Processing of SMC applications

[Gunkub]

Hi EGoodhue

Thank you for sharing your valuable knowledge about the prepossessing of the SMC applications.
Appreciate if you could please let us know if the Standard Operating Procedure is available publicly?
Also, if in case, an application takes more than usual time how an applicant escalate the case?

Thanks

Not sure what you meant by Standard Operating Procedure, but there's an operation manual, it is a little hard to navigate though...

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/#35439.htm

[JandM]

Thanks as always to EGoodhue for the analysis.

However, I notice there are many places where she, with her former INZ experience, says that things OUGHT TO or SHOULD happen, and that they OUGHT TO or SHOULD occur in x amount of time. Reading the experiences of forum members day by day as I have been doing for many years now, I have gathered that this isn't an ideal world, and INZ does not always work in an ideal way. So don't be surprised if there are hitches, when you have to push for your case to move on in accordance with the procedure laid down that she has explained.

[Gunkub]

Hi Erin thanks for all these valuable information.

I have a question, our medicals would expire probably even before a CO can be assigned. My English exam has expired. Will they ask for new medical certificates and IELTS certificates?

I have heard from a friend last year that she was asked for a new medical certificate before her visa was extended while their SMC application was being processed. The thing is the medical didn’t even reach 3 years yet, but she was asked to provide a new one before the work visa was issued. She also had not left NZ within the last three years and her health had not deteriorated. Is this standard practice?

Thanks a lot for Erin to share all the details.

Also,hi Allune, we are on the same boat here, my IELTS will expire this November, but I just got lodged at early of May.
Don't know if need to take another test, hopefully can be allocated an officer before that.

English Test results only need to be less than 2 years old at the time the application is submitted. I don't think they would request anything extra for that.

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...lts-smc/slider

The operation also did not mention anything about needing another test after a certain period of time. You would only need to hand it in before it expires and that's it.
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/#66777.htm

Compared to police certs, which they put in quite clearly they could request a new one if the application took longer than 12 months to process.
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/#41439.htm

As for Medicals - it's a little more complicated. If she has an ongoing health condition then it's not odd for them to request a new Medical even if the old one still hasn't expired (I had to provide two full medical + one follow up report in the span of one year).

Also Operation Manual stated quite clearly that they can always request for these if they deem it necessary... (e. iv.)
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/#46161.htm

[EGoodhue]

If we have lived in multiple countries and provided police clearance certificates for all already . Will there be a delay for verification with other countries we have lived or they go by the police clearance provided. My case the PCC date was last Oct which has crossed 6 months.

As long as you have provided police certificates for all countries of citizenship and where you have lived for at least 12 months in the past 10 years, and all PCs were less than 6 months old at the time you lodged the application, that's all INZ needs.

[EGoodhue]

Hi EGoodhue

Thank you for sharing your valuable knowledge about the prepossessing of the SMC applications.
Appreciate if you could please let us know if the Standard Operating Procedure is available publicly?
Also, if in case, an application takes more than usual time how an applicant escalate the case?

Thanks

No, the Standard Operating Procedure is not publicly available. But all INZ processing details are available if you make an Official Information Act request.

Push your Immigration Officer for details as to why the process is taking longer than standard is the advice I can offer - hold them accountable for a comprehensive answer. You have a right to know what is happening with your application.

[EGoodhue]

Hi Erin thanks for all these valuable information.

I have a question, our medicals would expire probably even before a CO can be assigned. My English exam has expired. Will they ask for new medical certificates and IELTS certificates?

I have heard from a friend last year that she was asked for a new medical certificate before her visa was extended while their SMC application was being processed. The thing is the medical didn’t even reach 3 years yet, but she was asked to provide a new one before the work visa was issued. She also had not left NZ within the last three years and her health had not deteriorated. Is this standard practice?

INZ shouldn't be penalising you for their own slow processing - as long as you submitted the medical and IELTS before they expired, you've done your part and it's not your fault that INZ are so slow. So it's their own fault if they can't keep up with processing applications quick enough for submitted documents to still be 'reliable'. Be careful of hearsay about what happened with friends' applications - it's impossible to hear all sides of the story and there may have been some other factor that caused INZ to ask your friend for a new medical that she hasn't told you about. It's not standard practice though.

[EGoodhue]

Just reiterating what JandM has noted, the above is how the process is supposed to run. The end-to-end process of assessing an SMC application is designed so that it takes an Immigration Officer only 6-7 weeks to process on average. This clearly doesn't happen for a great number of people at present, which is incredibly disheartening because the process has been specifically designed to be able to make this a reality. What is important is that INZ are held to account for processing delays which are of their own making - for whatever reason, processing is becoming increasingly slow across the board at INZ, but it doesn't have to be this way (I can't help but be suspicious that there is some underlying, covert agenda happening on a higher political level in the background...). I don't believe it's enough to say 'it is what it is' and let INZ hold all the cards when it is people's lives and futures they are dealing with. It is possible for an SMC application to be processed faster than they seem to be recently, and the more people know about the actual process, the more INZ may be held accountable for their inefficiencies.

[allune]

Thanks Erin. It’s helping with the anxiety.

[cwal10]

Hope you don’t mind me asking for advice.
Our case officer first made contact on the 21st May requesting further information to support our application. They have us a week to supply this which we did except tax information from the UK as we hadn’t received it. We told our case officer who emailed to say once they had the information they would continue to assess our application. We sent the tax information to them on the 20th June and requested a confirmation that the information was what they wanted. I have since emailed twice asking if it was ok but have heard nothing back. Is it normal for them not to reply to an email that we sent them over 3 weeks ago?
Just from reading the information above I feel we should have heard something by now.
I have checked our online status and it still says pending.
Thanks

[JandM]

Your online status will continue to say "pending" until a decision is reached - there are no changes in status along the way.

Is it normal for them not to reply to an email that we sent them over 3 weeks ago?

It's probably not what SHOULD happen, but it's very common.