Urgent visa help needed

[welly1234]

Hi everyone,

Never posted in here before so hope I'm doing it right!

My partner and I are having a huge immigration dilemma and we could really use some advice- not sure anyone would have been in a similar situation though.

We applied for our SMC VISA in October 2018 and were allocated a CO within 7 days and 7 days later she advised that she had everything she needed, it all looked great, she had approved it and was passing to the 2nd CO.

I then logged into my online portal a week later and it came up as APPROVED! I was jumping for joy and emailed my CO excitedly.. she came back a day later saying in actual fact it was still pending (logged into the portal and it went back to pending) so we carried on waiting patiently thinking any day now it'll come back as approved. Working holiday visa expires on 17th March 2019.

I called a month later for an update and she said she is waiting for external feedback and third party feedback.. this was a few months ago now.. called again on Friday 23rd feb and she just says I can't tell you anything.. urgh.. but then says she recommends we apply for the temporary work visa at the end of Feb!!!!


We applied for it as soon as we could on Friday (Essential skills VISA and Partner of a work VISA) I uploaded a cover letter with it explaining the situation and begging for fast tracking or being looked as soon as possible. I called the call centre today and they have said that as its within the time frames they cannot request fast tracking of the application..

So our work visas run out on the 18th march.. literally a couple of weeks and I know we will be granted an interim visa but both of our employers have made it clear that our jobs won't be able to be held for us.. as we wouldn't lawfully be able to work from this date. So we would both lose our jobs, have no income and the visas would then be useless as it would be for a previous job- if we were to definately lose the job.

We would have applied sooner if we had been communicated with by our CO.

In terms of the interim visa does anyone have any experience of being on one? Could we potentially use a couple of weeks of sick leave/annual leave and hope it comes back within that time? Or work from home? Or go unpaid and work voluntarily? How long do they tend to leave you on an interim?

Will it flag on their system that priority needs to be taken for our application as we are nearing the end of our current visa or does it not work like that?


Any suggestions/advice appreciated.


Super freaking out right now!

[EGoodhue]

That's terrible that your SMC application hasn't been resolved yet and the check they need to make wasn't picked up before 2PC - that's pure incompetence on the immigration officer's part and so very disappointing. It sounds as if you have a case for requesting priority processing of your work visa applications - unfortunately there's no flagging up feature on the INZ system (that I know of) that will alert them to the fact that your current visas are expiring soon and you therefore deserve priority processing. Once you know which branch your applications have gone to, I can help to find an email address of where to make a specific request for priority processing. The fact that you are at risk of losing your jobs because of INZ incompetence is a perfect example of circumstances that deserve priority processing!

[JandM]

Welly1234, do follow this up as EGoodhue suggests. We know she does what she says she will. All the very best.

[Luseane]

We went through the same case last year and we were still able to work on our Interim Visas while awaiting the final decision... ie. If you're applying for a work visa as partner of a worker, the conditions of your interim visa should be the same as what visa you're applying for. Hope this helps.

[welly1234]

Thankyou so much. Such an awful suituation and we just keep getting the same message from immigration. Your work visa is within its processing time therefore we are unable to fast track this application or make sure it has priority processing.

They really seem to not care at all that two jobs are on the line which would mean zero income = unable to afford our rent etc etc
An email would be really useful thank you so much! Is there any specific terms or words I should use in my email to them?

[welly1234]

We went through the same case last year and we were still able to work on our Interim Visas while awaiting the final decision... ie. If you're applying for a work visa as partner of a worker, the conditions of your interim visa should be the same as what visa you're applying for. Hope this helps.

So we are going from UK working holiday visa to 1 essential skills and 1 partner of a work, work visa. The call centre have said neither of us could work... is this right??

[welly1234]

That's terrible that your SMC application hasn't been resolved yet and the check they need to make wasn't picked up before 2PC - that's pure incompetence on the immigration officer's part and so very disappointing. It sounds as if you have a case for requesting priority processing of your work visa applications - unfortunately there's no flagging up feature on the INZ system (that I know of) that will alert them to the fact that your current visas are expiring soon and you therefore deserve priority processing. Once you know which branch your applications have gone to, I can help to find an email address of where to make a specific request for priority processing. The fact that you are at risk of losing your jobs because of INZ incompetence is a perfect example of circumstances that deserve priority processing!

