Partnership Visa

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.

Hi, my name is Ma Reyza Padal Dumlao. My friends and family call me Reyza for short. I am now a fully pledged Provisional licensed Immigration Adviser. I have successfully completed the first four papers in the GDNZIA (Graduate Diploma in New Zealand Immigration Advice) in 2024. I am working under a fully licensed Immigration adviser as I learn the rope of the occupation. Before this endeavour, I have been a registered nurse for a while back in the Philippines and in New Zealand. What made me shift career is the desire to be at home and working on my own time, thus I am able to spend more time with my young family. I have witnessed how my husband is passionate in helping migrants obtain their visas and so I was drawn into this passion myself. Although my visa journey was one that was straight forward from visitor’s visa all the way to being a citizen by grant in New Zealand, I have never encountered any problems with all my visa applications unlike my husband. I only came to struggle with visa problems when I had to write to a high-profile person to request for a Ministerial Intervention in an attempt to have my husband’s five-year entry ban to New Zealand cancelled and make exemptions to immigration instruction. We were thankful they heed our request at that time if not we are not where we are right now, and in a position to help others who are caught with difficult situations with their visas and thus affecting their ability to work and provide for their families. In both of our capacities as a licensed Immigration adviser, you can be rest assured that we deal with your visa concerns with utmost dedication, focus and attention it deserves resulting to an outcome that is favourable and desirable.

Hi, my name is Fe Cynthia Posadas Dumlao. My friends and family fondly call me “Zeny”. I work with Dumlao Immigration in my capacity as a Virtual assistant. I help with responding to the numerous enquiries to the company and directing client’s concerns to our immigration advisers. I hail from San Carlos City, Pangasinan, Philippines. I finished my Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from the Lyceum-Northwestern University of Dagupan in 1993. I have since been a loving housewife and moved to New Zealand in 2010 to reunite with my husband who worked in the dairy industry. I myself was beset with immigration struggle when on a routine Immigration medical in 2015 for the renewal of a temporary partnership-based visa. It was discovered that I had a valve disease and therefore I did not meet the health requirements of the visa I was renewing that time. My visa subsequently got declined and I had to make the difficult decision to go home back to the Philippines rather than be unlawful here in New Zealand. I had my heart valve surgery in the Philippine Heart Center in 2016. I eventually was able to re-enter New Zealand in 2019 after proving that my health after my surgery will not pose significant cost and demand to New Zealand health services. But even then, it was still difficult for me to be approved a work visa because I needed to request for a medical waiver which was eventually granted. We are now Permanent resident visa holders and happily living with our family. I thanked God that we surpassed all the trials at that time especially the time when we were separated due to my health conditions and visa problems. Rest assured that I could empathised with you and with what you are going through especially with your visa concerns and that we are here to help you in the best way we can.