Hi all,
I need to lodge my ITA application ASAP (within 2 days) to retain my age points but I am very confused by few things and want to clarify them ideally before I lodge my application. I would appreciate your prompt responses. I will try to keep my post short and to the point.
In my ITA letter it states that
You are required to submit a full NZQA International Qualification Assessment (“IQA”) of your qualification when you submit your application in order to be eligible for qualification and / or bonus points in an area of absolute skills shortage. Your specific NZQA requirements are:
Comparable qualification - One of the following qualifications:
ICT Professionals (261111 to 263312)
Please note that your IQA must be returned with a result stating that your qualification is comparable to a specific degree as stated above. If your IQA report is returned stating that your qualification is comparable to “A qualification at level 7”, you will no longer be eligible for bonus points as this result does not meet the requirements of the LTSSL, and therefore you will NOT be able lodge your application with us.
My IQA Assessment from NZQA states the following
The most appropriate benchmark for your Bachelor of Science from xxxx is to a bachelor's degree at Level 7 in New Zealand, and your Master of science from xxxxx is to a master's degree at Level 9. These are generic outcomes.
As your qualifications are not a Washington Accord accredited degrees, a comparison to a specific New Zealand Engineering degrees is more appropriately made by IPENZ, alongside the other occupational competencies. IPENZ offers assessment services to overseas engineers specifically seeking bonus immigration points under lmmigration New Zealand's Long Term Skill Shortage List.
So, I did not get specific degree assessment result from NZQA as stated in my ITA letter; ICT Professionals (261111 to 263312). I contacted IPENZ to get specific assessment for my qualifications as per suggestions by NZQA in my IQA. IPENZ told me that it will take 6-8 weeks to complete my assessment (KA02) which was a worry for me because in 6-8 weeks my ITA will expire. So, I contacted INZ for my concerns and forwarded them a scan copy of my IQA report and I got the following response via email
You have claimed bonus points in AASS as an ICT Professional. An assessment completed by IPENZ is NOT a requirement on the LTSSL for ICT Professionals.
Your qualification has been assessed as comparable to a Bachelor degree level 7. As it matches the type and level required by the LTSSL, a comparability assessment of your qualification will be conducted by a Technical Advisor at application stage - should you decide to submit your residence application. However, please note that there is no guarantee of favorable outcome. You should be aware that if you do not meet the requirements of the LTSSL you would not be eligible for bonus points and your application may be declined at application stage.
Now, INZ said that my qualification assessment matches the type and level required by LTSSL. This is very confusing. My assessment is generic not specific (bachelor's degree at Level 7 and master’s degree at Level 9) and LTSSL have only specific degrees with their names, LTSSL do not have generic degrees.
LTSSL link is http://skillshortages.immigration.go...014-08-06-.pdf
After all this, I wonder……
Q1) Am I still illegible to lodge ITA without having specific outcomes of my qualifications as stated in my ITA?
Q2) What is the difference between “A qualification at level 7” and “bachelor's degree at Level 7”.
If my IQA states that I have “qualification at level 7” then my application will be simply rejected as it’s written in my ITA letter (see above). Luckily, my IQA states that my qualifications are equal to “bachelor's degree at Level 7” and I am able to lodge my ITA application as per response from INZ.
Q3) If I lodge my application, only then comparability assessment of my qualification will be conducted by a Technical Adviser. Isn’t this the job of NZQA or IPENZ? What different Technical Adviser will do?
Q4) since my assessment outcome is generic only; a “bachelor’s degree at Level 7” and “Master’s degree at Level 9” which is not in LTSSL. Now, if I lodge my ITA application; is it still possible that comparability assessment will turn out positive with generic outcomes by NZQA?
Q5)Should I apply for IPENZ assessment now or I should lodge my ITA and then wait for the assessment by Technical adviser?
I hope someone will be able to help me soon and kindly correct me if I am wrong somewhere in understanding the process. Thank u in advance. Waiting for your comments and suggestions. Thanks again.