Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: how long do we wait?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    london
    Posts
    12

    Default how long do we wait?

    My husband and I have applied for a visa under smc as my husband is an IT developer and falls in the skills shortage list, we have submitted our docs and ita received on 3/10/14 but still no case officer, 6 months is approaching and not a peep its very disheartning as you cannot even contact anyone the website gives a nz number have tried to call but never get through plus with the time difference not always convenient anyone else having any issues or any advice, my husband has had no luck with jobs as they all want you to have your visa sorted!!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    37,822

    Default

    You are not alone. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/branc...ssingtimes.htm It seems there is quite a backlog at London branch at the moment for ITAs without job offers - the waiting time varies according to the volume of applications that arrived just before and at the same time as yours. When going through the application process, there is an awful lot of 'hurry up and wait'. All the INZ officials are dealing with many cases as well as your own, and delays can arise from factors affecting others of those cases.

    Everything at INZ works by managed queues. When your ITA was received, it would join the end of the queue of other ITAs, according to the date order. Each Case Officer has a certain workload - a number of cases that are theirs to deal with. The newly arrived ITAs have to wait till one of the COs has finished with some of their cases, and can take on some more. When an ITA is eventually assigned to a CO, it will again join the back of THAT queue for the CO's attention, as s/he takes the top file, does what s/he can actively do, puts that file to the back, works everything s/he can on that case, goes to the next, and so on.

    There is no way to tell how many other people's ITAs were in the queue to be assigned already, on the day yours arrived. There is no way to tell how easy or difficult the cases already being worked in the office are turning out to be, which affects the time passing until COs are ready to take more files into their personal allocation. There is no way to tell if three experienced COs in that office might leave and need to be replaced, with the new COs needing training. There is no way to tell if there could be a flu epidemic affecting the whole building. This is why INZ cannot promise anything about timings, and it's never really a matter of 'just assigning' a Case Officer.

    Also, in the first stage, many applicants don't even know they have been allocated to a CO until a part of the processing has been done. The COs' job is to focus on moving their cases through, so telling people 'now your case is doing this, now your case is doing that' is not part of it, as that time could be better spent doing something on another person's application which would get it one step nearer to granting their visa. This is why EVERYONE spends long periods of time with no contact from INZ. These times are when the CO doesn't need any more information, and hasn't any news of a result to give.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    47

    Default

    Our ITA without job offer was lodged in August 2014 at London and we just got a case officer assigned 2 weeks ago. Apparently they have misplaced some of the original papers we submitted and they are still looking for them. Interview is coming up next week. Be patient.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    london
    Posts
    12

    Default

    Thank you I will try to be patient!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •