Can I correct it even if the ITA has been issued?
Junior Member
Can I correct it even if the ITA has been issued?
Administrator
You must - it is your obligation to make sure INZ have the truth, and also, if any changes happen in your circumstances while the case is being processed, to keep them up to date. You can alter the ITA, so that when you send it in, it is accurate.
Junior Member
The amount of "change in circumstances" the INZ are going to receive from hereon out is going to be huge. If it's going to take then >12 months to process a residency visa application they can EXPECT many people would have had a change in circumstances. Employer, relationship, health....all of that stuff can easily change in a year or more. The INZ have essentially shot themselves in one foot while proclaiming they've "helped" the other foot.
Administrator
Yes, quite agree.
Junior Member
What do you think the chances are of INZ (or the government itself) cancelling all SMC Residency applications and refunding people? Do you think they'd go that far? I'm pretty sure that would be the death-knell for New Zealand's skilled workforce because very few skilled immigrants would remain in a country where residency isn't possible anymore. My wife and I have already decided that as soon as the government announces the closure of the SMC residency pathway, we're packing our bags and looking for a different country immediately. INZ and the government itself have gotten themselves into a REALLY hot mess. Their anti-immigrant views may end up costing this country a lot more than they'd ever thought possible. I just wish I'd known this before I uprooted my family.Originally Posted by JandM
Administrator
I think it's HIGHLY unlikely, not quite to say impossible. I can understand how irritating and upsetting this is for you, and everyone, in the application stage at the moment, but try not to get swept away by the emotions. There is A LOT of annoyance among the NZ population (particularly employers and institutions who depend on skilled workers) about what is going on - the recent news items have spread the word about the situation the foreigners have been stuck in for months, but which wasn't generally known. Those people just hearing this are the voters. Also, the NZ government have to consider the situation of their own citizens going overseas. It's a regular feature of young New Zealanders' lives to go on an OE (overseas experience), and many end up settling and working in other countries, at least for a while, so what would be likely to be the international backlash, impacting them, if the NZ government suddenly bolted the doors? NZ needs the rest of the world, in all sorts of ways.What do you think the chances are of INZ (or the government itself)* cancelling all SMC Residency applications and refunding people?
*(INZ can't act all by itself. The organization applies the regulations. It's the government who put the regulations in place, and so it's the present incumbents who can alter things - but supposedly only by going through proper procedures.)
Senior Member
Prior to the Skilled Migrant Category, the popular Residence pathway was called General Skills (up until 2003) and prior to that there was no doubt another policy - INZ has always had a Residence pathway in some form, and no doubt always will because we will always need migrants to fill our significant gaps in the labour market. Whether the Skilled Migrant Category gets altered or replaced by something else in the near future can't be known for certain until the Government comes clean about these recent news stories this week and makes a statement. But I highly doubt we'd see a situation of SMC applications getting cancelled and refunded - even when the Parent Category was closed in 2016, no refunds were made...most of those people who were already in the system are still there, in limbo, waiting for the Government to make a call that they've been promising for months now.
Surely something's got to happen soon - there are too many interested stakeholders for it not to (a lot of licensed immigration advisers with plenty to say about it included!)
Junior Member
all this fiasco is giving me great stress. I have been honestly trying for years to apply for residency and now when it has been lodged, all this uncertainty begins....1-2 years is a huge time for change of circumstances. jobs change, jobs end, motivation changes....
Despite being in skilled job for more than 3 years, I am still uncertain about even if my smc application would even be processed. back in 2017 i could not apply for residency because my LIA passed away and he had all our smc documents and by the time i received my documents, the date to lodge ITA passed and i was no longer fulfilling the inz salary threshold. in 2018 when i finally managed to fulfill salary threshold again, and was about to lodge ITA once again, suddenly my employer refused to support me and couldnt lodge ITA. Salary threshold was also increased then. In 2019 through my handwork when i got promotion and got a raise and exceed inz salary threshold and my employer also happily agreed to support me and I again decided to apply for residency and actually able to lodge new ITA successfully. But NOW after all this handwork and sacrifices all my hard work seems to be going in the garbage due to some political agenda.
now i am thinking it would have been better that I would have remained stay at home mom and spend happy and loving time with my toddler instead of wasting my energy, resources, hopes and motivation to secure a residency.
Administrator
Don't despair. Your application is in there, and nobody seriously thinks that residence can be done away with, so in time, the present list will be worked through. People already in the system have an advantage over those who were still preparing to submit, as they met the known criteria.
Senior Member
Not a great situation to be in, but I would expect that if you fulfill the criteria, are working in a job here in NZ and are supported by your employer you are still streets ahead of someone who isn't even in the country. Good luck.
Just to add- it has never been an easy path for everyone..., lots of us had to think of ways to work around obstacles and take massive risks to make everything happen.., even more than 10 years ago, and even if you were holding a qualification in an area where there was desperate need....
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