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Thread: Overstaying, Visa running out, awaiting Docs.. (Section 35a ?)

  1. #1
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    Default Overstaying, Visa running out, awaiting Docs.. (Section 35a ?)

    Ya its that time again,
    Leccy-Lees trials and tribulations of attempting to stay in the country on a ludicrously tiny budget and other circumstances! And if you have missed previous instalments of this exciting and yet terrifying saga where have you been! I will serialise it in a book when i get time in prison for being an illegal immigrant!
    (So glad i got a sense a humour still about it!)

    Anyway quick recap, I have a current work permit that expires in 4 weeks time! I being me and wanting also to leave it as late as possible for both medical reasons and financial reasons had planned to apply for a new work permit 9 weeks before this one run out (so planned to 5 weeks ago). BUT one thing let to another and I am still waiting for my police certificate back, i posted it off to them 3-4 weeks ago and when i called them today in UK i was told "theres a delay on your certificate and it maybe another 2-3 weeks processing it" which evidently means its likely to get to me here about 5-6 days before my current visa runs out. I have the paperwork all ready the fee money saved and the medicals booked for next week (god help me!) Its that darn certificate.

    So i telephoned NZIS on there helpline explaining the above, and the girl wouldn't really give much help, she said i should not send in my application without the police certificate as it would be rejected. But then changed her mind and said i could "try" sending it with a letter explaining why its late and hope the officer that gets it starts the process, although she said it was unlikely. Then she said that if i do apply a week before my current visa runs out i will become an "overstayer" and then have my permit declined on that reason anyhow.

    Then she went on to say that once i become an "overstayer" i could try applying for a permit under "Section 35a" which is designed for those wrongly in NZ without any permit to be and maybe i would be granted a permit then, but again its all ifs and buts and maybes...

    So where do i go from here? Somebody today mentioned i apply for a bridging visa? But i can see no such thing on any NZIS website or files? Do i find an immigration lawyer and at what cost? Do i wait for all my paperwork and apply for my permit and become an overstayer in the process and see what happens (most likely option as no other choice)

    Anyone any experience on this? IE: A permit expiring before you can process a new one etc? Section 35a even? Lawyers? ah choices, choices.

    Did make me chuckle when the NZIS girl suggested "maybe you could pop back to UK and finish paperwork and then return" LOL LOL ah yeah i have a spare $3000-$4000 and the time to give up my home and job etc etc yeah right! (As Tui would say )

    So hows it feel to soon have an Illegal Immigrant on the forums!
    Last edited by Leccy-Lee; 8th May 2008 at 09:01 PM.

  2. #2
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    Dec 2005
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    Oh Lee,

    Sorry that you are having such a hard time, then I guess nothing is easy in this process. Keep that sense of humour going, and good luck

    hels

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Leccy-Lee View Post
    So hows it feel to soon have an Illegal Immigrant on the forums!


    I doubt it will come to that Lee. I sure hope it won't anyway.

    Just submit what you have with a covering letter and let them have the police check as soon as you get it. If you have confirmation of your request from the UK police, submit that as well.

    Good luck.

    Julie

    xx

  4. #4
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    Sure if i asked London for a letter explaining delay i would have to wait 2-3 weeks for that! LOL /sigh

    Hels, to be fair i probably bring it on myself, i tend to live life the hard way, ah well if you dont laugh you cry eh!

    Of course all this doesn't include me being way over BMI threshold for medical either. Shucks... Best i move to a reclusive shack in the south island!

  5. #5
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    Lee, I think it was timbo had problems and was technically an overstayer for a bit, he wrote to his local MP about the whole saga (if i remember correctly) and that seemed to shift something!

    Can you go to the Welly NZIS office in person and dont move until you speak face to face with a proper immigration officer?

    Not much help am I?? But I did think of you the other day for some reason and your visa probs...

  6. #6
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    We're all with you Lee. If you do decide to 'go underground' remember there's always our garage. I'm sure Duke and Lenka would love to have you as a room mate!

