Advice from the INZ website is not all reliable

You would be forgiven for thinking that the information on the INZ website and advice from INZ staff is pretty accurate, but this is not always the case. 

Overall, there are two parts to this that you need to think about. First, the factual information is almost always reliable, things like costs of applications, the type of visas that are available, phone numbers, fundamental supporting documents, etc. But the second part, which is the more subjective type of information is much less reliable. Information such as processing times, supporting documentation for your specific situation, and so on cannot be accurately relied on.

The first type of information is what INZ must publicly disclose and this should always be accurate. We generally only use the INZ website for things such as confrming costs anyway, so this is OK for us. This type of information is also the most reliable that you can get from callling the INZ call centre.

The second type of information is variable mainly because INZ staff don't really know themselves, so they cannot pass on accurate information all of the time, even if they wanted to. Processsing times are widely variable because each application is different. Necessary supporting documents are also widely variable because each applicant, their situation and their application are always different. The information on the website is like an average or a quickstart guide, that may suit some people to some extent. It is not supposed to be a guide on how to craft the perfect application with a promise on how long it will take to be approved (or even that it will be approved).

I think this is all reasonably logical, but recently I saw one page of the INZ website telling applicants not to send more information that INZ ask for, to speed up processing. This is highly unethical advice and advice that only benefits INZ and is hugely detrimental to applicants. By only providing the documents asked for on the application form you almost guarantee that: 1. your application will be very slow in being processed, 2. you will be asked for further information and given a short time frame to provide it, 3. incomplete applications can raise suspicions and be more likely to be declined, and 4. incomplete applications can raise the possibilty of not providing correct information, providing false information or omissions, which could make it impossible for you to get residence later on.

Only with experience can you know what infomation on the INZ website is trustworthy and what isn't, but if you have that much experience you wouldn't be interested much in the website anyway. We feel the main purpose of the INZ website is to meet requirements for public disclosure of information rather than assisting applicants with an application.

The call centre operators as well only go off the information that is on the website. This is because immigration officers are not immigration advisers and only give publicly avalable information, which means information that is on the website.