Hardik Pandya and his wife on their wedding day. Photo / Supplied
Hardik Pandya and his wife on their wedding day. Photo / Supplied
A New Zealand resident who returned to India to get married got stranded for four months after Immigration New Zealand failed to email him an eVisa transfer.
Auckland IT professional Hardik Pandya's Indian passport was about to expire, and the 30-year-old applied online to have his residence visa transferred toa new passport which he obtained in India.
But he never heard back from INZ and could not contact anyone from the agency after multiple attempts.
INZ assistant general manager Karen Bishop confirmed that the agency failed to send a confirmation letter to Pandya to inform him that the residence visa transfer had been completed on September 18 last year - four days after he lodged his application.
"INZ has apologised for this mistake, which was made as a result of human error," Bishop said.
"While any mistake is regrettable, INZ is an organisation that believes in owning its mistakes and we have apologised to Hardik Pandya for the poor customer service he has received in this case."
Hardik Pandya and his wife on their wedding day. Photo / Supplied.
Pandya had intended to stay for about two months when he returned to India last October to marry his wife Kinjal, 24, but could not return to New Zealand because he did not get the confirmation of his visa transfer.
Between November and January, he called INZ's contact centre about 10 times and was put on hold for up to 50 minutes each time. He used the call back request option, but his call wasn't returned.
Pandya also contacted the agency's Delhi office more than 15 times and sent eight emails, but he was told that they did not have access to his files.
Pandya said his experience with INZ not only caused him intense stress but that he also lost more than $8000 in income for the few months that he could not work.
"There were so many bills I couldn't pay, including my rent, insurance, car finance," he said.
"I spent most of my savings of around $30,000 on my wedding and I didn't have much left after that. If not for my understanding landlord letting me stay without paying rent for eight weeks, I wouldn't even have a roof over my head now."
INZ told Pandya in an email that the eVisa transfer was not sent to him by a support officer despite leaving a note in the system saying he did.
"It appears that INZ did not email you due to human error," the email said.
Despite apologising for its "poor customer service" and "ramifications caused", the agency said it would not be compensating Pandya for any loss of income.
"INZ is not responsible for any financial losses you incurred as you elected to travel to India without making sure you knew your visa's status before you left NZ," the email said.
The agency explained that during the period, INZ was "experiencing long wait times due to high call volumes".
Pandya first arrived in NZ in March 2012 on a student's visa and obtained permanent residence in February 2015.
An INZ spokeswoman confirmed that the officer who failed to send the eVisa email was spoken to about the error that was made and the impact this had on Pandya and his family.
"As part of INZ's quality assurance processes, we are constantly providing coaching and training to staff who are processing visa applications," the spokeswoman said.
Pandya is now engaged in a new battle with INZ - to get a visa for his wife to come to New Zealand.
The agency confirmed that his wife's application had been allocated, and that it is working with the couple to ensure the application can be assessed as quickly as possible.
