Immigration: Student Visa

So last year we all talked for a long time and looked at options.  We decided my oldest son (13) living in the US could come live with us for a few months, attend school, and generally spend some time with us. 

About October 2010, I filed an application to get a Student Visa.  It was immediately rejected because Chandler was in the US, Immigration in NZ said the NZ Embassy in Washington DC had to process the application.  Okay... ship paperwork, FedEx to DC.  Again, almost immediately rejected.  They said we had to have proof of paying tuition at the school.  This was odd, because the school doesn't charge a tuition.  So we tried to explain that.  Immigration then said they needed an "offer of place" from the school.  By the time we got here, schools were out of session and no one could provide a letter of place.  A week before schools resume, we went physically to the intermediate school.  Again the office people refused to "do anything without a visa" but eventually we got them to look at the documentation we had from Immigration and they agreed.

It was then they noticed Chandler was too old to attend Intermediate... So we had to go to another school.  They knew more about foreign students and supplied a letter of place immediately.  By this time, after a year of planning, Chandler was already here.  We immediately re-file the application (3rd time) from Wellington.  Two and half weeks later (last weekend), Immigration refused to accept the letter of place as they now say Chandler must pay International Student tuition (over $13,000) to attend 6 months of pubic school.

I am a Resident of New Zealand.  100% of the time I have been here I have paid taxes, school fees, and extra support.  I shudder to think how much NZ has spent trying to decide if my 13 year old kid can attend public school for 6 months.  I'm not even sure what condition they are trying to control by placing such a restriction on a student visa.

While Chandler is here, he won't be covered by General Practioners (Doctors), just emergency care.  I (would) still have to pay school fees, uniform fees, school supply fees, event fees, etc.  But instead the NZ Immigration office is spending thousands of adminstrative tax dollars on preventing this.  I bet we could do better here.