"My friend got his visa like this, so why can't I"?

This common question always makes me cringe. I guess it is part of the misconception about INZ, but being a government department, you would think most people would assume that means unreliability? 

Immigration New Zealand does not rely on precedent

Firstly INZ is not a court of law, but instead a discretionary decision making body, so previous decisions and actions by INZ do not create precedent. Each application should be decided on its own merits and INZ has the discretion to be able to do this. A discretion-based system aims to provide fair and efficient decision making, but whether this is actually the case is also debateable.

For each application, this means that all the individual factors of the application will be assessed against the legal framework for making the decision. Even one small difference may result in a different approach, different questions being asked, different time frame, and so on. The difference also includes the mindset of the assessing officer.

Factors which will affect the result and assessment time frame of your application:

• Your individual circumstances – work history, country of origin / citizenship, education, relationship, previous immigration applications, employer’s situation, etc
• The workload at INZ
• The mood of the case officer – either their intuition about your application or even if they are in a good or bad mood today
• The skill and experience of your case officer – it is reasonably common for immigration officers to make mistakes and it is a big part of our job as LIAs to fix these
• How well your application has been prepared and presented – the strength of supporting documentation is most important

It is therefore meaningless to expect an outcome based on another person’s experience. Even if the other person is from the same country as yourself applying for the same position in the same company, there is a low chance that the processing will proceed the same way. We have had situations where we have had multiple applicants in the same occupation, same company, same country of origin, same paperwork, very similar qualifications and experience, with very different processing experiences. Timeframes varied from 3 weeks to 3 ½ months, some had their paperwork  questioned, some not at all, and others questioned in different places. This is all part of what we expect when dealing with INZ.

While a professionally prepared and managed application gives you a better chance of having your visa granted and granted quickly, there are still many factors in the list above that are outside of our control. It does surprise some people that we also aim to manipulate the mood of the case officer though.

Rather than relying on consultations, a managed approach is most important

It is important to think about the value a consultation will bring to your immigration pathway, and this value is not always what some clients will expect. As New Zealand immigration law changes very often it may not be the best approach to gather a huge amount of information and hen rely only on that information for an application that will be made sometime in the future.

While it is important in most cases to prepare and to prepare early, as we proceed with the application there are 3 factors which we always need to keep in mind:

1. Changes in immigration law and policy may means that documents, eligibility or evidential requirements change, so what you prepare or expect now, may not be the case 2 or 3 months later when we make the application
2. As we proceed with any application we almost always find things that need to be addressed to make the application stronger. Documents may need adjusting, new evidence may be required, or just the information to go on the form may not be right
3. Some evidential documents have a limited lifetime, so it may not be a good idea to prepare them right now, but wait until closer to the application submission. If a document like a police certificate takes a long time to get, then it may need to be planned for early, but timing if often very important to get right.

Consultations are really good to get an overview of the situation and a better idea of how to prepare or what the process may look like, or to answer a specific question relating to a problem you are having at that time. You shouldn’t think of a consultation as a DIY guide to a visa application or appeal though.

New Zealand's immigration system is different

A lot of people are confused by the visa application process in New Zealand is so complex compared to other countries. It is completely true, and I think our system is one of the more complex in the world because the role of INZ is to clearly keep people out, unless they strongly prove they meet the strict criteria for a visa.

Compared to other countries the process is long and difficult. An example which highlights the situation well can be seen on one of my favourite YouTube channels Sailing Uma (https://www.youtube.com/@SailingUma), when they travel around the Caribbean and Europe by yacht. Some countries in the Caribbean are very easy, you just walk into the immigration office, pay a small fee and get your passport stamped, all in less than 15 minutes. Some countries you need to plan ahead and actually apply for a visa, but you don’t need a lot of documents, just fill out the form, etc. But in some countries you need a lot of documents, evidence, and in the end need it professionally done.

People are generally never aware of immigration processes in their own country because we don’t need to be. But once you go overseas, the system may be very different to what you expect. New Zealand’s system treats immigration like a quasi-judicial process so it is naturally quite complex. The system is not really designed for use by non-professionals, but INZ will not discourage people making their own application if they want to take the risks.

In the end, the complexity of our immigration system is mainly because it is designed and organised with the assumption that it is being used by legal professionals such as lawyers and licensed immigration advisers.

We are immigration professionals in New Zealand and through this blog we hope that we can educate and share through our experience with the NZ immigration system. Our system is pretty hard to follow at times, and the way that the government shares some information and not others, or shares information only partially, can make it pretty frustrating. 

We enjoy a challenge and now our new challenge is to drive sustainable and eco-friendly growth by moving away from the old fashioned stuck in an offcie building, wearing a suit type of immigration law image. Come join us on this journey and help change the industry little by little. All the instrustructure is already there and it just needs more people to take the plunge and abandon our offices. At the moment we are still maintaining an office in the city, but we have started the transition away from this.

We will blog about relevant current immigration stories, our own experiences, maybe some rants about how frustration the system is at times and some hints about how to get the best out of it. Pleas efeel free to leave comments and let us know what you are intersted to know.

Cheers,

Dan Fujkawa