After waiting for 11 weeks our patience has been ripped to shreds but today we finally got an answer from NZIS – bad news. Our application has been denied as my qualifications were not on the list of recognised qualifications.

We were devastated at first, I personally felt humiliated – what had I studied my ass of for all those years

After letting it all sink in for an hour or so I reread the email. At the bottom it said :

If you have any comments or further information you would like considered in your Expression of Interest, please provide them in writing within ten working days of the above date. If we do not receive any communication from you within the above specified time frame we will assume you have nothing further to add.

This was enough for me to gain the energy to ‘find the loophole’ – I knew that my qualifications AND experience was on the long term shortage list. I also knew that the Technikon where I had studied was on there list. There must be an error somewhere. So I started looking at these documents in more detail.

Then it struck me like a ton of bricks : I needed to get my qualifications assessed by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). I submitted a pre-assessment immediately. I also let the case officer at NZIS know what has happened.

The results of the qualification assessment are returned on 25 July 2006. I am assessed at level 7, enough to regain the points I had ‘lost’ in our EOI. I email our Case Officer (CO) immediately.

The waiting game continues…