Why things go wrong

	Things do go wrong.
	The overall failure rate of people starting the skilled residence process is about 30%. Licensed Immigration Advisers are usually successful so the failure rate for people who deal directly with Immigration New Zealand must be very much higher than 30%! “If you are a do-it-yourself applicant who, on your own assessment is confident you are eligible; there is a higher than 30% chance you are about to fail and loose all your money.”
	Why does it happen?
	The New Zealand system is not corrupt, and the Government intends to be fair; so what is happening? The problems are that applicants Do not understand the policy, and They fail to take account of human nature.
	What is immigration policy?
	People talk about “Immigration Policy” as if it were a document; like assembly instructions, or a manual. But the rules that determine whether any particular person can visit, work or settle in New Zealand are built of complex layers of authority, not all of which are obvious. An Act of Parliament and it’s many amendments and then Regulations issued under authority of that Act form the first two layers. Their main purpose is to provide a legal framework for decision-making and to empower the Minister and officials but they also impact directly on the management of individual cases. A third layer is formed by Cabinet (government) decisions about things like; categories of people who will be allowed to enter New Zealand, or quotas, or security procedures. Sometimes Cabinet decisions are secret. When the Act, its amendments, Regulations and Cabinet decisions are interpreted by Immigration New Zealand and published as a multi-volume “Operations Manual”, they become a fourth layer of authority; because this Manual is not just a reprint of what was said before, it is an interpretation of what was meant. Five more layers are then added by Manual amendments (at least every three months), Internal Amendment Circulars (approximately one a week), High Court decisions, Appeal Board decisions and Ministerial directives. With 9 layers of authority, each of which should be transparent, but in practice may not be, this system is not user friendly. But migration rules never are designed to suit migrants; they are there to meet the host government’s requirements and maintain firm control over borders. With modern concerns about terrorists, document fraud, and misrepresentation, the system is not about to change! Publicity does not help. In an effort to be helpful, booklets and websites give “simplified” information that applicants assume to be “The Policy”; but it is not. In fact, policy summaries create misunderstandings; even official ones. And when there are many of them in the marketplace, produced by different people at different times. the confusion just gets worse. Finally, with Internal Amendment Circulars being published at the rate of about one a week, no publication or website can ever be 100% up to date. The simple result is that the rules are never clear; and applicants who believe they understand them are very often wrong
	Human Nature
	Then, human nature comes into play. Applicants are human and Immigration Officers are, too. That is two sets of humans dealing with 9 layers of messy rules! The human nature of applicants. It is natural for applicants see themselves as good people whom New Zealand will appreciate. When they see words like “relevant”, “appropriate” or “comparable” they assume that refers to them. They unconsciously overvalue their own eligibility; misunderstand the need to “prove” that which is self-evident (to them) and make inaccurate interpretations of policy that are falsely favourable to their own cause. They scan websites and booklets looking for words that give them hope, but remain unaware of less helpful words hidden somewhere within a real layer of authority. Every applicant says; “I wouldn’t be like that ”; but almost everyone is – it’s human nature. The human nature of Immigration Officers. New Zealand Immigration Officers are honest people. They are decision makers for whom “approve” or “decline” have no emotional meaning; both are simply “decisions” made on the basis of their interpretation of what is in front of them. The one who decides your case will not get a bonus for saying “yes” or a pay deduction for saying “no”. He or she is not paid to “fix your application” or “tell you how to win”. Immigration officers’ pay is not high, so staff turnover is; and your decision maker may have been thrown into the front line with little training. The experience within Immigration New Zealand lies with a small number of senior staff who have usually been promoted out of decision-making into management. The end result is that a lot of errors are regularly made; of declined decisions appealed to the Residence Review Board over 30% are overturned as being incorrect in terms of policy. Since these “approvals – after – appeal” figures are built in to the 30% overall fail / pass rate that we spoke of earlier; you can see that managing your own immigration application really is dangerously like a lottery!
	This is why there are Licensed Advisers
	Licensed Advisers are part of the system; there to assist applicants and provide them with options. Licensed Advisers require training, on-going professional development, a proven track record of success, and are subject to strict oversight by an independent government authority funded by of the Department of Labour (Immigration New Zealand’s parent). A typical Licensed Adviser will have far more experience and training than a typical immigration officer and will be highly motivated to help you gain an approval decision. Applicants do not have to use a Licensed Adviser; but the evidence is clear that those that do are usually successful, and in the process save themselves a lot of time, effort, money and risk.

	The choice is yours, but if you are a serious applicant, the choice is obvious.


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