Asians in NZ

[sarah_ahn]

Hi, I was wondering if anybody felt discriminated by the NZ immigration? My family just happens to asian in the US and we have applied for NZ but it's taking ages for the process...With work experience in IT but no job offer, we sent the ITA back on April and just heard back from them in July ( they even sent the confirmation letters to other addresses except the one we asked to be sent..) a document was needed so an extra month of delay and we just had an interview on sept 8 but so far no news whether we'll get PR or WTR. At this point we'd not be surprised if we get WTR even though almost everybody else is getting PR under skilled category because of IT work exp..I don't know if It's just our imagination that our application is taking much longer than other with no other apparent reason we can think of except being asians..There are others from the US that we have compared to and it didn't take them that long to them. I don't know, we haven't even arrived in NZ yet but we are already having an eerie feeling of receiving an 'unwanted special treatment' by the NZ government already or NZlanders per extension..
Regards...Sarah

[veronica]

Somewhere on this forum there used to be a thread with timings on, not sure if it was just from the UK or whether there were people from the states on there too. I also think that people from the states are being processed from the UK, although not 100% sure on that.
I know that people without a job to come too were taking a lot longer than those with a job offer, so its likely that is more the cause than anything else. My own feelings are that you are reading too much into things, theres plenty of people on the forum from the UK who have taken a similar amount of time. but have a search for the timeline thread and see how things compare.

[Stu]

Sarah, I would doubt that very much indeed. The largest proportion of immigration to NZ of late has been from asia, I think, so I think it most unlikely that they'd pick on someone in the US of asian descent.
Sounds like it is just one of those quirks of bureaucracy to me. You know, "SNAFU"!
cheers, Stu.

[dave k]

I think it's been from Europe actually, according to the last figures I saw.

[Singel]

Asians in NZ subjected to racism, study finds

Hello Sarah,

I don't think the study has anything to do with immigration processing. As far as I know, the immigration is still letting in Asian people who meet the requirements. It is more like bureacracy than anything as other forum members already mentioned.

Good Luck

[sarah_ahn]

It's official, we got WTR, probably one of the few that got WTR..and why is that I am not surprised even though we are IT skilled, not a profession that requires certificate etc..For all those that defend NZIS because they had a wonderful exp I can say ours was not so, nothing obvious but subtle, like some emails going unanswered or sending letters to other addresses except the mailing address or our process taking longer than others with similar cases ( reading from the forum which I believe them) and lastly, after the interview, the CO just went for a vacation for a month without even caring to notify us about the result nor the leave, after two weeks with no news I emailed somebody else to find out we just got WTR..Why not PR like other IT skilled workers from Europe and US..? the only reason I can think of it is just because we are Asian! I wonder whether there is an unwritten policy unwelcoming Asian immigrants with excuses or by making it harder for them. Why not denying our application? Well, that would be too evident and we would appeal it so everything would be exposed then..I don't think of any reason why we don't deserved the PR, with proven IT skills in the US and confidence in finding job in NZ ( we are not saying it, the NZIS for God's sake is saying when the listed as shortage of workers right?) and also proven ability to settle in NZ with having even relatives in NZ..What do we got? WTR..
I believe that if there is a way to make it harder for us, they would..for no other reason that being asian.
I know there is not a place without some sort of discrimination (race, sex, age etc..) but having lived in the US, I am surprised that an official government agency is discriminating asian immigrants subtly with impunity or even with acknowledgment from the top.. Since the last change in the immigration policy and implementation of EOI, the NZIS is inviting qualified applicants to come, sort of welcome; and so they did to us at the beginning but after they way it's been going for us I feel insulted and probably, very probably I would have decided against it if I knew what I know now.
I welcome anyone with a similar case to ours except being asian to come forward and prove me wrong; I'd be glad if so since otherwise it would not be just sad but tragic. Lastly, if there is any doubt I can tell you that once I had applied for Canadian residence and it took about three months from application to interview ( later I decided against it for personal reasons) on the other hand with NZIS my EOI was selected in Nov 2004 and just got thre results of the interview..Can you see any difference? I don't complain always, for everything; I don't have any complain against Canadian officials ( they are fair and very professionals ), not so about NZIS and their officials though..

