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Thread: Help Please - Questions From Case Officer (London Branch)

  1. #1
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    Default Help Please - Questions From Case Officer (London Branch)

    OK, so on the plus side we today received an email from our case officer, Corisha Brain, yet sadly there are a few questions raised and I'm not quite sure how to tackle them.

    They relate directly to Tasha's 1)degree and 2)work experience. Tash has claimed on the skills shortage list as an ICT Professional. Tash's degree is in Information Science and English. There are lots of points they say her qualification DOES match up for, and indeed they say "Therefore your qualification is considered to be comparable to the level of qualification required by the LTSSL for ICT Professionals".

    They then follow up with the following query;

    We do not consider that your course content is comparable to the New Zealand qualification required, for the following reasons:

    We consider that your qualification is more heavily weighted to components such as the application of ICT to information management, information retrieval and business skills, and that your qualification does not adequately cover the technical aspects required in the LTSSL qualification.
    We are not satisfied that your transcript shows the completion of the equivalent of all compulsory requirements of the LTSSL qualification.

    We have been invited to submit further information to support our application. Obviously they were given a full course transcript - can anyone advise what we can submit, or what anyone else might have done with a similar question?

    Similarly, they have also raised the following concern over her work experience;

    Please provide further evidence to demonstrate the duties carried out in your role at Comet Group PLC, to allow us to further assess whether this experience is a substantial match to an occupation included on the Long Term Skills Shortage List.

    Again, can anyone advise what they might be looking for? Obviously Comet don't exist anymore either! She had old reviews, personal statements, a huge file of information that supported her work experience - this one has really baffled me!!

    Any help here is MASSIVELY appreciated, I have a horrid feeling things might be a little on a knife-edge at the moment.

  2. #2
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    On the matter of the work she did in her job, even though the firm is now no longer in existence, she can submit evidence from anyone who would be in a position to know about her duties, such as a department head, line manager, person from HR, or colleague who worked with her. What is needed is to look at the listing for whichever career she has submitted on the ANZSCO list, where you'll find details of what the job is considered to include, then have whoever writes the letter supply an example of what Tasha did as part of her work at Comet, to match every point given by ANZSCO. (Whoever does the letter will need to be available at the contact details given during the time your application is being processed, because the CO may well want to talk to them. They will also need to say what position they held at Comet, and how it comes about that they were in a position to know about Tasha's responsibilities and the details of her day to day work.)

  3. #3
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    Thanks so much JandM. I am sure we can give them what they require for the job stuff, I am surprised what we had submitted wasn't enough to be fair. Would you advise the letter we submit to relate directly to the ANZSCO job spec, or just a letter which speaks about how she satisfies each point?

    Do you think a uni might be able to write something for us to illustrate how her degree does meet the requirements they are looking for? Do you have any idea what the CO might be looking for here?

    Thanks for all your help.

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    Would you advise the letter we submit to relate directly to the ANZSCO job spec,
    I think you could very well quote the ANZSCO spec, since INZ state that they use that classification, and have your witness state what Tasha did, and how it matches up, point by point.

    I'm afraid I can't answer your other question. It's right out of my area. But in general terms, the same principles would apply. Find out what the syllabus is for a NZ degree such as is mentioned in the LTSSL list, and see if you can do matches between that and her own degree.

    Thinking further into this, though, I'm not clear - WHO had the course transcript, etc? As this email is from the INZ CO, but I would have thought the transcript would only have gone to NZQA. Was Tasha's qualification assessed by NZQA? - since they are the ones who normally would pronounce upon compatability with a NZ qualification, not a CO. If a NZQA assessment hasn't been done, that seems like a possible next step. Or even if it has, you could ask for a review, specifically to answer the question of whether her degree is the equivalent to what is being required.

  5. #5
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    Hi
    In relation to the degree, there is a difference between how INZ use the words "comparable" and "equivalent". If a qualification is assessed as being at the same Level i.e. Level 7 and type - i.e. Bachelor Degree, then it is comparable. To be equivalent, the content has to have substantial match as well. The degrees specified on LTSSL for ICT tend to be quite technical - including programming, maybe web design, probably some basic network stuff. Information management usually has a different focus as Corisha has indicated. I haven't seen the academic transcript, but the key factor would be to show that because of, say, special options taken as part of the degree, it is similar in content to a degree in Information Technology. Who is the Principal Applicant? How important are the bonus points for Skills Shortage to the application? Cheers. Karen

  6. #6
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    Thank you both for your replies!

    JandM -We'll tick everything off point by point by the job spec I think, I don't want to leave anything to chance or in doubt.

    Karen - thanks for clearing up the comparable and equivalent situation for me, that makes everything a bit clearer now. I guess we now need to prove its an equivalent match then. Tash is the principal applicant and we need everything to hit 140.

  7. #7
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    Default Message From Tash - More info

    Hi all

    It’s Tash here, Keith’s wife.

    Thank you all so much for your support so far, I know Keith has really appreciated the help you have given us, as have I because it has helped him stress a little less.

    I just wanted to clarify a few things about the questions we’ve been asked. I’m planning on calling our case officer tomorrow to just ask her if she has specific areas of my work experience she wanted me to concentrate on proving. I already have one ex colleague write me a detailed letter about my role at Comet and I hope I can dredge up a couple more, as well as perhaps some old mails I may have lying around.

    In terms of the qualification however, I think we might need some more help and ideas.

