URGENT! J&M, Chris! PLEASE assist

[it_geek]

Hi J&M and Chris,

Really need your help here, urgently. My friend applied for a variation of condition visa while being on post study employer assisted visa and immigration has come back with really unexpected questions.

He was convicted in the court for drinking and driving while on JSV and was granted a character waiver for the employer assisted visa. Recently he received a really good job offer and applied for VOC and before applying he spoke to immigration center about 4 times and a few lawyers as well to confirm that his character won't be questioned. Everyone told him that its not asked in VOC and he shouldn't be worried about it however he received a letter with these questions:

1) "As per the above New Zealand Police Certificate, you have been convicted. Therefore, it appears that you are subject to Instructions A5.45 (d) (ii), rendering you normally ineligible for a temporary visa unless granted a character waiver.
We do note previously we have raised this concern with you and we have granted you a Character Waiver. However, our records show further verification is required to mitigate this character concern, therefore we are requesting an updated New Zealand Police Check/Report. This will take about 30 days to receive the results.

2)Based on the information available, we have concerns that you may not be a bona fide applicant. We have made this determination because of the character concern mentioned above and therefore we have concerns of your intentions in New Zealand, that you will remain in New Zealand lawfully and will not breach the conditions of visas granted to you from Immigration New Zealand.


(A)Question is how is character coming in question and can he be granted a visa first and then immigration can wait to receive the police report which takes 30 days. The issue is that immi has taken 4 weeks to start processing the file and another 30 days on top will frustrate the employer. He has already resigned from the current job and he has to be home now as he has no valid visa

(B) How can being a bona fide applicant come in question all of a sudden while he had 9 months on his current visa left and just applied for a VOC because he was getting paid better. Could it be because of some false allegations sent to immigration? How hard is it to prove this and what are the ways to prove it?



Many thanks in advance. Eagerly waiting for your response.

[JandM]

This is a situation that needs specialist knowledge - it's different from anything I have learnt from reading people's experiences on the forum. I hope Chris may have something to say.

[ChrisMwn]

Once a character issue, always a character issue. Just because a character waiver was granted previously, doesn't mean that INZ can't revisit it each time you make an application. PM me

[it_geek]

Hi Chris & J&M,

Really appreciate your assistance in this..

The question is that this variation of conditions visa, not a fresh work visa application. We can’t understand that even after we got told by contact centers and lawyers that VOC doesn’t require character waiver then why the immigration officer has still asked for it.

What is the best way to move forward? Should we just wait for them to come back from the police for clearance or ask them questions around what new information/allegation has been received by immigration so we can defend accordingly.

[JandM]

Contact centre telephone answerers and lawyers are not INZ officials - it's what the CO dealing with your case wants from you that you have to respond to. I don't know if you realize, INZ have wider powers even than the police when investigating. Yes, talk to Chris.

[it_geek]

Chris can you please PM me, I canÂ’t find out how to pm

[ysc5]

Chris can you please PM me, I canÂ’t find out how to pm

post a few more times then u can use the pm function. Its this forum settings.
Even chris can't pm you if you dont have this function enable.

[JandM]

it_geek, you should be able to PM with no trouble (the minimum is 5 posts for it to be enabled, and you are long past that).

Click on ChrisMwn's username over one of his posts, and PMing will be one of the options in the dropdown box that appears.

Or go to Private Messages on the blue bar at the top left of the page.

In either case, a screen will then open, where you'll find you can see any PMs sent to you, and you can set up a New Message to send to any other member of the forum.

[it_geek]

Hi Guys,

I have Pm'd. Also could you please advise how difficult will it be to prove the Bona fide part of these concerns raised by immigration officer.

[rk123]

Hi Chris & J&M,

Really appreciate your assistance in this..

The question is that this variation of conditions visa, not a fresh work visa application. We can’t understand that even after we got told by contact centers and lawyers that VOC doesn’t require character waiver then why the immigration officer has still asked for it.

What is the best way to move forward? Should we just wait for them to come back from the police for clearance or ask them questions around what new information/allegation has been received by immigration so we can defend accordingly.

Mate, My SMC application was declined because i didnot declare my careless driving conviction. INZ declined on two basis, Misleading information & Character issue(which could have been resolved by considering character waiver and probability of events against me VS events in my favour).
But anyway i changed my Employer after my SMC application declined & applied for VOC.

As VOC form doesnot have any question related to conviction, i did not mention it in my SMC application. I was not asked to provide a character waive ror anything.

Just explain the circumstances associated with it again and you will be fine.