The HSMP Team's horrendous mistake!

[JhonnyECU]

Dear forum members,

are you folks ready to read the most awful, abominable, alarming, appalling, atrocious, deplorable, depressing, dire, disgusting, distressing, dreadful, fearful, frightful, ghastly, grody, gross, gruesome, grungy, harrowing, hideous, horrendous, horrible, horrific, horrifying, nasty, offensive, raunchy, repulsive, shocking, stinking, synthetic, tough, ugly, unpleasant, unsightly review procedure of the entire forum history

1. The absurdity has no limits in silly little Doncaster

unfairly, in my first review refusal letter, which arrived two days ago, my caseworker says that "i have NO chance to request a second review since the review team has already undertook a second review and must submit a fresh application".

according to the hsmp guidance under paragraph 24 "If your HSMP application is refused and you wish to have the decision reviewed, you should send a request, in writing, stating your reasons for the request, within 28 days of the date of our letter. A maximum of two reviews may be requested in respect of any application."

then, why did they 'undertake' a second review without me requesting it?


2. Would they ever would get up their completely unexperienced, lazy, under paid, unskilled asses up in doncaster to do ANY extra effort in special cases?

i had specifically requested in my first and ONLY review request letter for the hsmp review team to contact either by telephone or by email to a uk naric senior, i repeat SENIOR, information officer who is the expert on spanish academic qualifications. this person is still willing to explain anybody from the HO about how uk naric cannot assess my masters degree since the spanish educational system has not fully incorporated this degree BUT to strongly suggest (which is their policy in very unique exceptions like mine) "to use their discretion to consider this degree as comparable to a british masters degree". remember the hsmp team ONLY follow what uk naric tell them to do!

but guess what really happened? nobody from the review team contacted this uk naric senior information officer. i emailed her on the day when i got the refusal and this was the answer i got:

So far, nobody from the Home Office has got in touch with me.

Yours sincerely

i answered asking for her help and even went to the extreme of respectfully requesting her extra assistance and see if she could directly call my caseworker and this was her answer:

As agreed in previous conversations, the UK NARIC will be happy to explain to the Home Office the current situation with the Master in Spain.

Yours sincerely

xx xxx
Senior Information Officer
UK NARIC
Oriel House
Oriel Road
Cheltenham
GLOS
GL50 1XP

so, to summarize, the hsmp review team tyrannically and arbitrarily have broken their rules by undertaking a second review which i NEVER requested.

secondly, even if they had reviewed my file a thousand times, the have ignored my ONLY and specific request of contacting tha uk naric person. i know they have ignored it in purpouse because BEFORE a decision was made, i bombarded doncaster through every possible way of communication 'reminding them that this uk naric extra clarification on my case was CRUCIAL for me to be accepted'.
WHY was this uk naric person NEVER contacted?

i really can not find a logical explanation of how the operate but the only thing i can say is that their work with my application has been anything but professional, correct, clear, intelligent, efficient and FAIR ?


well, i hope you might have found this reading insightful and inspirational.

maybe there would be a few very nice and lovely members here who would be so kind to share their ideas, similar situations (hope no one goes through this, ever!), suggestions, solutions, etc

i am doing fine simply because i am very convinced that i did my very best while preparing this application. my skills, intellect and education have satisfied various tv and film companies in several countries including: germany, usa, spain and EVEN the UK (abroad of course)... i know what i am worth, and i am possitive that a MUCH better chance would come to my way

dont forget i work in media and i wont rest until i make a revealing documentary about their inconsistence up there...one way or another i will get some heads chopped up there, dont worry! it is just extremely horrifying how these (your favorite insult comes in this space) caseworkers have completely broken their own rules with my evidence showing this unacceptable treatment and procedure.


best luck for all of you!

jhonny

[JhonnyECU]

another thing,

just in case someone is wondering about the content of this refusal letter, i have taken the pain to type exactly word by word for your consideration:

Dear Mr. My last name

A second independent review or your application has now been undertaken by a supervisor. The supervisor continues to consider the original decision to be correct and our refusal in this case has therefore been upheld.

The scoring areas of HSMP have strict requirements in respect of the documentary evidence that must be provided for the award of points. Details of thise requirements for each scoring area are provided in teh HSMP guidance.

The documentation provided for the each section you wish us to review for a second time does not fully comply with these requirements and we are therefore unable to award any further points in this case.

Your application has now been reviewed on two separate occasions, with independent consideration for each stage. I am therefore unable to accept any further requests for reconsideration of this application.

If you wish us to reconsider this decision on the basis of new or additional information not included in the application that is the subject or this decision, you must submit a fresh application on teh appropiate HSMP form.

