Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: SMC AIP with decision on newborn pending

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Location
    Hamilton, New Zealand
    Posts
    7

    Default SMC AIP with decision on newborn pending

    Dear everyone
    I just can't reach the call center (no matter the time at which I am calling I always get the "you are calling out of hours" message), so maybe one of the experienced forum member may have a sound advice for me.
    We received an AIP letter for our SMC application in november with the instruction of sending our passports to the nearest VAC by may 15th 2020, which was done last february for all initial applicants.
    However, in the meantime we happily welcomed a new addition to the family in January and decided to include her in our SMC application.
    I had however been warned by our CO that everything had to be received by INZ with enough time for them to process the additional application by may 15th.
    With the Covid breakout in Europe, everything took a bit longer than initially planned and the documents including newborn's passport reached INZ by courier only on march 27th.
    By then, INZ was in full lockdown and since then, my mails to my CO went unanswered. And I am quite certain my baby's application has not been processed
    Of course, we wish to retain the benefit of the AIP letter and not risk getting a denied visa because of the processing delays due to lockdown. Especially because my future boss is still expecting me as soon as the borders reopen (and I don't think I'd go through the whole visa process again!)
    I have already asked for a postponement of the may 15th deadline but the mail went unanswered.
    Should I withdraw my newborn's application and ask for the SMC Visas to be edited? Or is there a good chance the deadline will be postponed due to the Covid lockdown ?

    Sorry for the very long message. Any input will be welcome!

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

    Default

    Nobody can say for certain what is a correct answer here. But I THINK - and this is just an opinion from a lay person, nothing official - that any deadlines given which fell in the run-up to the pandemic and then the lockdown will have become immaterial. INZ was largely closed down and most of the staff were forbidden to go in to work, which accounts for your having heard nothing from your CO. In your place, I would not withdraw your baby's application. When the staff go back in, they will find all kinds of material for the cases they had been working which just got abandoned. They will have a lot of sorting out to do, and I think it's quite likely that the papers relating to the baby will just get gathered up and dealt with as part of that, regardless of when they got there.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    902

    Default

    I agree with JandM, just hold on for another week or so and then INZ staff will be returning to their offices and dealing with the backlog of messages and mail that have piled up during lockdown. Deadlines given before lockdown don't mean much while offices are closed - INZ will give you guidance on how to proceed once they are back in the office next week (I believe only 50% of staff are going to be back next week).

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •