Decision made in 1 day but got 0 points in Academic :(

[farazfastian]

Dear all,

Out of Country Applicant
App Sent: 29 Nov,2005
app Recvd: 2 Dec,2005
CC Charged: 6 Dec,2005
Ref# Recvd: 7 Dec,2005
Decision made: 7 Dec, 2005
Docs Received: 24 Dec,2005 (via Royal Mail although i asked them via DHL)

Claimed: 70 points
Awarded: 55 points [only 0 points in Academic ]

Its quick n fast i could'nt expect that so early. My application has been refused on the criteria that i never thought there'll be any issue in it, below is the reason they gave me:


Academic Achievement - 0 points awarded

The evidence submitted did not support your claim of 15 points for this section. The HSMP guidance notes (Paragraph 2 Annex C) states that qualification have to be the equivalent to the recognized British standard of Bachelor's Master's or PhD to be awarded the respective points for each level of qualification. The qualification you submitted with the application was checked against guidance given by the National Academic Recognition Information Center for the United Kingdom (UK Naric). The Bachelors qualification gained in Pakistan is not equivalent to British BAchelors. Therefore, we were unable to award any points for this section


Guys, plz help me out here.. i'm really dishearted..

I did my 3 years BCS from FAST-ICS karachi in 2001 then my university offered me extension program to complete my 4-year BCS. I took it and they awarded me the same BCS degree with 4th year i.e. 2004 as the passing year and the 4year(8semester) cummulative transcript. i knew that my case is complicated thats why i went for NARIC assessment, first time NARIC assessed my degree not equivalent to Brisith's Bachelors. I explained them my situation in detail and then they assessed me as following:

Title: Bachelor of Computer Science
Institute: University of Karachi
Completion: 2002
Assessment: Is Considered comparable to British BAchelor(Ordinary) degree standard
Add Info: This assessment is based on the assumption that this was a four year course

I did submit my NARIC assessment with my application even then they refused it. I thnk NARIC has not updated there database against my University and they issued me this assessment esp to me and may be when HSMP contacted NARIC about my University and Degree, they said its not equivalent. what u guys think??

Now ofcrouse i'll go for review, i need your help esp senior members that how shuld i prepare my review. I'm thinking to explain my degree situation to them in the same way as i explained it to NARIC and give NARIC enquiry# as well.

eagerly waiting for your replies.

thanks n regards
faraz

[rehan786]

Sorry to hear about refusal.
But my friend only Master degree from is consider as graduate degree in England, and you have Bachelor degree I mean BCS.
even it is four years program HSMP team not consider it equal to bachelor degree.

That's why they gave you 0 points.

My advice to you first get Master degree then apply for HSMP'
you have a bright chances.

[farazfastian]

well i discussed it here before applying and conculdes that if NARIC has assessed it as equivalent to UK's Bachelors then u can get 15 points, it would be great hurt for me if at this stage i'll here this sort of news

btw wat abt NARIC.. u'll still say that even naric has assessed it as equivalent to uk's bachelor

as still i'm hopefull that i'll get it after review..

plz advise..

[EJ]

Dear farazfastian,

Why do you not send your qualifiactions to NARIC to get them assessed?

Then include their certificate with your new application. If NARIC deems your degree to be UK equivalent then surely they won't be able to refuse you again?

Just a thought

[farazfastian]

Dear EJ,

I guess u didnt got me.. i did submit NARIC assessment with my application which was showing that my degree is equivalent to UK.

btw rehan, i'v seen few cases who got hsmp on pakistan BCS and got 15 points.

regarding review , shuld i need to submit naric assessment and degree again with the review form or they already v it?

regards
faraz

[MWazir]

farazfastian,

You cannot submit any additional documentation. They would have made copies of all the documentation that you have already send them and your review letter can refer to those documents.

You should however draw their attention to your NARIC assessment. Your NARIC assessment says that it could be comparable to a UK degree on the assumption that your degree was for 4 years. Is there any indication of that in documentation that you originally submitted. For instance along with your degree certificate, did you submit your transcripts?

Also before submitting your review letter, if it is possible, try speaking to one of the case workers to understand why the NARIC assesment carried out by you was not taken into consideration. If you are lucky, you might even be directed to the case worker that decided your case. It seems to me that on one side the results of NARIC assessment were favourable to you but on the other hand the case workers would have refered your degree details such as the University etc to the NARIC database which still does not recongnise the equalency of your degree. Why such a discrepency came up is any body's guess. I suspect it is because the NARIC database determines your degree to be for three year while not taking into consideration the 1 year extension program that you mention. They need to be able to diffrentiate between the two.

[farazfastian]

Dear MWazir,

this is what i think as well that may be NARIC has not updated my Univerisity database as my case was especial and it doesn't reflect the whole university students thats why i'm prety hopefull that when i'll explain them that NARIC has recognized my degree by giving them my NARIC enaquiry No as well, they'll award me 15 points.

Unfortunatly i didn't submitted my 4-year transcript as i was so confident that i got NARIC assessment then there's no need to put so many evidence.

btw just one more concern, my decision made on 7th december and i received my decision letter on 24th December and now its Christmis holidays, i dont know when they'll gona open back.. may be 2nd jan?.. as i only have 28 days from my decision day to apply for review.. do they consider only working days or wat?

regards
faraz

[MWazir]

Normally its only a 4 day weekend holiday inclduing this monday and tuesday and most establishments are open after that apart from the New Years. Its quite possible that the HO will be short on staff during that period and people would have taken extended leave. I would still expect them to function during this period.

[farazfastian]

dear mwazir,

i'v completed my review cover letter, first i'v tried to discuss why my NARIC assessment not considered then i'v explained them that NARIC also refused my degree first time then i explained them i got 4 years study.. so did verified it later on. I'v also included the same contents which i sent to NARIC. In the end, i'v requested them that plz consult naric by giving my naric enquiry# and they'll verify my assessment.

btw tomorow, first i'll call naric then hsmp team before sending my review letter.

last thing faxing review letter will be enough or shuld i send it by email as well

plz comments..

regards n thanks
faraz

[MWazir]

Try calling up the HSMP team before you do anything. It would be better you speak to them before concluding on your review letter. I suspect that even if they take into consideration the NARIC assessment and your enquiry number, without the 4 year transcript, they will not be able to conclusivly decide in your favour.

[farazfastian]

Dear mwazir,

well it was the same reason that we were thinking about, fortunately i got a chance to talked with my caseworker and he told me that he just checked NARIC online database and it showed your degree is not equivalent to uk and normally we dont consider independent NARIC assessments. Then i explained him how naric assessed my degree equal to uk, he told me its fine u can explain this thing in your review.

I'v applied for the review, lets see.. I need prayers.

btw do u know.. these days first reviews taking how long? or wats their procedure of doing review? i mean they started it as soon as they received it or something else?

thanks n regards
faraz

[MWazir]

btw do u know.. these days first reviews taking how long? or wats their procedure of doing review? i mean they started it as soon as they received it or something else?

It shouldnt take too long. I havent seen review applicants complaining about having to wait for a long time. You have done all that you could. Now just relax and wait for your decision. I hope you find the result in your favour.

Good luck!

[Netware]

Average review time is about 30 days these days.. Its better to send your review request by fax and by post.

You say that you have seen cases where Pakistani BCS degree is awarded 15 points.

I hope you get the postive answer of your first review. If not, before making second review, my advise is to also quote the case reference of those applicants which are awarded 15 points for BCS degree.