    Let's hope the police check comes in time. Do you think it may be worth going to the Immigration office in person and talk face to face with someone? Monkeys and organ grinders and all that?

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by jubjub View Post
    Can you go to the Welly NZIS office in person and dont move until you speak face to face with a proper immigration officer?
    I doubt that would work.

    I think you're allowed to make statutory declarations with regard to having made reasonable attempts to get a police certificate, get it done by a solicitor or something to make it look official.
    You could make reference to the fact that the UK has implemented their new *pilot* scheme and that it has caused you difficulties in retrieving the police certificate.
    Do you happen to have your old one still around? (That you used for your current visa). Or do an NZIS branch have it?
    If you could somehow get a hold of that, or get NZIS to dig it up for you, then it would surely help. If you have a clean character from x years ago, and you haven't even been back to the UK in the meantime, then it's pretty clear that you haven't gone committing any crimes back home and just trying to escape!

    And when you finally send off your application, make the rest of it as perfect and organised and well-presented as possible, make it so that you make your case officer smile (they are people after all....well some of them! ).

  8. #8
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    Sadly the last time i visited in person i couldnt get any further than the desk clerk who advised "to call our helpline"..!

    And sadly the police check cant now come in time, NZIS have said this themselves today, if submitted fully today it would not process until AFTER my current permit has expired, and there is no fast track it seems, its obviously procedure that all applications need to spend 2-3 weeks in the "in tray" before being opened!

    So its looking 95% certain i will be an illegal overstayer shortly, and where from there is the question.

    I did look at Timbos posts, but as he had a case officer and a application etc in the pipeline its a little different. NZIS have no records of me, i have no officer and nothing to show i was applying. They simply see an overstayer thats hasn't applied in enough time.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Potato View Post
    Do you happen to have your old one still around? (That you used for your current visa). Or do an NZIS branch have it?
    Sadly i have never done one before, i have only been in NZ 11mths and you dont need one until you been here 12mths. My current visa is a rare unusual visa thats off the radar (even NZIS mostly havent heard of it until they dig in there dusty folders on the top shelf). And wasnt even issued by NZIS themselves.

    The statutory declaration i was told by girl on helpline today is purely if you "cannot" obtain a certificate, and as she said i can obtain one, just need to wait.

    Great ideas though... You sure NZIS are human? Certainly nobody i yet spoken to seems to be.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Leccy-Lee View Post
    Sadly the last time i visited in person i couldnt get any further than the desk clerk who advised "to call our helpline"..!

    And sadly the police check cant now come in time, NZIS have said this themselves today, if submitted fully today it would not process until AFTER my current permit has expired, and there is no fast track it seems, its obviously procedure that all applications need to spend 2-3 weeks in the "in tray" before being opened!

    So its looking 95% certain i will be an illegal overstayer shortly, and where from there is the question.

    I did look at Timbos posts, but as he had a case officer and a application etc in the pipeline its a little different. NZIS have no records of me, i have no officer and nothing to show i was applying. They simply see an overstayer thats hasn't applied in enough time.
    Yes, I forgot about that, Wellington office has some sort of standard "waiting list" into which every visa application gets entered.

    Damn....what to do.

    I would try every avenue to try and skip that waiting list. Explain your situation by email....phone or whatever and see if you can get past it.

    And remember that once they receive your application, technically you will have an application in progress.
    I don't know if this is the case for Welly, but in London for my WV:
    I applied, and got a letter back two days later with a receipt for the fee and an application number despite the fact that I was *not* allocated a case officer at that point (I was put on a waiting list).
    Now, surely having this sort of stuff would make your situation look better. You may end up being an overstayer, but having an application in process, with fees paid and a number is better than nothing.

    As soon as you have your medicals back I would apply. So in the meantime I'd get to work on the declaration of attempting to get a police certificate. Include any correspondence from the UK on this matter.

    Good luck

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