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Thread: Essential skills work visa - selective consideration of evidence.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    3

    Default Essential skills work visa - selective consideration of evidence.

    Hi everyone,

    I submitted my initial essential skills work visa application (Carpenter) but it had shortcomings. Sent my reply to PPI with a 7 page NZ job description and 80+ pictures as evidence + more from employer. Iīve now received a letter, saying that my visa is declined.

    Reasons: 1) No drivers license. - Wasnīt aware of the requirement before it was brought to my
    attention. I then immediately went to put in an application to convert mine to NZīs,
    passed the theory 2 days later and Iīm now waiting to get my restricted licence from
    NZTA so I could do the practical test for full license. I did write about applying for
    conversion and passing the theory test in my request for reconsideration letter. Can the
    whole visa be declined because of not physically having the license at this very moment,
    or will the new CO take into consideration my efforts to get it ASAP? The declination
    letter has this quote: "We have also considered if there are any special circumstances that
    would warrant an exception to immigration instructions, but can find no reason to grant
    a visa as an exception."
    What if I get the full licence a few days before the request of reconsideration decision and
    that is the singular reason why it was declined? On the phone, the INZ suggested adding a
    letter from my employer, stating that a full license is not required for the time Iīm
    waiting to get my practical test done. Would that satisfy the CO or are they super strict
    about it and willing to send a skilled worker away when everything else seems ok?

    2) Not suitable for carpentry work. - Iīve provided overseas evidence and job
    descriptions to satisfy the requirements for a carpenters position and no other issue with it
    has been mentioned. Only problem seems to be with my NZ exp. Out of all the job
    descriptions and 80+ pics the CO picked out a handful that donīt directly match a
    carpenters job. But I only added them to show that I was trusted with more complex and
    higher responsibility work. That was also just from 1 project, while the other 3 have not
    been mentioned. So.. all other experience is ignored and my visa declined
    because of those few examples. In my request for reconsideration letter, Iīve explained
    that in detail, provided more evidence and asked the next CO to be fair and impartial in
    his/her decision-making. But if the same thing happens, what can I do? How can 95% of
    evidence be just ignored, not explained to me why and then have someoneīs visa
    application just thrown in the bin like that? Iīve also provided a recommendation letter
    from a big construction company, in addition to my own employerīs one and these seem
    to have little effect, even though these are guys with decades of experience.

    3) No Skills match report. - I maintain my position of qualifying as a carpenter and see no
    need to provide the SM report.


    Iīve posted the request for a reconsideration, but my interim visa will expire in less than 2 weeks. There is a big chance that I wonīt get the answer before that. I asked the INZ officer on the phone, if applying for a visitors visa for the time being, just for waiting purposes, would work, but he recommended against it. Actually, I didnīt get a real answer out of him in that regard. There was a mention of Section 61, but that sounds just weird. I would apply for a work visa under S61 after overstaying on my interim visa, while waiting for a decision on my work visa application?
    Would it be best to leave the country until I get my answer or will it affect the request for reconsideration in a negative way? Is a visitors visa still an option?

    It might be too late now, but do you think that getting help or advice from a LIA at this point would make any difference? The thing is, like many, Iīve been without work for more than 3 months and only seem to be getting more bills every step of the way. It would at this point be "all in" if I did get legal help but after that my net total worth would be non-existent.


    Any ideas and suggestions are appreciated.

    Thank you!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    37,824

    Default

    I don't know an answer to tell you, you being in serious argument about details with INZ as you are. I don't think the telephone answerers would know what to say, any more than I do. My best suggestion (though I understand the financial problem) is to post at least five times on any thread, so Private Messaging will switch on for you (automatically, after about 20 minutes), then to message the LIAs who post on the threads here, ChrisMwn and EGoodhue. Both of them have sometimes been able to tell forum members something useful without charge, and neither of them would get into any action they would have to charge for without getting agreement in advance. Sometimes, it seems, it's HOW a point is made, and exactly TO WHOM, which can make a difference.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    New zealand
    Posts
    157

