Case officer not assigned in 6 months (skilled migrant category)

[she]

Hi,

I've been reading this forum for over a year. I applied for residency under skilled migrant category on 31st of July, 2014 with 230 points. I'm working on a skill shortage list area for almost two years now. My husband's skill belongs to skill shortage list as well. We haven't got our case officer assigned yet, while our many friends who applied a month or two later than us have got theirs assigned, or even got the residency by now. I emailed the immigration and got a reply that our application is on bottom of the list and they are not sure how much longer it would take, though it is mentioned on the website that time-frame for CO to be assigned for Christchurch branch is 4-6 months. They have also informed me via email that if my employment becomes part-time for any reason such as if I start studying, I won't be eligible anymore. How is that fair? What if I plan to take a maternity break? Should I email them again asking how they prioritize things such that our application landed at the bottom? It seems very strange to me that we are expected to keep our life on hold if we want the residency. If they take this long, obviously things will change with us. Does emailing make me arrogant in their eyes? Aren't they accountable for the mentioned timeframe, and are they allowed to take as much time as they want? Please suggest.

[JandM]

This old post may be of interest as it explains the sequence of events after your ITA arrives. http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread....979#post455979

In addition to that, these days, with all INZ offices in NZ being extremely busy with processing visas for all those coming in to work on the Christchurch rebuild, there can be a delay BEFORE the queue for assignment to a CO, when clerks do a first check of the material. I'm guessing that 'being at the bottom of the queue' means you have passed that stage at least, and are now awaiting assignment.

They have also informed me via email that if my employment becomes part-time for any reason such as if I start studying, I won't be eligible anymore. How is that fair?

Because of SM17 a i. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/30549.htm If you have put in THIS application from the position of having employment in NZ, that is the situation it will be judged on. This is not to say that you would not be eligible to put in a different application based only on your qualifications some time in the future.

are they allowed to take as much time as they want?

To be blunt, yes, pretty much. Every case takes as long as it takes. Also, since you're already in NZ, I guess you're on a temporary work visa of some kind, and I'm afraid that people applying for Residence while their work visa still has some time to run have a low priority. The thinking appears to be, 'That person is here and working, whereas these other applicants with no visa yet need theirs to start earning their living.' It has happened with many members of the forum that they've contacted INZ when their work visa has about eight weeks to run, asking, 'Is my Residence likely to come through in time, or should I apply for another work visa?' and very often, their Residence arrives very shortly afterwards.

I should point out that we here on the forum are nothing official, nothing to do with INZ, so the information I'm giving you is based on all the shared experiences of others who have gone before you. It's bound to be annoying, and others find it so, too. But INZ is a huge bureaucracy, and the officials there can only follow the regulations they're given to work from. It's not personal, and they don't have discretion to do things any differently for individuals.

[she]

Thank you for your insight JandM. Yes my work visa has two more years to expire, and this is discouraging. They give us a 4 month deadline when they send ITA, and it's strange they don't have a deadline of their own. I really don't like the idea that I have contributed my skills for a couple of years and if I decide to take a rest, I'm suddenly not "skilled". It would be fine if their processing was reasonably quick. But in this case, if they take further two years to look at it, does that mean we can't plan a child, take a break or anything without losing our money and time on that application. Lives change in this amount of time. It just doesn't seem a reasonable expectation to keep our lives on hold. Had I known about it, I'd rather apply for work to residency sometime later. But it's done now and I guess there's no positive to take from it. I would expect application time to be given at least a little priority. I called them and they said they are looking at end of June's applications, which they had said couple of months back as well. This sounds like a lie to me, because the people I know applied on August and September.

[she]

After the vent above, I have a real question now. If I take maternity leave, am I considered being full-time employed, hence still eligible on my application? I have to consider this as my work visa isn't expiring anytime soon, which might mean they will keep ignoring it. I have to decide between giving up on this application or giving up my plans to have a child within two years.

[JandM]

It's not a question of your becoming 'not skilled'. The point about work visas, and Residence applications with a skilled job or offer, is that the grant of them is a kind of swap between INZ and the worker - the right to stay and work, against the ongoing contribution of skills to the NZ work force. Once the worker stops working, the balance of the bargain is upset, and the regulations don't allow INZ to go ahead with it. It's what the situation is at the time when the official is looking at the application that counts, so no amount of 'but I've already done x months/years' makes any difference (and the applicant is legally obliged to notify any change in their circumstances).

What you've been told is unlikely to be a deliberate lie. You're not taking into account the extremely complex nature of what has been happening in INZ since the Christchurch emergency happened. They have been so overwhelmed by applications that were from specialist rebuilders for really urgent admissions that, rather than cases being dealt with by the nearest INZ office, which was normal, they have been being sent on to anywhere in the country where there was some spare capacity at the time, with some applications from those already in NZ even being sent to London, UK, at one time. So the files of people you know may have been sent elsewhere and not therefore come under the local office's stated aims for processing, or the same date-order list as yours, not to mention that in the prevailing circumstances, past averages are really no sure guide to future possibilities.

As I said before, everybody knows it's annoying, but it's the situation that everybody is up against, put in place by a government, and governments notoriously don't really care what individuals think.

I take your point about whether being on maternity leave would count as still being in employment. I have a feeling it might depend on how long a leave was taken, but that's not more than a feeling. This isn't the sort of thing that is in any publicly available material from INZ. There are some immigration professionals who post here, though, and I'll ask them if they know anything to help you.

[JandM]

I've been in touch with one of the LIAs who posts on the forum, and she has told me the following.

I did have a conversation with INZ about a similar situation a year or so back. They seemed to think that they would not be reasonable if they were to penalise a woman for being pregnant. If she is on maternity leave and hasn't left her job, then legally she is still employed. If she has a case officer, it would be worth having a chat. Hope that helps!

I then said this.

She hasn't yet got a CO. She's one of those with an SMC application pending and not being prioritized for allocation because she's already on a work visa. Understandably, she'd like a bit of reassurance before going ahead to start a family like she would like to. She had expected getting Residence to go more quickly, having judged by the timings on the website.

And the reply was as follows.

There is definitely an improvement in processing time starting to happen. The two SMC applications I had in Henderson that were lodged in late July both got a Case Officer about two weeks ago and one of them has already got their residence approved. They both had jobs and current work visas. I am still waiting on a Case Officer for one lodged in September at Henderson (same scenario). However, now that Christchurch is processing residence visas again, I think things will get moving a bit quicker for everyone onshore. I had an SMC applicant in India (she was the PA) who got pregnant and their SMCs were still processed in a reasonable timeframe and baby's visa came though in about 5 days. I really can't see it being an issue if she already has the SMC application in and then she got pregnant.

[imageplayer]

please keep us posted with your progress. Thanks!

[she]

Oh this helps so much. Thank you JandM. I am so grateful you asked someone about my situation, I would not have expected you'd do that for me. I'll just keep calm for now. Imageplayer, yes I will update my progress when it happens.

[JandM]

The only thing to do when dealing with INZ is to keep calm if you can, even when you're feeling like biting the carpet - breathe, and try to think of something good in real life, as that's better for your well-being. You're not alone in all you're feeling, truly.

[she]

Update: At the start of 10th month, I got a case officer. Hopefully no more delays now.