[barryp]

I've been tracking applications by IT professionals for close to a year now, and there seems to be quite a wide variation in how long the process takes - as well as the outcomes. Our EOI took months to process, but we heard back from NZIS about a week after our completed ITA had been received in London. So, this situation could well be bureaucratic delays, and nothing more.

The interviews really do stress English fluency, some limitation in spoken English skills being one explicit criterion given for issuing WTR instead of PR. I don't mean to be derogatory in any way towards you, Sarah, but: could that apply to your situation?

This topic is dear to me, even though I'm not Asian. One of the many positive aspects of working in IT is the ethnic richness we all experience every day just by going to work, alongside the commonly-held belief that ethnicity per se is irrelevant to PERFORMING THE JOB. (Either the network is up, or it's not; either the code works, or it doesn't. Sex, race, religion, etc. do not make one whit of difference.)

I have firsthand and secondhand reports by IT workers in NZ, non-native English speakers, who believe themselves to be discriminated against because of their ethnic backgrounds. But I have also read reports on the web by Asian IT professionals who report that they face a LOWER level of discrimination in NZ, compared to their prior work experience in the UK, Ireland, and/or USA. This inconsistency has been much on my mind as a potential migrant.

To take a specific example: professional work done in India is no longer eligible for points, because India is not considered a 'comparable labour market' to NZ. Well, I don't know everything, but I do know that the state of the software development art in India is amongst the highest in the world. (I would venture that it exceeds that in NZ by a wide margin - but even if I'm wrong on that, there's no way a rational professional could say that education and work experience in India IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT is not at least comparable.) I can only conclude that there are other forces at work, and it's certainly conceivable in my mind that one of those forces is political pressure to keep a lid on the number of brown and yellow people entering the country, in a way that is easier to sell than 'No Blacks, no dogs, no Irish'.

The subject is very sensitive, but I think it's OK to address it.

[sarah_ahn]

Hi barryp, I appreciate your sincere opinion on the subject..But firstly, this thread started due to an academic study about asian discrimination, not a personal exp or point of view. So I would say it's not my imagination. Secondly, I posted my exp. because I could not think of any other reasons for my difficulties with the application other than being asian. My point is not about people's discrimination in the workplace etc but the politics and policy of an official government agency which is not ok and unacceptable.
My english is not native but I think it is pretty good, never had any problem with customers or co-workers and never had discrimination issues at work either.
I talked to Mr. Badman, the NZ advisor in US, about my case and the resulting decision and he was also surprised and couldn't explain why we weren't granted PR with IT exp. and having a relative in NZ. It's not just us but also Mr. Badman thinks is unusual, quite puzzled. BTW he didn't complain about my english and he could understand me very well too.
I see that sadly your process took a long time too, I assumed you were granted PR or still pending..?
Still keep wondering if our names were something like Jane smith and checked in race as white, the process and outcome would have been the same..
Still nobody in the forum is proving me I am wrong, nobody got WTR with IT skill has come forward..I even have a sister who is NZ citizen living there..
The worst part of all it's that london branch is a government agency; if the government isn't fair and equal, how can I seek justice? Who is going to enforce it?
I am tired of all this, I want to get over this..after all there is nothing I can do, no point to appeal my case. appeal to whom?
Thanks barryp again..wishing you get PR if not already..
feel little better venting my frustration out, the only thing I can do anyways..

[Soon2baKiwi]

Sarah

I am Irish, married to a New Zealander, and applied for a work permit and PR in July (I am already in New Zealand). I got the work permit really quickly but will have to wait until after Christmas for a Case Officer to be even appointed to my case. It will take up to one year for my application to go through. No reason other than bureauacy.

[Stu]

Hmmm, I don't know, Sarah, if you are feeling bad about discrimination etc in NZ and worried about it being official policy, perhaps you may want to consider Australia or elsewhere? Canada is a beaut place, and as the officials there are not giving you a hard time, perhaps you may feel more reassured and welcome there after all?

Interesting thread.
Stu.