Hi, I am GC Angelo Posadas Dumlao. I am a fully licensed Immigration Adviser specialising in complex Partnership-based visa, Relationship-based visa and General Visitor visa applications. My high approval rate would attest to this specialty.
I am born and bred in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. I graduated Bachelor of Arts Major in Philosophy from San Pablo Major Seminary, Baguio City. My ardent desire to serve my fellow Filipinos and migrants obtain and maintain a legal status and secure a visa in New Zealand started when I was caught in a quagmire of unrelentless struggle with Immigration New Zealand (INZ) to keep myself lawful in New Zealand. Back in 2016, we hired an immigration lawyer to broaden and explore our options to stay. None of the three submissions put forward by our immigration lawyer led to cancelling my Deportation Liability Notice (DLN). The DLN was issued to me on the basis that I was not anymore fulfilling the conditions set forth in my Essential Skills Work Visa (ESWV) I was holding at that time. The DLN was issued after we have submitted a partnership- based temporary visa application which was declined on the grounds that we did not satisfy immigration instructions under partnership.
With a heavy heart, we followed what was imminent at that time and after a decline in the Immigration Protection Tribunal (IPT) petition on grounds of humanitarian reason, I had to leave New Zealand with the prospect of exploring more visa options offshore. I then submitted another ESWV application in 2017 in the hopes to re-enter the country and speedily reunite with my wife. This was again declined on the basis of not meeting the Bona Fide requirements of the visa. Together with the decline decision letter, a huge blow came to us when we were informed by INZ that I would need to serve a five-year entry ban to New Zealand as I was deemed to have been deported. This meant that I would have to wait another five years to be able to try and re-enter New Zealand and be reunited with my wife. This has caused a lot of grief and anxiety towards what the future hold for me and my wife at that time. I then wrote a request for Special Direction (SD) to the Minister of Immigration and his Associates because my deportation meant that I could not apply for any type of visa and be granted entry permission unless the SD was granted. At that time despite exiting New Zealand within 28 days of the decline decision from the IPT, I was still deemed deported. This request was not even replied to as I have not received any response from INZ and there was no estimated “processing timeframe” available in their website.
As a last recourse, I instructed my wife to write a request for a Ministerial Intervention (MI) to the then Immigration minister, Lain Lees-Galloway, who happened to be the MP of Palmerston North where my wife resided and worked as a nurse. It took another four months to receive a response from a DDM (Delegated Decision-Maker) in lieu of the Minister saying that INZ is inviting me to apply for Partnership -based temporary work visa application subject to meeting the requirements of the immigration instructions and effectively cancelling my five-year entry ban to New Zealand. This came as an early Christmas gift to us as we received the letter just a few weeks before Christmas of 2018. We were unrepresented at the time when we made the requests for the SD and the MI, so this came as a surprise after several declined applications and appeals, finally an approved request for the Minister of Immigration to intervene paved the way for me to re-enter New Zealand earlier than we expected. The Partnership-based work visa got approved and I re-entered and reunited with my wife in March 2019. I could not have been happier than that moment recounting all the difficulties and struggles we had with INZ. It was a sigh of relief!
Due to this extraordinary experience with INZ, I developed my desire in helping my fellow migrants obtain a visa to stay in New Zealand especially in their Partnership-based visa applications because of this first-hand experience. My desire led me to take up Graduate Diploma in New Zealand Immigration Advice in Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology as a distant student. I took the course and finished the first four papers in 2021. Another hurdle came when I was seeking to get my first Provisional License as an Immigration adviser, it dawned on me that I could not be licensed if I was deported from New Zealand in which I was “deemed deported” before I got considered for a MI. When I was learning more about Immigration laws in our classes, and following a discussion with my tutor, my situation then could not have been a ground for me to be “deemed deported” as I have exited New Zealand within the allowable time I was permitted by law. This was confirmed to me by INZ themselves that I was wrongly deported, and They have apologised accordingly for the undue stress they have caused us following the full refund of the SD fees paid to them. This has made me breathe a big sigh of relief as I could finally be licensed as an Immigration adviser and my name from the list of IPT cases and deportation list was removed.
This extensive first-hand experience will assure my clients that I empathised with them especially if they are in a situation of great uncertainty, caused a lot of anxiety and with financial and economic repercussions as I have gone through it myself if not worst. That is why each visa application I have made is one that is very well thought of, reflecting my expertise in Partnership-based visa among other visa applications considering the clients’ unique situation. I believe this has set me apart from my competitors, my desire to help people as I have known it myself.