Sorry forgot to mention it’s gone to Manuakau office that’s all I know! That’s the same office as my SMC visa application and I spoke to my case officer yesturday and case officers manager and they have both said them will not speak to anyone in the work visa team to see if they can put priority processing on this visa to ensure we can carrying on working- neither of them seem to have any empathy on the situation!

[JandM]

So we are going from UK working holiday visa to 1 essential skills and 1 partner of a work, work visa. The call centre have said neither of us could work... is this right??

Yes, that's correct. If you're applying for a different sort of temporary visa from the one you already have, the interim visa only gives you visitor visa equivalent rights. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...isa-conditions

[EGoodhue]

You could try one of the Immigration Managers of the Temp Visa team in Manukau - Manhal Yaikoob (manhal.yaikoob@mbie.govt.nz). In your email, briefly but clearly explain the history of your SMC application (was processed and approved quickly but then was rolled back due to an apparent INZ error) and that you have only applied for new work visas due to the delays in the processing of your SMC application, again due to INZ error, and the inability to get a clear and honest answer about what's happening with your SMC application. Make sure you highlight the fact that you're likely to lose your jobs due to the delays in INZ processing, and any supporting evidence you can provide from your employer to back this up would be helpful (a letter attesting to the fact that your jobs can't be held open for the likely 3 months it's going to take to process your work visas).

Unfortunately if you hold an open work visa and then apply for a different type of open work visa (as your partner is) and an employer specific work visa (as you are), your interim visa conditions will be that of a Visitor - so no ability to work until your new visas are granted.

Do you mind telling me who your CO and the IM are for your SMC application? Sounds like their attitude is abysmal!

[welly1234]

You could try one of the Immigration Managers of the Temp Visa team in Manukau - Manhal Yaikoob (manhal.yaikoob@mbie.govt.nz). In your email, briefly but clearly explain the history of your SMC application (was processed and approved quickly but then was rolled back due to an apparent INZ error) and that you have only applied for new work visas due to the delays in the processing of your SMC application, again due to INZ error, and the inability to get a clear and honest answer about what's happening with your SMC application. Make sure you highlight the fact that you're likely to lose your jobs due to the delays in INZ processing, and any supporting evidence you can provide from your employer to back this up would be helpful (a letter attesting to the fact that your jobs can't be held open for the likely 3 months it's going to take to process your work visas).

Unfortunately if you hold an open work visa and then apply for a different type of open work visa (as your partner is) and an employer specific work visa (as you are), your interim visa conditions will be that of a Visitor - so no ability to work until your new visas are granted.

Do you mind telling me who your CO and the IM are for your SMC application? Sounds like their attitude is abysmal!

Okay thanks for your response EGoodhue, will they look at my application in a negative light if i keep contacting them? And will they wonder why i have got the email address from, im concerned throwing the other CO under the bus by explaining the situation and then they go and speak to them etc? I've called the call center a few times now too- they speak to me like i am being a huge inconvenience. Do you think there is ANY chance this work visa could be approved by 17th March, how long on average would it take for a CO to go through and approve once its assigned to them??


In terms of the interim visa if we cant work, how would they know if you did? Could my partner work unpaid from home? Or take sick leave/annual leave until this was approved? Would that be allowed? He is obviously so concerned about losing a job hes worked so hard for and absolutely loves. Then if the visa came back as approved after losing the job it would then be invalid anyway!!!!


We have applied for the essential skills based on my partners job and me as the partner of a work work visa. So if im on a UK open holiday work currently and have applied as a partner of a worker work visa (so this will be an open work visa for me but job specific for him) does this mean i can carry on working?

Do you know what external third party feedback means and why it would take 3 months.....

More than happy to share CO and IM names, can i do this in a private message Not sure how ENZ works..


Thanks for all your help it is really really appreciated!