GENERAL ELIGIBILITY ISSUES

During the course of applying for a temporary visa or residence visa if Immigration New Zealand (INZ) identify information which is prejudicial to a positive outcome on the application made, INZ are obligated, by law, to set out the concerns in detail, set out the applicable INZ policy, and provide a reasonable opportunity for the individual (or their representative) to respond to the issues raised to allow a fully informed decision to be made on the application.

Potentially prejudicial information letters are serious letters received during the processing of an application, which indicate that unless the concern of the Immigration officer is addressed adequately a decision to decline the application will be made.

Receiving such a letter should be treated seriously, and if you have any doubt in relation to your ability (or your licensed immigration adviser’s ability) to address the concerns seek professional assistance.  Quite often individuals address or respond to these letters in a less than satisfactorily manner only to find as a result the application is declined where, in reality, if a fully considered and detailed response was provided the result would have been otherwise.

Due to our firm’s reputation for the provision of specialist immigration services we often receive approaches from individuals who have received potentially prejudicial information letters and associated instructions for our firm to take over the processing of the application and resolve the issue (if possible).

Whilst our firm does take over and has an excellent record of satisfactorily addressing concerns raised in potentially prejudicial information letters, in many instances, it becomes quite clear that the issue could have been readily identified and addressed before submission of the application or a simple error has been made by the applicant or their licensed immigration adviser which has complicated matters considerably.

In reality, no individual who has been appropriately guided through the process should actually receive a potentially prejudicial information letter without the risk of receiving such a letter or an issue associated with the application being clearly communicated to that person at the outset.  If you are not represented and receive a potentially prejudicial information letter, this usually indicates that an error has been made on your part, or, in some instances, INZ have actually made an error.

Whilst our firm is able to and does receive significant instructions from individuals to take over applications where potentially prejudicial information letters are received, it is efficient from both a time perspective and also a cost perspective for our firm to be engaged at the outset to file applications which are compliant and these types of issues either resolved and satisfactorily addressed before submission of the application or at least identified to allow a fully informed decision to be made as to whether or not an application should be submitted.

Unfortunately due to the high number of "poor and questionable" decisions being made on INZ applications by Immigration officers (refer our article on the Government finding that 20% of decisions made by INZ are considered "poor and questionable"), in a number of instances potentially prejudicial information letters are received providing an indication as to the INZ position to decline an application where, quite simply, the INZ officer has misapplied or misunderstood the application policy.

If during the course of your application you receive a potentially prejudicial information letter do not accept the position of INZ at face value.  Seek a second opinion.  A professional adviser such as our firm will advise you relatively quickly (if possible) as to whether or not there is substance to the letter and also, importantly, whether or not the issue can be resolved.