Conflicting advice on SMV application

[FerrisW]

Hi everyone- hoping to get some insight from other people's experiences. I'm posting on behalf of my flatmate, who is getting a bit stressed out with her visa application.

She came over to NZ on a WHV towards the end of 2011, and last year got a job offer for a permanent position. She applied for an Essential Skills visa (on advice of INZ after several phone calls to them) through the Dunedin branch, and after quite a bit of back and forth they gave her a 1 year visa. This visa is up in September, and as she loves her job and NZ she applied for a SMV in April (EOI with ~160/170 points in January, ITA February, delays getting letters from previous employers meant it took a few months to get application in). She heard back shortly afterwards that it would be 6-9 months until she got assigned to a CO (ChCh branch), which is obviously worrying since her current visa is up in September.

After several confusing emails/phone calls to ChCh, she asked whether she should apply for another Essential Skills visa for when her current visa expires, to tide her over until the CO was assigned, and upon being told yes, went to the Dunedin branch to submit that application. There she was told she was unable to apply for another Essential Skills visa, that the job she was currently in would have to be readvertised to be sure no NZers were available (as although there were none suitable available a year ago, that may be different now) and that if she insisted on applying and they rejected her application, it would automatically cancel her SMV application. They then told her that if, once her current visa expired, a CO had not been assigned, she'd be given a temporary visa to allow her to continue to work until a decision was made (which is different than what she'd been told in the past).

Obviously, applying for a visa means a lot of 'wait and see' but I'm wondering if anyone has gone through anything similar/experienced what appears to be conflicting advice like this before. I feel confident that when she gets assigned a CO, they'll give her the visa (she has a job in NZ that she's been working in for almost a year, is related to her degree and is a skilled job- Journalism/Editing, if it makes a difference; has established a life here- has pets etc; is of good character and health) but the worry that their predicted time for her to get assigned a CO is past her current visa limit is very real and stressful for her, and also for myself!

Any advice is very much welcome, as I am at a loss as how to best support her at this time (I'm a NZer so have never had to deal with anything like this before myself).

Thanks!

[FerrisW]

Hi everyone,

I didn't get any response to my earlier query, but I thought I'd update for anyone in similar situations. At the seven weeks until visa expiration point, my friend contacted ChCh branch, and was assigned to a Case Officer the following week. It took him 2 weeks to complete his assessment and pass it on for checking. 1 Week later, she received an email saying her status online had been updated- and there was the big 'APPROVED' next to the visa type.

She's obviously over the moon, as am I, and she can't wait until her passport gets returned with the sticker in it. It's been a stressful time (approx 8 months since EOI lodged) and it felt like she was really down to the wire, but all of the advice about contacting INZ when your visa is about to expire to get things rolling was really helpful, and reading the forum in general was helpful too.

[JandM]

I'm very pleased to hear the good news for your friend. Thanks for the update.

[AD_Dani]

It's really a great news and thanks for sharing

[Rob&Don]

Congratulation to your flatmate.
Most of us are aware INZ dish out conflicting advice on a regular basis. Just seem to depend whose desk your application lands on most of the time.

[Ultad]

I was just browsing this researching other people's experiences and found it very helpful. Congrats to your flatmate!