A Queenstown employer’s frustrated with delays by Immigration New Zealand (INZ) in assessing a migrant worker’s medical records.
An accredited employer under INZ’s work visa scheme, fish and chips vendor Anna Arndt says she applied on November 25 to bring in a staff member from India.
INZ then asked for more medical information on January 19, but Arndt’s been told the application’s still pending a medical assessment.
‘‘That seems bizarre,’’ she says.
By contrast, she notes the prospective employee’s partner’s visa was approved in 16 days.
Arndt says ‘‘I’m really embarrassed about it because I said to this lady the visa would take about 20 working days’’.
‘‘There’s nothing we can do about it.’’
Last week, INZ border and visa operations GM Nicola Hogg told Mountain Scene ‘‘a medical assessor has seven days from the date a medical is assigned to them to complete the assessment’’.
However, she adds: ‘‘Given the large volume of visa applications and medical assessments needed at the moment, a medical can be ‘pending medical opinion’ for up to 37 days currently.’’
