How the changing immigration situation makes old information more unreliable
During the Covid pandemic, there were changes to the immigration policy almost every week. Now that this has settled down there are still regular changes though. NZ's immigration law is designed to be able to be changed quickly to take advantage of worldwide factors such as labour shortages, or to close loopholes before they become a problem, and so on.
My friend said that...
It is always surprising that so many people rely on what their friends say about their experiences with immigration, and even when things don't change much, this is a very unreliable strategy for personal success as everyone's experiences will be different. Even statements from licensed professionals that were 100% correct at the time, become incorrect with the passing of new immigration policy and instructions. During Covid we have seen cases where correct advice given has had to be changed the next day because of changes at INZ. Advisers have reported many cases of having to abandon or totally change applications half way through the process as immigration policy has changed. It is not as bad now, but still advice from 2 or 3 months ago is more likely to be unreliable due to many factors within INZ.
This is just the nature of what we need to deal with for visa applicatiosn in NZ and it just means that we all need to be flexible and continually manage applications to keep up with the changes.
Things to be careful of
In any matter concernng immigration to NZ you should always keep in mind these important points:
- What you have done before may not apply now
- What was possible for your friend may not be possible for you, even if you think your situations are the same
- Advice given at any time in the past may not be applicable right now
How do professionals handle this situation?
We also do not like the unpredictability and changeable nature of NZ immigration and can get as frustrated as anyone else, but the biggest difference between a professional and lay person is that when things change, we can react correctly and quickly. We identify the change as soon as it is relevant and we can then re-align the application to the new rules, or to an alternate pathway.
When a lay person is relying on advice given by a professional some time in the past, there is always a risk that advice may have become out of date (even if it was only last week), but when a professional is looking after the entire process, we can update things appropriately as we go along. When things change, we change with it and in this way the proces is managed.
When a person gets information by calling an adviser or getting a consultation, they are getting advice that is correct at the time of the consultation. If 2 weeks later that client starts their application themself, no one can guarantee that the advice given then is 100% correct at the time they submit their application. This is just one of the big risks in a self prepared application. However, when we are looking after the case, when things change, our approach to dealing with it changes accordingly so this part of the risk is mitigated.
The change is inevitible, but you can choose how it is managed.