Residence application - Breach of visa - Looking for extra advice

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Hi all good people,
I have been looking through the threads of this forum to find something that could help my situation but I feel (like everyone else posting here I am sure) that I am in a very specific limbo with my current residency application.
Here is my situation:
I have been living in NZ for 4 years now. The 1st year was on a WHV and the last 3 on a work visa under the essential skills programme as a business manager for one specific employer.
My residency application seemed successful and on its way as it got past the first checks rather quickly, but I am now faced with an issue:
While looking at my IRD summary of earnings my CO found out that I had received payments from a secondary employer and that came as a breach of visa. I did a few jobs as a contractor in the same field as my current main employment in the past.
While most of these payments were made at the time of my WHV, I still did a little bit of work for that secondary employer during my first year on my work visa. I agree that was absolutely silly and I have understood the implications that can come with it now.
Also, some of these payments were even made up to March this year due to the nature of this work (film and TV - some contracts get reviewed every year depending on broadcasting decisions and I got paid for work done up to 2 years before).
As I said, this comes as a breach of visa and I am now requested to account for it and also very scared of what I understand the consequences might be.

I went to seek free legal advice yesterday and was told that, all I could do at this stage was to request a special direction to get a Character Waiver.
I also understand from my research that character waivers are for people that have a criminal record already, or have committed an offence in any country, including NZ.
However, I have not been convicted of anything yet, so I wonder how this preempting would be received.
I am obviously really attached to NZ. To make it short, I first came here in 2000 to work one year as a university tutor while doing my Masters, fell in love with the country and decided to come back in 2009 to do something completely different.
I am sure I could find the words to express how much I would like to become a resident (and how I would rather not be deported) as well as providing all the letters from solid references to support how "good" a person I am. Yet, I am still very worried something might go wrong because of the freshness of my breach of visa and how I cannot simply claim stupidity as an excuse.
I have never hidden anything from immigration and my CO has been nothing but lovely up to now, yet I understand this goes beyond simple kindness.
Would anyone be able to provide advice or directions as to how I may proceed with this?
Oh, I have till the 12th of July to account for this.
Thanks a lot and sorry for the lengthy message
S

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Hello again,
I hope I didn't come across as a hardened criminal before.
I can understand I have put myself in an awkward situation but it would be great to hear from someone who can reply with some sort of guidance.
As I said I can prove that most of these payments I received from a secondary employer were back payments from when I was entitled to work for them.
There are only a few occurences where I have worked for that secondary employer while on a 'restricted' work visa. And the payments do not amount to much.
Thanks a lot for your help.

[JandM]

I feel (like everyone else posting here I am sure) that I am in a very specific limbo with my current residency application.

I think you've put that very well, and it can be a very lonely place, can't it?

I haven't seen any situation exactly like yours on our threads anywhere, so I don't think anyone can tell you just how this will pan out.

In general terms, the way a character waiver (and we've seen quite a few of those mentioned) works is that someone with a conviction in their past declares it in their application, and the CO asks them to give more information about the offence. Depending on what they did, the CO may be able to decide that it is all right to proceed, or else s/he may have to tell the applicant to ask for a character waiver. Asking for a character waiver consists of writing a letter to say what they did, taking responsibility for it, apologizing for it (i.e. a grovel), giving any possible extenuating circumstances (youth, bad company, misunderstanding or being misled over rules), and submitting references from upstanding people who know them now as a good and honest citizen.

It looks to me as though your CO is at the first point of that process - asking for more information so as to see what needs to follow. The instruction to ask for a character waiver, if it's going to be necessary, will come from the CO.

For now, you will have to reply, and I think your posts above are a basis for explaining what you did. The recent payments relate to work done earlier. I suppose it didn't cross your mind to begin with, when you were first on the work visa, that you shouldn't go on doing the outside contracts like you had done on the WHV. When you've sent in this first reply, you'll have to wait for the CO's reaction.

Good luck.

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Thanks so much for your answer.
Hopefully somehting will work.
I have already submitted everything that had been requested of me "paper-wise" (birth certificate, police record, work agreements, IRd summary of earnings and the likes) so I thought I was well-engaged into the process but you seem to think this is the early stage so I wish I could relax.
There is a but though, ason top of the problem stated above I also need my employer to prove that my work is skilled employment as my CO got slightly confused by my boss's answer to her email asking for evidence that it was indeed skilled employment.
Thanks for the help and I will let you know how it goes
S