at the whole medical certificate in deciding whether to refer a medical: we don’t just read the last page.”
The medical form says, “A significant finding is one that should be reviewed by the Immigration New Zealand Medical Assessor. Note this is not an assessment of whether or not the applicant has an acceptable standard of health in relation to the Immigration New Zealand standard.” (My emphasis)
When a Medical assessor reviews the file they have a number of choices about what to do. They get a 5 page document to fill out and send back to the case officer. The medical assessors can either:
- Ask for further tests and information (they have a whole host of boxes to tick to specify which ones, and plenty of room to make comments).
- Give a favourable opinion (in which case you are home and dry)
- Give an adverse opinion (they think your health is unacceptable)
- Defer the application (this gives you up to 3 months (or 6 months in the case of Pulmonary Tuberculosis) to treat the condition and prove you have improved your health.
If the Medical assessor says they will not give you a favourable opinion – they need to specify why that is. There are cases that you can read at the Residence Review Board where the Medical Assessor failed to do this – and it can be enough to overturn their decisions.
If the Medical assessors ask for further information – they should be specific. Again, the Residence review board has overturned immigration decisions on the basis of
“The exceedingly brief comments provided by the Medical Assessor in the Report”
If you are asked for more information – you can actually refuse to provide it if you wish. You need to let NZIS know in writing. This can be useful if like us, you get the run-around for over a year! We also found though, that while NZIS staff were happy to repeat over and over that we had the right to do this – they didn’t want to accept it when we actually did refuse to get them more information.
If the Medical Assessor refuses to give an opinion on your health, then NZIS will send the information to another Medical Assessor for a second opinion. If the Medical Assessor says your health is not acceptable – you have the right to ask for a second opinion as well.
A second opinion is final, so if that also comes up as “unacceptable”- your only choice is to then apply for a Medical Waiver.
It is well worth noting that the burden of proof in this is squarely on the Medical Assessor to show that you have an unacceptable standard of health if NZIS want to turn you down. If they cannot prove that, then you are deemed to actually meet the standard required. Again, reading the Residence Review Board cases shows quite clearly that unless NZIS shows specifically that you do not meet the standard of health required, a decision not to grant residency can be overturned.
Coming next: what is an “acceptable standard of health”.
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How to sponsor your family into New Zealand Part 2
In theory – the Parent Sponsorship process is fairly straightforward.
Once you have satisfied all the requirements (see Part 1), it is simply a matter of sending in the application forms (Both the Sponsorship form 1024, and the residency application form 1000), along with the Medicals Certificates, police forms, forms of Identity, and money, and then you wait.
And wait.
And wait a bit more.
Parent sponsorship is probably the least important section of the immigration policy as far as New Zealand is concerned – so it is placed at the bottom of the priority pile.
The first thing that will happen once your application is accepted, is that you will get a letter advising you of this, and certainly at the moment, it will also tell you how long it will be before a Case Officer is appointed to you case. In early 2009 applicants are being given anything from 10 months to 2 years as a guide. We were told it would be 9-12 months at the start of 2008.
Now, I know that sounds awful but bear this in mind: no two applicants get through this process the same way. There is a huge amount of variance in the timescales that people actually have to go through and the ease with which they get through this process. It can be ridiculously unfair and stressful – but hang in there. This often has absolutely nothing to do with the applicants suitablilty – it is purely luck (or not).
To put this in context, even though we were told a Case Officer would not be assigned for 9-12 months – one was actually assigned straight away, one of the medicals was referred and we were asked to provide some further medical tests within 2 months. So what they tell you isn’t necessarily true. (Hmmm – that seems to happen a lot!)
It is quite possible that the Medicals could get flagged as needing some further checks if your parent’s health is not perfect. This means that the medical certificates will be sent to a Medical Assessor to be reviewed. If the medical assessor wants more information, you will hear about this from your Case Officer and then you have to get the extra reports that they ask for.
This is where things can get really tricky, as it can take many weeks for the Medical Assessors to review the file and get back to the case officer. The system is a shambles, and if you get unlucky as we did, with a lazy Medical Assessor and a “Can’t be arsed” case officer – you could be in for a bumpy ride. On the other hand – other people fly through this process and get accepted really easily. From what I have seen on the forum, if the medicals are referred it can take 2-3 referrals before they are happy.
It took us 6. Which is why we kicked up an almighty stink.
But, despite what immigration may have you think – this is not usual.
Once you are through that – it is simply a matter of getting a letter of “approval in principle” which will then be followed by a final letter inviting you to send more money to NZIS along with your passports so you can get the coveted blue Visa Stickers.
Coming next….. Medical Referrals explained.
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