Fees and refundable questions

[IamTooCool]

Hi Guys
First of all thanks for answering my previous questions, I have made some progress.

My current state of application - I have applied PAR for my and my wife. EOI is filled and ready for submission. I just want to double check the things I am doing, before I make payment.

Below is me and my wife's profile

Me - Current Occupation: Developer, Experience: 10 years, Education: Masters in Computer Applications (Part Time), Summary of exp: Worked as Developer, Software Engineer, Web Developer, Technical lead during my career. Ielts average: 7.5

My Wife - Current Occupation: Developer, Experience: 7 years, Education: Masters in Computer Applications (Full Time), Summary of exp: Worked as Developer, Software Engineer, Web Developer, Technical lead during my career. IELTS average: 7.5

- First question is that, we are planning to file EOI by making my wife Principal Applicant, because she have Full Time studies compared to my part time. Is that a right decision, considering I have 3 years of more experience than her?

- Second question I have is, we are planning to file under "Developer/Programmer" skilled program. Though, in our experience certificates/reference letters our designations have been different. Though our job duties have been kind of same, where we perform role of "Developer/Programmer". Does having a different "Job Title" on experience certificate will make a difference?

- Third question, we both have applied for PAR and are waiting for our result. Once I file POI, I am expecting to get selected for ITA. The fee for ITA is around 1200 GBP. I am wondering if this fee is refundable, if we don't get approval?? (I think it should be refundable)

- Fourth Question, is fee of IQA refundable if we don't match the level we are expecting? (I am expecting it won't be)


Regards
Gaurav

[JandM]

No, no fees are refundable, either for NZQA or for INZ. You are paying for the work of assessing the qualification, and the case, to be done, not for a particular result to be forthcoming.

The other point that occurs to me when reading what you have said is that, for both yourself and your wife, you have mentioned a Master's degree, whereas the degrees for which the LTSSL requires equivalence in order to get bonus points for the EOI are all bachelor's degrees. http://skillshortages.immigration.go...per-programmer What are your bachelor's degrees? (If bachelor's degrees are specified, a master's, even in the same subject area, is not accepted as a substitute. The reason for the Level 7 requirement seems to be as follows. In some countries, it's possible to gain a higher degree where some small aspect of a subject would be studied in great depth, without first having a bachelor degree which would prove that the candidate has the breadth and grounding from the basics of the subject upwards. Such a higher degree would be given a Level 8 or 9, but would not PROVE (as a Level 7 would) that the candidate has broad general understanding.)

The job title for your work experience does not matter at all - an employer can call a job whatever makes sense in the context of his business, even if it means nothing to outsiders. What matters is that you provide a description of the responsibilities of the role (from the former employer, or from a colleague who knows what you did), and that these match as nearly as possible the description of that career under ANZSCO. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@....ns+Programmers

It does not matter who is made principle applicant, as long as the application has 140 points at least on the EOI (without job offer - only a minimum of 100 are needed if the principle applicant has a job offer).

[IamTooCool]

HI JadeM,

That makes it interesting. So the PAR we filed it for Masters, does that mean we wasted the money?

our graduation is also in computers.

My wife - Bachelor in Computer Applications
Me - Bachelor in Science (Information Tech)

Regards
Gaurav Sharma

[JandM]

And you didn't have the bachelor's degree for each of you assessed along with the master's? If not, then you will need to get them done. Well, anyway, you will have to get the IQAs done for submission with your ITA in any case, and the fee for each person will cover master's and bachelor's together. It's a shame you didn't see the 'news' here before you got PAR done, because actually, they're always a waste of time and money. 1) They're unreliable, because they're based only on the name of the qualifications, with no consideration of the content, and 2) everyone is going to have to have IQA done anyway.

In case you haven't noticed it mentioned elsewhere, when whoever is the main applicant sends in for their IQA, include the form from Appendix B http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rd...ifications.pdf to ask for their bachelor's degree to be looked at to try to find a specific outcome of equivalence to one of the degrees mentioned for the bonus points for LTSSL for your career.

[IamTooCool]

HI JadeM

We don't have the assessment with us at the moment, its still in progress. We have mentioned our Graduation Degree in the PAR applications as supporting qualifications. So if they are going to match all the qualifications in the application, then we might know what level our bachelor's. As you mentioned above, Master's won't add a value if the bachelor degree is not in the same field. But in our case, our bachelor is in same field. Does that mean, we might be able to claim level 9 for qualifications.

On the other hand, I am feeling that we should apply for IQA for the principal applicant without waiting for the result of PAR (which might take 20 days). Is that what you recommend as well?

Regards
Gaurav

[JandM]

If your Master's comes out as a Level 9, you can claim 60 points for your qualification, whatever area of study it is in. What it won't help with is getting the bonus points for LTSSL.

Yes, I think it's a good idea to get the main applicant's IQA without waiting, then you will know more clearly what your situation is.

[IamTooCool]

Hi JandM

How many points are these bonus points? At the moment, these are points we expecting to get in EOI

- 25 identity
- 35 work exp in Skill Shortage area
- 50-60 qualification principal applicant
- 50-60 qualification partner

=====
so total score comes out to be 140+
Is these points can help us to cross 140 without partner's IQA?

Regards
G

[laxgr]

Hi G,

For partner's qualification, principal applicant gets only 10 points (if NZQA level is less than 7) and 20 points (if assessed at 7 or more)

However, whether your partner's qual needs assessment or not is a different question- it will have to be if the qual is not in the list of qual. exempt - when you look at the table/s, make sure the qualification, university that awards it and the 'from year' are all a match (in synch)

Regards,
laxgr

[IamTooCool]

Hi Laxgr

Then I am confused how points calculator is giving me 155. I just tried again. Attached is what I am answering in Points calculator. answers.jpg How its making it 155, if partner is only getting 20 points.

Regards
Gaurav

[JandM]

The partner's qualification can only be worth 10 or 20 points, depending on its level.

The calculator on the INZ website can be misleading, as it can't think, and also entirely relies on what is entered. From what you have said above, I think you need to look carefully through this section. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/6954.htm SM6 has a chart showing all points it is possible to claim, with the last column directing you to the detailed requirements.