Verification of Qualification

[saikai]

Hi guys, this is my first post here. It has been quite suffering for my NZQA assessment. I have sent my original bachelor degree certificate to NZQA, but they still go to the verification process which means they request a third party to verify whether my certificate is authentic. They will send a letter to remind the third party every two months if there is no reply and they will wait for six months before asking me to get involved.

I don't know what they do in this verification process. Do they just send an email or fax to my college? I have graduated and left college for several years and I don't think the college staffs will reply to such requests because they have no idea about NZQA. It has been a few weeks and my IQA status is still "waiting".

Does anybody has any suggestions? I don't really want to waste so much time for this meaningless verification. Thank you.

[Duncan74]

University registry departments exist to record and confirm the validity of qualifications. They will be very sued to such a request. Some may require NZTA to request on a specific form, others are more flexible. In some cases NZIS will apply to the university, the university wqill then request that you confirm you authorise the uni to release that info to NZIS. But don't worry about it, it's not that they are all just going to ask around and see if anyone remembers you, it's based on the records they create and store each year.

[saikai]

Unfortunately my college is not in New Zealand. I forgot to tell you that I am an offshore applicant from China. I don't know how NZQA approaches my university and I believe that the college staff will probably ingnore the request from NZQA.

Thank you, Duncan.

[Millieandme]

I am having the same trouble with NZQA. My application is being verified but in my case it is because I didn't send the original degree certificate, which has long since been lost. NZQA said that they need the original or they will need to go through the verification process. I tried to find out what they were verifying but the only response was that the web site "clearly states the requirements."

In the letter it says that "Any contact that NZQA makes with other organizations as part of the verification process must remain confidential. You must not become involve in the process unless requested by NZQA." Essentially they won't tell me what they are asking for or why. Later on in the letter it says that if there are any costs, I will have to pay for it.

The concern I have is that Canadian Universities have very strict privacy requirements. If NZQA's request doesn't arrive in the right format, it will be ignored. It has already been a month since I last heard from NZQA.

I didn't feel a total lack of information is what I deserved after paying NZQA $730 so I submitted a complaint using the NZQA form on their web site. I should have known that was a total waste of time as there has been no response 4 weeks later.

[Duncan74]

You could have obtained a 'copy' original from the university. Note that this is not a copy, but a new certificate, hand signed by both the Registrar and the Rector/ whatever you call the ultimate supremo at the university. So not cheap, and you wil probably have to sign a legal document to confirm the certificate was lost. Which is what I had to do as the courier lost my certificates. And so avoided the hassle with NZIS at all.

However, to blame NZQA for what you identify as the Canadian Universities ignoring a formal request seems odd. If however, as is more likely, the University will reply with a pro-forma response saying 'use this form' then I'd then expect NZIS to forward that to you for your signature (assuming it needs that) and then back to them for forwarding to the university.

Looking at it the other way, you've got a degree and are using that to qualify you for entry to New Zealand. Clearly there is a limit to how many people can come here, and so it's based on a points system. If the requirement was 'can you tick this box to say you've got a degree but we won't do any checking at all and just take your word for it' then it's hard to imaging that there would be that many places left to go around those that really do have the qualification. Equally, NZIS will have a very well defined process for validating the qulaifications. The more of that which is known the easier it is for someone without teh degeree to 'work the system' to their advantage.

I agree that no response at all to a formal complaint after 4 weeks is not acceptable.

[Millieandme]

Duncan,
My university doesn't normally issue new certificates as the university transcripts clearly shows the degree awarded. I supplied one of those to NZQA, sealed from the university. I could also have easily arranged for the university to mail one directly to NZQA. But for NZQA, "academic transcripts are not considered equivalent to a formal award certificate." I tried asking what information the degree certificate had that the transcript didn't and they basically refused to tell me and repeatedly stated that the web site was clear on the requirement for the degree certificate. I even tried telling them that the web site says the requirement is for "Degrees and diplomas or other award certificates from tertiary institutions, trade schools, technical colleges or specialised senior secondary schools." Apparently a transcript isn't considered an "other award certificate."

My problem with NZQA is not that they wish to verify my degree. The issue is that they refuse to say what they are doing or why. I am left completely in the dark and formally told not to contact either institution. "You must not become involve in the process unless requested by NZQA." (emphasis included as in the letter from NZQA)

My complaint, which was ignored, was a complaint about the lack of information. I wanted to know why I couldn't be told what was being verified. Why can't I see a copy of the letter they are sending? Why is it secret?

[baais]

Hi Saikai & Millieandme

Normally NZQA sends verification report to university via post.I would suggest you do perform following steps

1-Contact your university registrar or controller examination branch to track the verification report as NZQA normally verifies the last & highest degree.It takes normally 7-10 days(depends upon postal service of your country) to receive the report at university from the date verification was initiated as per online portal. As a last resort you can check with the department of university that receives international mails to track the verification mail.

2-Lodge a online request on NZQA website that verification of qualification is delaying your immigration plans and need cooperation to track down the report as standard procedure for verification in your university is different.I hope they would contact you to escalate your issue

Duncan,
My university doesn't normally issue new certificates as the university transcripts clearly shows the degree awarded. I supplied one of those to NZQA, sealed from the university. I could also have easily arranged for the university to mail one directly to NZQA. But for NZQA, "academic transcripts are not considered equivalent to a formal award certificate." I tried asking what information the degree certificate had that the transcript didn't and they basically refused to tell me and repeatedly stated that the web site was clear on the requirement for the degree certificate. I even tried telling them that the web site says the requirement is for "Degrees and diplomas or other award certificates from tertiary institutions, trade schools, technical colleges or specialised senior secondary schools." Apparently a transcript isn't considered an "other award certificate."

My problem with NZQA is not that they wish to verify my degree. The issue is that they refuse to say what they are doing or why. I am left completely in the dark and formally told not to contact either institution. "You must not become involve in the process unless requested by NZQA." (emphasis included as in the letter from NZQA)

My complaint, which was ignored, was a complaint about the lack of information. I wanted to know why I couldn't be told what was being verified. Why can't I see a copy of the letter they are sending? Why is it secret?

[Millieandme]

Hi Saikai & Millieandme

Normally NZQA sends verification report to university via post.I would suggest you do perform following steps

1-Contact your university registrar or controller examination branch to track the verification report as NZQA normally verifies the last & highest degree.It takes normally 7-10 days(depends upon postal service of your country) to receive the report at university from the date verification was initiated as per online portal. As a last resort you can check with the department of university that receives international mails to track the verification mail.

2-Lodge a online request on NZQA website that verification of qualification is delaying your immigration plans and need cooperation to track down the report as standard procedure for verification in your university is different.I hope they would contact you to escalate your issue

Thanks for the suggestions but in terms of contacting my university, the letter I received from NZQA specifically states that you must not contact your own university. I am not sure why but that is what is says.

On the positive note, after 4 weeks I sent a second request to NZQA asking what they were doing and received a response which explained the process and the status of my application. Apparently my university has replied and the processing of my qualification should be finished in the next few days. NZQA also apologized for not responding earlier.

I hope that Saikai will have similar good news coming soon.

[bmshanley]

I'm generally confused by all this. I haven't found anywhere that says what qualifies as evidence (work visa app, G3) of qualifications. It sounds in this thread like transcripts are not acceptable. I don't have my diploma (it's in a storage unit in San Francisco, not doing me any good) but I could have sworn that I read somewhere not to send original documents because you wouldn't get them back?

I've gotten a transcript from my school before, and it's a cumbersome process involving a link to a PDF being emailed to someone that you designate (and that expires in about 7 days...). What am I actually supposed to put in my WTR package that is considered evidence?

[Millieandme]

The question here is specifically about NZQA assessment of qualifications. In my case, this was for entry into university here in NZ. NZQA does require originals but will return documents if requested.

I am not sure what is required for a WTR from Immigration NZ. Someone might respond, but you might want to start a new thread with WTR in the subject that might prompt someone with experience in that to respond.