    Default

    You cannot apply for any visa while you are on interim visa, though you can still request for reconsideration. You can make Section 61 request only after your interim visa expires when you are technically unlawful in NZ.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    3

    Default

    Thanks for your advice, both of you. Iīm trying to wrap my head around the deportation liability issue. From what Iīve read, it seems as if I have the right to appeal against the dep. liability within 42 days of becoming unlawfully in NZ and before that time, no-one would take me into custody or anything like that. Since I put in the reconsideration request just a few days after getting the letter of declination, thereīs around 2 weeks worth of time for INZ to start processing that request. Then starts the 42 day period after my interim visa expires. The INZ website states that 90% of the requests do get processed within 62 days, to which I would this way get pretty close to. However, I wouldnīt wait the whole 42 days only to get served the dep. order and make things really difficult before getting an answer, but put in a S61 application, lets say, 10 days before? This way, I could wait for a decision from INZ for around 50 days without having to immediately apply for the S61 or appeal against the dep. liability and hopefully get the visa, or still have time to leave the country voluntarily without repercussions. I do care how it would be looked upon by the INZ, because I do not wish to appear disrespectful to the law but I would hope (kindly expect) them to be atleast a bit reasonable about this, like myself and every other visa applicant is being about these long queues and other issues out of our control, that make the waiting times and everything that results from it longer and more difficult for us.

    Can anyone please point out the obvious flaws in this suggested course of action?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    902

    Default

    Sounds like you've been given an incredibly raw deal with the decline of your ESWV application. Was it processed by Christchurch branch by any chance? I have seen some highly dubious decisions coming out of that branch recently. Was the issue of the drivers licence raised in the PPI letter you received? If not, and they've declined on it, this is against the principle of fairness in immigration instructions and could serve as the basis of a formal complaint via the Complaints and Feedback Process. Assuming you've claimed that your job matches the ANZSCO description for Carpenter (331212), there's no need for a skills match report as it's a skill level 3 occupation, not a skill level 4 or 5 (which do require a skills match report). So this would be another error on INZ's part and another ground for complaint. In terms of the work experience evidence, as long as what was provided as evidence was, at a minimum, a work reference letter (or letters) with an issue date, stating the job you did, a brief overview of the tasks you did, the date you started work, the date you finished work, whether the job was full-time and contact details for the writer of the letter, this is all that's required by INZ. If you gave this, and you were still declined, it looks like a case of an over-zealous, risk averse immigration officer (unfortunately this is happening more and more recently) and another ground for complaint. Unfortunately, it takes INZ up to 5 weeks to respond to complaints once they are made, and it seems that time isn't really on your side.
    I don't see any flaws in your suggested course of action, but let me know if you want more advice around the complaints process - sometimes it is a useful avenue for getting a flawed decision overturned (not always), and it's worthwhile trying all options open to you given the time limit you're on.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    3

    Default

    Hi. Thank you for your professional opinion. It adds to the much needed confirmation and confidence in times like these. My visa was processed in the Chch branch, yes.

    The issue with the drivers licence went like this:

    1) It was in the job description written by my employer and also advertised as a requirement for the job.

    2) While Iīve got a license from overseas and an international one, I forgot to upload evidence of it with the initial application.

    3) It was then mentioned in the PPI letter, that Iīm not suitably qualified for the position offered because I havenīt provided evidence of my drivers licence. This is an ambiguous situation because since I hadnīt provided any previous evidence, the CO could not have predicted with certainty, that I hadīt converted my licence to a local license yet. However, since converting their license appears to be a general requirement for everyone whoīs stayed for more than a year in NZ, it wouldnīt have been much of an effort to mention this requirement in the PPI letter as well, by which time, my overseas license was already invalid for more than a month. There was an 1.5 months time period between me submitting my additional evidence and then getting the declining letter. Once I became aware of this requirement, it took me 5 days to pass the theory test, have the restricted license mailed to me 10 days after and now I plan to do the practical test this week – which would cross off one thing from my list of worries. So yeah, I canīt really blame the CO for this, it was initially a shortcoming from my part, but it could have been solved quicker and not be made a big deal with a bit of goodwill from the CO.


