Immigration New Zealand lose the plot.

21.12.08

We email the CO declining to provide more medical tests on 9 grounds:

1/ It has been 5 months since this Ultrasound is Mentioned
2/ The Medical Assesor (MA) should have asked for ultrasound in July if it was needed.
3/ Last letter states info is needed so a decision can be made
4/ Lack of professionalism if Assessor is ignoring repeated test results which show that health is actually extremely good.
5/ Wonder why the CO is also ignoring test results which clearly show him there is no issue with dad’s health.
6/ Repeatedly asks for the same tests to be done, ask what they want the tests to say.
7/ The case has been mishandled from the start.
8/ We are continually expected to guess what tests are required – the MA has never been specific till now (he just asks for “tests” and “reports”.
9/ Both the CO and the MA are blatantly ignoring the letter from the consultant Nephrologist which shows there is no issue with the kidneys.

We ask the case to be referred up to the branch manager, and want a response to this pre-Christmas.

Any delays will result in a complaint to the ombudsman and a complaint to our MP.

22.12.08
Visit to MP’s Office in Masterton with a copy of the email to CO.
MP’s Office says they write an email to INZ requesting info on what is going on.
Office re-opens on 7.1.08 and we will send in any further info required at that time.

23.12.08
Email from London Acting Branch Manager (ABM) acknowledging the complaint.
States that the Immigration manager for the Family Residence Team (FRT) will consider the application on her return on the 5th Jan.

This turns out to be a breach of the official complaints process which states that the Branch Manager should investigate a complaint.

4.1.09
It is the one-year anniversary of the application being given to NZIS in Wellington.

6.1.09
Email to head of Family Residence Team (FRT) enclosing Timeline and test results spreadsheet. The test results sheet has all the explanations about the results, normal levels, and any comments from the doctors and specialists, including the repeated notes about there being no issues whatsoever with my dad’s health.

9.1.08
Email from FRT telling us she is not in fact going to making a decision and that we have “jumped to conclusions”. The tone of this email is rather snotty, and does not bode well for getting anything sorted. (She also speaks about my Husbands application – not a good start!)

9.1.08
Email back to FRT asking what is going on and how we have jumped to a conclusion. I point out that we could not really take anything else from the email from ABM, and ask that future correspondence be less confusing and state clearly what is going to happen.

I point out (again) that the test results clearly show that Dad’s health is fine, and he will not be a burden to New Zealand. I also ask how long this will take, given that it has already taken over a year.

9.1.08
Full explanation from FRT as to the how the situation progresses.
States that the application is stalled as the MA (Medical Assessor) is still waiting for test results from the 24th JULY.
States the policy we must satisfy – ie: that applicant is of an “acceptable standard of health”.
States that : “If the MA does not feel they can give an opinion, this will be respected. They are the medical professionals and I will not put pressure on them.”
States that delays are because we transferred file to London, we took a long time to get a report to them, and that they are still using a New Zealand assessor.

(this turns out not to be the case – the MA is London, and is just another example of an NZIS staff member writing things down in a confusing manner and not explaining things properly.)

11.1.08
Reply to FRT

1: States the MA should have been clearer in what he wanted if he is not getting the reports he needs.
2: States that the application Is NOT stalled because of the missing Ultrasound scan –it was never asked for by the MA, so he could hardly be waiting for it!
3. States that the GP, Diabetologist, and Nephrologist have all stated clearly that dad has an “acceptable standard of health” and that the MA is refusing to accept that.
Asks what “acceptable standard” is being applied. States dad has never been in hospital – and complains that other applicants get through with serious conditions.
4: States delays are NOT caused by us, but are caused by INZ and the MA. Asks why on earth an NZ assessor is being used if it causes delays.

I also worked out exactly how many days we had used trying to get information for INZ vs how much time they and the MA had wasted. We have had the application for 116 days in total in order to get results back to INZ. We once had to ask for an extension (of 5 days) because the only Nephrologist in the area was an NHS doctor. The rest of the year (249 days) has been due to INZ delays, laziness and incompetence.

5: Expresses deep concern that FRT has already said she will not put pressure on the MA as they are a “Medical Professional” – given that they are the person we are complaining about at this point and they are clearly doing an inadequate job. We point out that after al, all the MA had to do was write down a list of tests he wanted – it’s not exactly rocket science!

States that we are fully aware that Case Officers can and have disregarded the MA’s when they have clearly been failing to do a diligent job.

(We have screen shots from other applicants who have posted on forums saying this is what has happened in their cases).

We state that it is about time NZIS started treated applicants fairly and equally.

States that we would rather hash this out with FRT, than waste more time with the MA, and that we have no confidence in the MA.

12.1.09
Visit to MP Office.
Secretary Says that email to CO resulted in him saying they are at the mercy of the MA – we do not see the email.

She has no authority to do anything other than ask questions, so will hand the file to our MP John Hayes, as he has the authority to take it to the Minister.
We discussed the problems we face; as INZ is refusing to allow the complaint to have any effect whatsoever, and highlighted that the problem is that Dad HAS an acceptable standard of health.
Also pointed out that policy IS ignored, and that INZ case officers DO have the power to ignore the MA. The staff at the MP’s office do not believe this, neither do they believe that applicants are treated differently. She is actually fairly stand-offish with us – which is in complete contrast to their treatment of us up till this point. It will be quite a while before we find out why that is.

The MP is away till next week