Southern Institute of Technology hit by slow visa process

Friday, 17 May 2019

Southern Institute of Technology chief executive Penny Simmonds is frustrated by Immigration New Zealand's slow processing of student visas, saying it has cost SIT close to $1 million.

Immigration New Zealand's office in Mumbai, India process visas from Europe and Russia, as well as through the Indian subcontinent and parts of Asia.

From November through to February Immigration New Zealand had a 42 per cent increase in student visa applications from the Indian market alone, which slowed the process.

As a result it had hit the Institutes of Technology and Polytechnic sector particularly hard.

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'A decision was made, inappropriately we believe, by Immigration NZ to prioritise all other visa application ahead of ITP ones because of the Review of Vocational Education.

'University, school, and private provider visa applications got processed as a priority ahead of ITP ones,' Simmonds said.

SIT was about 100 fulltime equivalent international students behind this time last year, despite having more applications than last year.

'We have over 120 applications waiting with INZ at the moment, but others have even greater numbers. So it is a major issue across the sector.'

Student visa approvals took, on average, 90 days for the ITP sector, Simmonds said. She added 30 per cent of SIT applicants had been waiting longer.

Industry calculations suggest the slow processing had taken approximately $36m out of ITP sector in New Zealand.

'It is enormously frustrating for us and coming at a time when the ITP sector least needs this sort of disruption.

'It is likely to have a long term impact as international students waiting are turning their attention to other countries who are not having the same issues.'

Immigration NZ stats indicate, as of this month, 2531 student visa applications for the entire ITP sector were yet to be processed, including 666 from January.

The problem for the SIT, and others in the ITP sector, was that by the time many potential student visas were approved courses had already started, Simmonds said.

The matter has been raised with both the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins, and the Minister for Immigration Iain Lees-Galloway.

Immigration New Zealand visa services manager Michael Carley acknowledged visa applications were taking longer to process than many applicants expected.

'INZ appreciates that the increased processing time is impacting some education providers, however, INZ is committed to ensuring the right level of scrutiny is applied to student visa applications to ensure the right decisions are made for New Zealand,' Carley said.

Remedial actions have put in place to speed up the process, which included increasing staff at Immigration New Zealand's Mumbai office, as well moving applications from the Mumbai office to other offices.

ITPs have also been asked to prioritise their outstanding applications, such as mid-year intakes, Simmonds said.

SIT also took a hit after the Government introduced free fees for tertiary students across New Zealand.

SIT previously offered free fees as a point of difference to try to attract prospective students.

About 200 less school leavers, from outside Southland, joined SIT in 2018 compared to the previous year which had been put down to the introduction of free fees nation-wide.

To try to provide a new point of difference it introduced the Mayor Tim Shadbolt Accommodation Bursary.

The bursary provides students free shared accommodation in one of the SIT's apartments, or $100 per week for private accommodation.