Chef denied visa over youthful ‘mistakes’
Her profession is on New Zealand’s skills shortage list but Charlotte Compton-Cook’s youthful police record means her cheffing talents are going to waste as she fights to stay in her adopted home.
In early 2020, Compton-Cook was working as a head chef in Wellington, a job she loved. Her essential skills work visa (ESWV) was sponsored by her workplace.
But when Covid-19 hit, she lost her job. Unable to transfer her visa to another workplace, she started over, applying for a new ESWV tied to a restaurant in Nelson, where her Kiwi partner is from. But the visa was denied, Immigration NZ citing her police record. ‘‘We are not satisfied you meet the character requirements,’’ the January 11 letter said. Now 33, Compton-Cook is upfront about her past.
‘‘As a teenager, I was not the best. I went to [juvenile detention] for burglary when I was 16 and continued on the wrong path until my early 20s.’’ There were charges of theft, breaking and entering, and assaulting a constable. ‘‘I regret it every day.’’
In her 20s, Compton-Cook was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. The diagnosis opened up avenues for help, and she attended anger management sessions and sought help for anxiety and depression.
‘‘There were things that happened in my childhood that caused me to react; I don’t want to blame [my childhood] but I realised why I acted the way I did.
‘‘I am a good person. I have always been a good person, I just made stupid mistakes.’’
For more than a decade, Compton-Cook has lived a lawabiding life. She trained as a chef, climbing up the hospitality ladder to head chef positions. She met her Nelson partner.
When Compton-Cook applied for her initial (ESWV) in 2019, she disclosed her record in a letter to Immigration NZ and completed standard police checks. When she appealed the decision, she asked why her initial visa was approved when her later one was denied, when nothing had changed.
‘‘...we acknowledge your previous [ESWV] application was incorrectly assessed at the time,’’ Immigration NZ replied.
Compton-Cook has until September 2022 before her visa expires. While she figures out her next move, she is keeping busy, volunteering at an op shop and with Nelson charity Loaves and Fishes. Supported by her partner’s wage, she is living as simply as possible.
Currently, there are more than 500 chef jobs advertised on Trade Me, including seven in Nelson/Tasman. It was frustrating not being able to work when her skills were in demand, Compton-Cook said.
Nick Mason, a partner at Nelson law firm Pitt & Moore, said Compton-Cook had two options: apply for a new visa or appeal to the minister of immigration.
Immigration NZ tended to apply a ‘‘rigid application of the rules without taking a step back and looking at things another way around’’, Mason said. However, the minister might take into consideration New Zealand’s chef shortage and the fact Compton-Cook was rehabilitated.
‘‘She totally owns her past, accepts it. She is effectively rehabilitated: how long are we going to punish people for something they did in their youth?’’
An Immigration NZ spokesman said Compton-Cook’s immigration officer had considered her circumstances, including her previous convictions, and was ‘‘not satisfied a character waiver was justified’’. The earlier incorrect assessment was due to an immigration officer not identifying that a character waiver was necessary, he said.
‘‘The character waiver process was not undertaken with the previous application in error. We regret this error and apologise for any confusion caused.’’
Compton-Cook is fundraising via Givealittle for visa costs and a lawyer or a flight home if unsuccessful.