    The exact wording of the mail was as follows:

    Qualification and work experience in an area of absolute skills shortage
    • You have claimed bonus points for your qualification in an area of absolute skills shortage as an ICT Professional.
    • The requirement for ICT Professional as specified on the Long Term Skills Shortage List (LTSSL) is to have a Bachelor degree (Level 7) specialising in Information Technology (Computer Science, Information Systems or other Information Technology)* OR Bachelor degree (Level 7) specialising in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Technology* AND three years of relevant work experience.
    • Your qualification, Bachelor of Science in Information Studies and English from Loughborough Univerity, is included on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment (LoQEA) and is recognised by Immigration New Zealand (INZ).
    • As the LTSSL has listed a specific qualification as the requirement for bonus points to be awarded for the occupation ICT Professional, it is accepted by INZ that the relevant industry considers that the level, type and content of that qualification is in demand.
    • For two qualifications to be considered comparable they must be at the same level on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF) (e.g. level 7) and be the same type of qualification (e.g. Bachelor or National Diploma). The qualifications must also have a comparable subject matter. Where the Long Term Skill Shortage List states that a specific type and level of qualification is required, the applicant must hold a qualification of that specific type and level on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework.
    • The LoQEA determines the level that an overseas qualification occupies on the New Zealand register. Your qualification is assessed at level 7 on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework by virtue of its inclusion on the LoQEA. Therefore your qualification is considered to be comparable to the level of qualification required by the LTSSL for ICT Professionals.
    • Your recognised qualification is also a Bachelor and therefore also meets the specific type of qualification required by the LTSSL for ICT Professionals.
    • Where the major subject of an overseas qualification is not exactly the same as that required by the LTSSL, Immigration New Zealand can use some discretion to determine whether the major subject is the same as that on the LTSSL.
    • Your subject major is Information Studies and English which differs to the subject major requirements stipulated on the LTSSL.
    • We do not consider that your course content is comparable to the New Zealand qualification required, for the following reasons:
    • We consider that your qualification is more heavily weighted to components such as the application of ICT to information management, information retrieval and business skills, and that your qualification does not adequately cover the technical aspects required in the LTSSL qualification.
    • We are not satisfied that your transcript shows the completion of the equivalent of all compulsory requirements of the LTSSL qualification.
    • For the reasons outlined above, I am unable to award you bonus points for your qualification in an area of absolute skills shortage as an ICT Professional.
    • Please refer to immigration instructions, SM16.20 and SM13.20, set out at the end of this letter.
    • You may like to provide further information to support your claim that your qualification is comparable to the NZ requirement, including but not limited to comments from a relevant industry group in New Zealand.
    • You also have the option to apply to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority for an International Qualifications Assessment.
    Which very much reflects the sentiment that what they are saying is that they feel my syllabus is substantially less technical than the NZ equivalent.

    I can’t comment on the NZ degree syllabus but essentially I fear they are right, my degree was weighted to the application of technology and was almost entirely non-technical so if that is what they insist upon it would appear they have us banged to rights.

    I’m hoping there may be some latitude however insomuch as my degree is now supported by 13 years’ experience, including managing several fairly technical projects. My argument is that the focus is on a degree that enables and allows the applicant to work in the relevant areas – in my case ICT PM – and mine has clearly demonstrated that.

    Really that is all I can think of because as I said, their assessment is correct, I didn’t do a technical degree.

    If you have any suggestions as to anything I might do to dig us out of this hole I would really love to hear them.

    We have until April 26th to send in the additional information and frankly I have no clue about what approach is most likely to succeed.

    If I get my work experience points back we will stand at 135 points. In addition since we submitted the application I am now at 11 months at my current company which may mean I can squeeze a little more blood out of the work experience stone, but it’s still not a great place for us to be right now!

    Thanks again for all your help
    Tash

  8. #8
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    Default

    Just reading through everything again,

    JandM - it appears therefore that Tashas degree hasn't been looked over by NZQA. Would you recommend we request they look at it? Is that like 'last chance saloon', if they come back with a 'no' then would we be left with nowhere to go?

    If we are left with 135 points against a claimed 140 points will their decision be a definite no?

    Many thanks!

  9. #9
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    HI. You could go for an IQA from NZQA (as suggested) but this will take around 8 weeks and is not cheap. My gut feeling is that it won't change anything. To get the bonus points for LTSSL, the subject matter of your degree would have to be very similar to the listed one. For some occupations an amount of work experience can count instead of or as well as the degree. I don't believe this is the case for you. In talking to your Case Officer you could ask if the application could be deferred long enough to allow for some extra work experience points to accumulate. They don't have to do this, but they are reasonable people and where they have discretion, they will exercise it if appropriate. You could try asking if you could claim for points in a Future Growth Area instead as ICT is on this list??? Just a thought - I am not sure of how this would work. See SM13.10 Work experience in an identified future growth area

    Recognised work experience in an identified future growth area qualifies for points if:

    the principal applicant has points for current skilled employment or an offer of skilled employment in an identified future growth area (see SM8.10); and
    the experience is relevant to that employment (see SM7.10.10).
    SM13.10.1 Evidence

    Recognised work experience in an identified future growth area only qualifies for bonus points if the principal applicant provides evidence that satisfies an immigration officer that their work experience meets the requirements of SM13.10 above.

    Hope this helps.

    Karen

  10. #10
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    Great extra ideas from Karen there.

    My guess is that if they agree you have 135 points, the case would be put back in the pool (unless EOIs with 135 were taken at the draw when your 140 was picked). It's not going to be a rejection outright if they feel you've got 100+ valid points - it's going to be a 'go back and wait'.

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