    The only reason the SM report has been brought up every time, is the CO not being satisfied with my evidence of qualifying as a carpenter, but from what you mentioned about being atleast a minimum of evidence required by the INZ, I believe to have already satisfied that requirement.

    I initially submitted:

    1) Two letters from overseas employers. Both described the work Iīd done, had start and end dates, issue dates, contact details. One missed to mention "full-time employment".

    2) Letter from a NZ employer which summed up the work Iīd done with him, when it had been done and a "call to action" to call and ask for more information/confirmation if required.

    To prove my additional value to the INZ, I also provided evidence (academic transscript) of my undergraduate bachelor degree, which is literally 98% completed. It doesnīt directly correspond to construction, as it is in natural sciences but it does have more than a dozen completed courses in economics and law, which are one of the fundamental pillars of a functioning society and necessary in all walks of life, including construction. I also provided evidence of having completed a 1.5 month long entrepreneurial training. It is rather insignificant, maybe, but does provide some evidence of character. The final piece of evidence was a personal letter, connecting a few dots between all the submitted evidence, my motivations to become part of the NZ family and my willingness to contribute to the benefit of NZ.

    In the PPI letter, the CO had copy pasted a list of jobs done by a labourer and said that my employerīs Job Position Description is more of a match with that. I can see why that happened. We hadnīt been as thorough with the Position Description as we should have been and that shortcoming was also fixed in our reply to the PPI letter. However, that was the 1st time, when the CO also decided to ignore all other evidence of the actual jobs done, which all corresponded with the carpenters duties.

    I then submitted:

    1) A detailed description of the job duties completed in NZ with illustrations, written by myself.

    2) Another and a more detailed letter from my NZ employer.

    3) A supporting letter from a nation-wide construction company, who was our main-contractor on a 4 million $ construction site, with a "call to action" to call him for more information/confirmation.

    As Iīve described in my opening post, it was mostly all ignored.

    With my reconsideration of a declined visa request, Iīve submitted:

    1) A letter, politely pointing out the shortcoming of the decision-making by my previous CO and my intention to convert my overseas licence ASAP.

    2) Additional photos of me on 2 different overseas construction sites, which correspond to the evidence submitted. It has not been mentioned or required by the CO earlier, but Iīm hoping it shows willingness to cooperate and tilts the balance in my favor.

    I am mailing additional evidence tomorrow, to be added to the ongoing case:

    1) A 3rd letter from my employer, explaining his willingness to provide me transport to and from work, until Iīve sorted things out with my licence. It also argues in favor of the fact that my ability to perform complex job duties is of greater importance, than the current issue with the formality of drivers license.

    2) Evidence of the actual restricted NZ license Iīve received just 2 days ago and of an upcoming practical test, to show my commitment to satisfying all legal requirements.

    3) A letter, made up of excerpts from various articles, sourced from different NZ news outlets and organisations related to the constrution industry. They all carry a similar message, but from a different angle. The MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) has said that an additional 50-60k construction workers are needed until at least 2022. There also appears to be a shortage of apprentices. A special category work visa for the KiwiBuild project is being prepared to be able to import workers from overseas (mainly Asia). These also describe the actual value and benefits that builders immediately provide to the NZ economy with their work every day.

    All in all, Iīm already here in NZ, employed with proven work experience. There is also demand for my skills. I think that should be seen as an advantage to applying from overseas with just verbal agreements, made with prospective employers.
    While I do believe that there is reason enough to make a formal complaint, Iīd follow this path only if a person with experience in these matters, suggests taking this road.


    I hope this example of a chess tournament with the INZ might give some useful hints to anyone else who finds themselves in a similar situation in the future.
    Last edited by Northener; 5th May 2019 at 01:10 PM.

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