To submit additional evidence for reconsideration, send a completed HSMP application form with full supporting evidence (including the evidence originally supplied) and the appropiate fee to the following adress.

X X

HSMP Team

NOW, out of the two refusal letters i had received before, in which my former caseworers did their work of actually EXPLAINING section by section with the respective awarded points, this letter is SOOOOOOOOOOO vaguely written and so general that it just makes me want to throw up on it...

all your comments, ideas, suggestions, etc are like always MORE than welcome

jhonny


ps. has anyone know the 'real timeframes' for applying in canada?

[bani]

Sorry to hear about the refusal. I think yours was a difficult case. Even if they did contact NARIC and given you 25 points for education, they were still hesitant on the significant achievement points which you also need. I think the main problem is there aren't many in your field who apply for HSMP and it isn't a shortage profession either. So the caseworkers just can't get an idea how good you are, what you are worth in your field, how they would award points for someone in your profession. It would be most helpful if you can find another filmmaker who has successfully gone through the HSMP. And I hope you can get more detailed answers about your refusal (and this second review business which is weird).

Good luck, I hope a much better opportunity does come your way because you deserve it .

[JhonnyECU]

thanks bani,you have been always very helpful!

well, i would NOT precisely consider my case as you call it "difficult". instead, it is QUITE simple, IF those caseworkers decided to apply their general rules professionally and fairly.

regardless of being an architect, lawyer, nurse or filmmaker ALL of the applicants MUST pay the same fee, present a self-explanatory application and most importantly receive the same treatment, right?

so now, just to refresh you all about some relevant details of my application:

1. Spanish Masters degree

funnily, the spanish ministry of education hasnt incorporated the masters degree into their system yet. therefore, uk naric, as it is stiputaled in their rules can not assess my degree. HOWEVER, according to the senior information officer at UK NARIC in charge of my case, it 'would be comparable to british master degree standards comparted against uk naric qualifying criteria, duration, lenght and content of the course, so they suggest me to present it directly to any potential employer of admiting institution for their consideration". ALL this was included in uk naric assessment letter which was a part of my application.

i went beyond a few levels and orchestrated a very comfortable scenario for my caseworker. all this person would have to do is call or email this person and naric and ONLY corroborate this information i had included in my review request letter... unfortunately, NO ONE from the Home office has contacted this woman!

2. Significant Achievement. Ecuadorian Shortfilm award for best director

artists, scientist or anyone claimign these points must present three pieces of evidence. i presented them SEVEN pieces of evidence not to show off, but simply because it was a HUGE thing to win that film award and most importantly i give them 4 pieces of evidence showing HOW that works has help this field to progress in my country.

lets make an equivalent for my film prize in a country we all know, so lets pick the usa. imagine that you were 22 years old and won a USA shortfilm award. the jury was headed by steven spielberg. the ministry of education recognized your award and your encouraging example to your peers. the festival is published in the new york times.

wouldnt that be enough evidence for someone 22? ok if it is not enough for claiming those points, imagine that NOT only those people and institutions above recognize your work but also you show your caseworker how your work has benefited the young generation of filmmakers and that some of the movies have actually made it to big film festivales, like cannes, venice or san sebastian!

so, if you were a caseworker who goes by the book, approving my application would be THAT easy and straightforward!

why isnt like that for those people in doncaster??

appreciate all comments and ideas

jhonny

[rella]

Jhonny,

I'm very sorry to hear your bad news. You put so much effort and heart into your application...

I don't really understand how the team is making certain decisions. I don't understand why your and others' masters degrees aren't being accepted. I'm beginning to think that the caseworkers are geared towards high tech apps and that the points criteria fits technical fields. Maybe they just don't know how to evaluate other fields.

I also think that getting sig achievement points is very, very difficult. I think that they require far more than they state in the guidelines and that it's very rare to get the points. I know that a couple of people on this forum have been awarded those points, but I think it's very uncommon. And... since people who have had the points awarded most likely were approved, they don't know if they actually got those points. We have no way of knowing if my husband got those points, since they don't do a point breakdown if the HSMP is awarded.

I don't know what to tell you to do from here on. It might be worth calling the caseworker, just to find out why they didn't think your case wasn't compelling enough. You might just ask them one last time if they'll call the contact at NARIC and see if there's any chance of getting them to consider your sig achievement. If they won't, it's probably time to drop it and move on with something else.

One last idea...if you were to come here and work for the BBC, would you be self-employed? I'm wondering if you can get an artists' visa as a film-maker. I don't know if film-making falls into their criteria for artists, but it might be worth looking into.

Good luck.

[vram81]

Just to point out... you need to scream at the people in SHEFFIELD... all Doncaster does is take the payment. And I know how difficult some caseworkers can be, I had to apply thrice to get approved.