Our dreams finally came true after 1 day short of 2 years. Thanks to Kamil and the Idesi team for the support doing this stressful period.
It was God who directed us to Idesi!
We have quite a story to tell! So here we go:
We applied for residency in NZ under the skilled migrant category, we thought that we had all our bases covered, i.e. thought we are eligible based on the points calculator on the INZ website.
We submitted our EOI and we were selected on the very next day. We were overjoyed as we got the ITA to apply for residency. Accordingly, we submitted the docs required by INZ. In this instance, we believed that we have submitted all the docs for our residency application and thus, thought that it was a matter of time that INZ processes our residency application (complacency set in).
The first setback:
The case officer sent us a PPI stating that she is unable to match my job contract with the ANZCO (the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations) which I have applied under. We were so stressed and we were looking for legal help to respond to this PPI. We did not have confidence responding to this PPI as it was three pages long. To be honest we did not have much hope of responding to the PPI favorably and we struggled to find answers to the PPI especially with regard to the ANZCO classification. With the PPI deadline nearing we wanted to withdraw our skilled migrant application. We got to know about Idesi thanks to the power of Google. From their website testimonial page found out that they have handled many complicated cases which had zero chances to succeed. But Kamil had amazingly turned these cases around.
We remember calling Kamil on a Saturday and asking for help re our case. She told us to book an appointment with her office on the following Monday. She was kind enough to give us a time the same Monday. At the first appointment and conversation gave us an impression that our case was quite a complex one. But we still remember the words Kamil uttered ‘don’t worry we will handle this’. Our case was undertaken by Idesi and they responded to the PPI by INZ.
Second setback:
Subsequently, we faced an issue where one of our passports was nearing expiry and therefore, INZ only granted one of us a partner of an open work visa valid only up to the expiry of the passport. This created additional stress for us. But Idesi (Kamil) took on this case as well. Again, her called us on a Saturday and informed us to be calm and to leave this matter to her to handle.
Our first minor victory:
We worked with Idesi and were able to get a new passport issued from my home country and INZ extended the open work visa.
The rejection:
Although getting our work visa extended did not end our worries. INZ appointed a new case officer for my residency application in Dec 2017. The case officer reviewed the PPI response and declined our residency application.
Our all our hopes of applying for residency in New Zealand was shattered by this outcome.
The turning point:
But Kamil did not give up, she told us to appeal against INZ’s decision. We trusted Kamil and we appealed to the IPT. Thereafter, Kamil and the Idesi team prepared a very good submission to the IPT regarding our residency application.
The first real victory:
Separate to that, Kamil told us to apply for an Essential Skills Visa under the same ANZCO where the PPI response was submitted. Thus application was handled by Kamil and her team very professionally; INZ approved my essential skills visa for 3 years without any questions. Further, INZ processed this visa in a mere 14 days to be exact. I initially could not believe this when Kamil called me on a late Thursday evening and gave me the good news.
Our hopes were alive again regarding securing residency in New Zealand.
Second victory:
Within 6 months of appealing to the IPT, IPT overturned our residency decline and returned our case back to INZ for reassessment. Kamil called me on a late Friday afternoon and gave me this great news. We were so happy and over the moon. Without Kamil and Idesi, this wouldn’t have been possible.
Happy ending but without chaos thanks to a second PPI and change of case officer:
INZ appointed a case third case officer to reassess our case. She has happy with the ANZCO category but sent us PPI regarding my overseas experience. Again, we thought that we again back to square one and a second residency decline letter was looming. We worked with Kamil and responded to the second PPI. Again, Kamil was very positive regarding the submission. But we were very nervous. Again, we remember Kamil saying to us to “relax and be patient, good things will take time!” These were her exact words.
Adding to our nerves, Idesi informed us that our case officer has now left and INZ will be reassigning our case to a new case officer within 2-3 weeks. But Kamil again called us reassured that our case is in good hands.
The Final lap (end of long winding road):
A new case officer was appointed and the Idesi team told us that our case was in its final stages for a decision. After couple of weeks, the new case officer called Kamil to discuss our residency application.
Residency Application Approved
We checked our status online and it was approved online. We could not believe our eyes, the e online system which were had the status ‘pending’ for close to 2 years finally had the status ‘approved’.
Thank you again for Kamil for the never give up attitude. But not forgetting others who helped us in the Idesi Team (Rain, Chitra, April, Kai and last not least Darius). Our sincere apologies if we have missed out any other names.
DAV AND SHAY
