Don’t Rock The Boat

It has been a very interesting week here on the immigration front, largely because I have spent a big chunk of it speaking to senior INZ officials, more so than I have ever had to do before. Some of that time was involved in trying to rescue specific applications and some of it was focused on trying to work with INZ on some of their processing challenges, but in both situations, it has given me a lot to think about.

Even more interestingly we have had two clients, concerned that the officer handling their case, might get upset if they were to be challenged on their abilities or the work they were doing. One was so concerned that we might be rocking the boat so much that we should possibly send something a bit nicer to keep the officer happy. That prompted me to write an explanation as to how a good adviser operates and deals with Immigration New Zealand why advocacy is a bit of an artform and where we earn our bread and butter.

There is of course a fine line between good advocacy and just arguing for the sake of it, and behind all of that lies the relationships that are built between advisers and INZ. It is also a very cultural thing, because for certain applicants, the thought of critiquing the work of a public servant would be like, contemplating a prison sentence. Thankfully in New Zealand, the ability to challenge, critique, question and correct those in power is not only acceptable, its a national pastime.

So let’s take a look behind the curtain at how this works in practice and why a good advocate is often your best (possibly only) chance of success.

Advocacy or Arguing

Late last week, I was approached by a Singaporean client whose applications had come off the rails. Not for the whole family but for the partner and two of the children. I took a look at the case and couldn’t figure how on earth the officer had arrived at the conclusions they had, and those conclusions resulted in two letters of concern being sent for the children’s applications, meaning they were heading for a decline. Despite the officer being completely wrong, the applicants had done everything in their power to be as nice as possible. Then I got involved.

Fighting The Good Fight

There is a fine line between advocacy and arguing for the sake of it. A good adviser knows where that line is.

I have a very standard process with these situations and that is to start with the officer and to very politely and professionally explain where they might have gone wrong or where there might be some confusion. I tend to try and educate them as best I can. Sometimes that works, and other times, the officers heels dig in and we go to round two. That usually involves be bringing in managers or the “higher ups” to try and explain the situation again, with a few more brains being applied (from INZ that is). If that fails, then the gloves tend to come off, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the megaphone comes out. My clients were concerned I might be rocking the boat (or just tipping it over) and to be fair my next series of exchanges were much stronger, but good advocacy sometimes involves a bit more force. However there is a difference between being forceful and just being difficult.

We have another case at the moment, where we have a very similar scenario and our client is actually getting quite nervous that we are going to annoy the officer (thereby leading to the wrong outcome) but the reality is, while officers might not like what we have to say, we say what they need to hear and at all times, keeping it cool, calm and collected.

In the case of the first client above, this resulted in me having lengthy discussions with INZ’s Technical Advisers and then a much more senior manager. The end outcome was an acknowledgement (by the very senior manager) that there was an issue and then finalisation and approval of the applications within a few hours. Having done the homework, engaged with all the various layers, INZ could clearly see that we had reached the end of our rope, but we had tried all avenues to fix this at the officer level. Good, strong and direct advocacy was the winning strategy and of course knowing who to speak to along the way. For our other client, this is ongoing but I have no doubt that our simple but effective strategy will end up with the same outcome.

All too often I hear stories from clients whose adviser either hasn’t advocated enough or has taken it too far. Our role as advisers is bring calm and common sense to the equation, whilst being able to set INZ straight when required and to guide our clients to a successful outcome. A big part of that comes in being able to build good relationships with those on the other side of the fence. That doesn’t always mean being the best of friends with INZ, but if you don’t show respect, you are unlikely to get any in return.

Trusted Partners

This week I was fortunate enough to be able to meet with the Deputy Secretary for Immigration and two of her colleagues (senior staff within the operation). It was a meeting that I requested, to discuss a number of things, but mostly operational issues. I won’t divulge the full content of that discussion here, but what I can say is that the topic of how advisers and officers interact took centre stage. To INZ’s credit, they were very much on board in terms of making things more collegial and that can only be good for applicants and the industry.

Friend or Foe

Despite sitting on two different sides of the migration fence, there is a lot to be said for trying to work with the system.

In fairness some advisers who have a reputation of shouting and screaming to get what they want, has created an atmosphere amongst officers - and I dont blame them. You are hardly going to want to engage with someone if you expect them to spend the next 10 minute berating you on the phone.

Ironically doing things over the phone is where INZ could potentially gain the most efficiencies - talk to us (or even applicants) to solve problems, rather than sending lengthy emails or letters that ultimately end up in more time and energy being spent to decipher and unravel. The folks I was chatting to had cottoned on to that fact and there is a willingness to make that happen more.

The irony of course is that our role as advisers is to try and make INZ’s job easier, by giving them good, solid applications that an officer shouldn’t really have to think about. On occasion that isn’t always possible and so when things get a bit complicated a quick call can make all the difference.

However to achieve that advisers need to also work on building those relationships with INZ as well - its a two way street. I have spent two decades doing that and while INZ might not always like what I have to say, the fact they are listening is good enough for me. In fact I recently posted an article on Social Medial in relation to a case that was going off the rails (the same one mentioned above) and it was that commentary that prompted INZ to engage with me directly. We worked together to solve the problem.

It’s not always what you know, but who you know - which is a very apt saying, but in our line of work, its both what you know and being able to explain that to the right people. A good adviser will be able to bring both of those benefits to an applicant’s situation, for the right outcome.

Its A Long Game

As part of my work, I supervise a number of other advisers, which is something I really enjoy, because its great to see people learning this craft and being able to impart some of my wisdom on them. I have enough INZ battle scars to be able to help others in that process. Whilst we discuss a lot of the technical stuff, one area that I also emphasise is that you need to build good working relationships with officers and managers at the same time.

The discussions you have with an INZ staff member today are going to be remembered (not necessarily by that officer, but by the organisation) for each and every applicant you represent - it is after all a long game and as advisers we have more than one client to assist. That doesn’t mean we all need to be best of friends all of the time, but keeping it respectful helps. It means that you can later call on people to assist you, when it is required.

For those clients who worry as to whether we might be rocking the boat, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing for that boat to be tipped a little now and then. If your adviser isn’t getting behind your or your application then they really aren’t doing the job you have paid them to do. There are plenty of people available to help you fill in your forms, but then what you probably need is someone who is prepared to fight in your corner when it is required. Personally that is something that I enjoy doing - the more challenging cases are always the most interesting.

Until next week!